The House pulls the plug on NPR and PBS in a late-night funding fight as President Donald Trump&#8217;s plan gets final approval. Another top Biden aide pleads the Fifth in a congressional hearing about the former president’s competency. And we talk to the president of the Chicago Fed about the upcoming interest rate vote and the feud between Trump and Powell.
It’s Friday, July 18, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: 
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<h2>Congress Approves Funding Cuts To PBS &amp; NPR</h2>
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Topline: In the early hours of Friday morning, the House gave final approval to President Trump&#8217;s plan to claw back $9 billion in funding to global aid and government-funded media after the Senate narrowly passed a measure early Thursday. It now heads to Trump&#8217;s desk.
In June, the White House formally requested that Congress rescind $1.1 billion in funding that had already been allocated for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. Early Thursday morning, after hours of debate, the Senate voted 51-48 to approve the measure. 
Democrats say NPR and PBS represent America’s commitment to a free press and provide essential services for all people, particularly those in rural communities. They also argue that public broadcasting plays a major role in emergency preparedness and community safety.
“When a flood happens, when a tornado touches down, when a hurricane makes landfall, people need immediate, up-to-date alerts to stay safe,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer(D-NY) argued in a speech on the Senate floor. “All too often, public broadcasting is the only way for people to hear what’s going on. It’s a matter of life and death.&#8221;
Republicans say that’s a ridiculous argument given how many ways people now receive warnings about natural disasters.
“All broadcasters are required to broadcast emergency alerts,” Tim Graham, host of NewsBusters at the Media Research Center told The Daily Wire. “Today, everybody&#8217;s going to get emergency alerts on their cell phone. So the idea that you need NPR to learn of a flash flood alert – I mean, first of all, you have to assume that there&#8217;s a huge number of people listening to NPR at 10 p.m. &#8230; It’s just not true.”
Republicans have argued for decades that NPR and PBS are not balanced news sources and that both organizations lean heavily to the Left. “Recently, we counted labels,” Graham told The Daily Wire. “[The PBS Newshour] used &#8216;far-Right&#8217; labels 42 times as often as they used &#8216;far-Left&#8217; … And the interesting thing here was that Donald Trump got elected with a Republican Congress, they could see the writing on the wall, and PBS and NPR made no attempt to move to the center to try to be fairer, to try to be more balanced. If anything, they have doubled down in 2025. They were basically suggesting they didn&#8217;t care what the Republican opinion was on their product.”
<h2>Biden WH Aide Pleads The Fifth In Congressional Testimony</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-948761" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still002-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still002-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still002-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still002-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still002-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_21_16.Still002.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: Former first lady Jill Biden’s top aide testified to Congress on Wednesday. Anthony Bernal, who has been close to the Biden family since 2008, pleaded the Fifth seven times in response to investigators&#8217; questions.
Bernal, Jill Biden’s chief of staff, refused to answer a slate of questions around former president Biden’s health – instead invoking his Constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. Bernal was a top trusted aide in the Biden White House – Jill often referred to him as her “work husband.”
When asked by the House Oversight Committee if President Biden was fit to exercise his duties, Bernal said, “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer the question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution.”
Last week, Biden’s White House doctor Kevin O’Connor refused to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment rights and <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/doctor-patient_privilege">doctor-patient privilege</a>. Legally, invoking the Fifth is <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/532/17.html">not</a> an admission of guilt, and most criminal lawyers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE">highly discourage</a> their clients from sharing anything with authorities that might conceivably be used against them. Nevertheless, many Republicans are concerned about the concerted coverup of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and want to know who was running the Biden administration if he wasn’t.
In their book, &#8220;Original Sin,&#8221; a deep dive into the Biden White House and his re-election effort, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson described Bernal as “[one of] the Bidens’ eyes and ears, the keepers of the flame, the protectors of the myth. &#8230; As we researched this book, it was difficult to find many Bernal defenders. … He freely trash-talked senior, mid-level and junior aides. … Some described him as the worst person they had ever met.”
Despite their reticence, Bernal and O’Connor could be compelled to testify by Congress – if they were offered immunity for any crimes revealed by their testimony, then the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination would no longer apply, although in O’Connor’s case, doctor-patient privilege could shield him from certain questions.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told Fox News that Bernal could not say that Biden was mentally well without lying under oath, which is why he pleaded the Fifth. Comer also suggested that he would like to see more of Biden’s inner circle testify before his committee, including Jill Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
<h2>Federal Reserve Meeting</h2>
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Topline: As President Trump ramps up pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the Fed is preparing for a meeting at the end of the month to decide whether to cut interest rates – as the president is demanding.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), spoke to The Daily Wire shortly before the upcoming July 29-30 meeting and offered his perspective on current economic data.
Goolsbee described the latest inflation data as &#8220;a little bit of a mixed bag,&#8221; noting positive trends in services and housing inflation, but expressing wariness about &#8220;actual physical goods&#8221; where &#8220;tariffs are going to increase the prices a bit.&#8221; Despite this, he remains &#8220;still hopeful that we&#8217;re in a pretty solid place on the economy,&#8221; citing sustained growth and &#8220;close to full employment&#8221; as key strengths, with the primary goal being to keep &#8220;inflation on path back to 2 percent.&#8221;
A public dispute between President Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell has brought the issue of central bank independence into sharp focus. Goolsbee, while unable to speak for the entire Fed, voiced his unease about such arguments. He emphasized that the reason &#8220;all the rich countries of the world have an independent central bank – that&#8217;s independent of political interference – is precisely because if you look at places where they don&#8217;t have central bank independence, inflation is higher, unemployment is higher, growth is worse.&#8221; He underscored the imperative that interest rate decisions &#8220;should be rooted in that dual mandate: stabilizing prices and maximizing employment,&#8221; adding, &#8220;That&#8217;s the critical element, should be economic conditions that drive the decisions.&#8221;
Regarding the immediate outlook for interest rates, Goolsbee maintained his usual cautious stance ahead of the meeting and further data, stating, &#8220;I don&#8217;t like tying our hands before the meetings.&#8221; However, he indicated a general inclination toward lower rates if conditions allow. He noted that his view prior to April 2 was that &#8220;we got pretty close to stable full employment. We got inflation trending down to 2% — and in an environment like that, I think rates can go down a fair bit more than from where they are today.&#8221;

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Morning Brief: Congress Cuts Funding For PBS & NPR, Biden’s Decline Investigated, Fed Meeting

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Economy

Inflation

Jerome Powell

Jill Biden

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Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

President Donald Trump&#8217;s energy dominance agenda could raise the United States GDP by up to 1.9% within the next decade, according to a new report.
The White House Council of Economic Advisors released a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-Economic-Benefits-of-Unleashing-American-Energy.pdf">report</a> on the impact of Trump’s energy policies and deregulation on Thursday. Experts estimated that additional energy production alongside deregulatory policies could bolster economic growth in the United States, growing GDP “by at least 0.56-1.90 percent by 2035.”
“Unleashing energy abundance was key to the historic job, wage, economic, and investment growth that President Trump delivered during his first term,” White House spoeksman Kush Desai told The Daily Wire in a statement. “Energy abundance is again key for President Trump’s second term push to cement America’s dominance in AI and restore our industrial base, and the Administration is committed to pulling every stop to power the restoration of American Greatness.”
The report identified a few key weak points in the United States’ current energy production and distribution system, such as long delays for government approvals, aging infrastructure, and supply chains for critical minerals that run through “unreliable or adversarial sources.” But the United States sits upon a wealth of natural resources that contributed to the country being the “world’s leading producer of petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear power” in 2023.
Earlier this month, a Department of Energy report <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/department-energy-releases-report-evaluating-us-grid-reliability-and-security">estimated</a> that blackouts across the United States “could increase by 100 times in 2030 if the U.S. continues to shutter reliable power sources and fails to add additional firm capacity.”
The Trump administration wants to accelerate U.S. energy production in part because the country’s budding AI industry uses massive amounts of electricity.
“By some estimates, executing a ChatGPT prompt can be 10 times more energy intensive than a Google search,” the report states.
By 2030, AI data processing centers in the United States will use more electricity than the “production of aluminum, steel, cement, chemicals and all other energy-intensive goods combined,” according to the International Energy Agency.
With AI development could come meaningful increases in production.
“If half of U.S. businesses engage in widespread use of AI by 2034, the annual productivity growth of labor could be 1.5 percentage points higher starting in 2034 than it would otherwise be without widespread AI adoption. This boost in labor productivity could, in turn, increase GDP growth by 0.4 percent in 2034,” the report states.
The surging demand for electricity by AI data centers could lead to price spikes for energy consumers. In order to prevent that, the report states that the United States needs to build out energy production from relatively inexpensive, reliable sources, such as natural gas.
“[C]ombined-cycle natural gas power plants are currently the lowest-cost reliable power generation option in the U.S., with a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of about $30 per megawatt-hour,” the report states. The price for energy output from natural gas is much lower than renewables, which the report priced at “$45-$55 per MWh” because of the additional cost of building batteries to ensure reliable energy when solar panels and wind turbines are not able to generate electricity.
The Trump administration is also slowing the retirement of nuclear and coal plants to avoid large gaps in electrical production from lost sources. Other plants, such as Michigan’s Palisades nuclear power plant, may be revived and put back into the U.S. electrical grid.
In addition to protecting, reviving, and building energy production, the administration is also working through a slew of deregulatory plans to streamline government approvals and encourage quicker energy development, including reforms to landmark environmental regulations such as the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act.

U.S. Economy Will Boom Under Trump’s Energy Dominance Agenda, New Report Shows

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President Trump continues his assault on Fed Chair Jerome Powell. With the Big Beautiful Bill signed into law, the House GOP lays out their next set of priorities. And, Trump unveils a $100 billion energy investment in Pennsylvania – which he hopes will spur America&#8217;s tech dominance over China.
It’s Thursday, July 17, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: 
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>Trump Threatens To Fire Fed Chair</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-948253" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_21.Still001-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_21.Still001-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_21.Still001-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_21.Still001-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_21.Still001-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_21.Still001.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: As the Federal Reserve continues to hold interest rates steady, President Trump is once again threatening to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Jerome Powell was first appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve by Donald Trump himself back in 2017, but ever since 2019, he’s drawn the consistent ire of the president. Trump says he was too slow to cut rates during the pandemic, and felt Powell intentionally kept rates high ahead of the 2020 election to try and hurt the economy and his re-election odds.
Now Trump is furious with Powell once again over his hesitation to cut rates despite low inflation and strong labor numbers — for his part, Powell has expressed concerns that Trump’s tariffs will spur inflation, and he doesn’t want to cut rates if the economy is about to slow down.
Trump has repeatedly hinted that he could fire Powell — however, because the Federal Reserve is meant to be independent of Congress and the White House, the president is only allowed to remove its chair with cause. Policy disputes aside, the White House believes they could have cause in the form of a $2.5 billion renovation plan for the Federal Reserve that Powell approved. Trump says Powell has wasted taxpayer money on a “palace” for himself and hinted that the project could constitute fraud.
“I don’t rule out anything,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/BreitbartNews/status/1945520191883948337">said</a> when asked if he would fire Powell, although he noted such a move would be &#8220;highly unlikely.&#8221; “It&#8217;s possible that there&#8217;s fraud involved with the $2.5 billion-$2.7 billion renovation. &#8230; And he didn’t have proper clearance. So there could be something to that.”
On Tuesday night, Trump reportedly floated the idea to his allies in Congress, showing conservative House members a draft letter informing Powell he’d been fired that he was prepared to send. He then polled those 12 members for their thoughts – 11 reportedly advised him to fire Powell. But by Wednesday, the president <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1945513505941241860">seemed</a> to be having second thoughts. “We’re not planning on doing anything. We’re a little concerned.”
<h2>Congressional Round-Up</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-948251" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_22_09.Still002-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_22_09.Still002-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_22_09.Still002-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_22_09.Still002-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_22_09.Still002-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_22_09.Still002.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: After the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, congressional Republicans are focusing on new legislative priorities.
On Tuesday, the Republican Study Committee hosted a “new media row” on the Hill, an opportunity for outlets like The Daily Wire to speak to their members one-on-one. That includes House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who spoke to Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan about the concerning rise of violent political rhetoric on the Left. Scalise was badly injured at a mass shooting by a left-wing activist at the 2017 Congressional baseball game — he’s particularly sensitive to this issue.
“You&#8217;re seeing people attacking our law enforcement, including ICE agents, and they&#8217;re spurred on by a lot of the rhetoric from the Left,” Scalise told The Daily Wire. “That&#8217;s got to stop.”
Scalise also addressed the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein controversy – he told The Daily Wire he trusts President Trump will &#8220;straighten things out … I haven&#8217;t been privy to those documents, the classified information. Others have, but look, I trust Donald Trump and his judgment. And ultimately, I think he&#8217;s going to get the right answers.”
“The cartels are going to go where the money is, and they&#8217;re going to go where they&#8217;re going to find the most lax state laws where they can take advantage,” said New York Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, who’s been fighting to keep drugs and criminals from pouring through our northern border. She said she’s particularly worried about the problem in light of recent developments in New York City. “New York City is facing a major crisis, which is going to impact not just the state, but all of us. Obviously, the election of a Marxist antisemite, like Zoran Mamdani … these are the kind of people that are helping, aiding and abetting the criminal cartels that are trafficking children, trafficking women.”
Florida Congresswoman Kat Cammack said her biggest priority was imposing background checks for Congress. “We’ve seen situations where individuals who have ties to foreign nations, different organizations that have terrorist funding have made their way in through different offices … I think the American people deserve to know who&#8217;s working on their behalf. It&#8217;s pretty simple, but you would not believe the resistance that we&#8217;re getting.”
Several other lawmakers also spoke at length with The Daily Wire – stay tuned to hear more about protecting kids, women’s sports, the Middle East, the Texas floods, and why Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) never wears a suit jacket.
<h2>Pennsylvania Receives $100 Billion In AI Investments</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-948249" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_02.Still003.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: President Trump is directing $100 billion to artificial intelligence infrastructure in Pennsylvania. A summit held at Carnegie Mellon University was billed as a chance to showcase the state’s “potential to power the A.I. revolution.”
AI investment is picking up rapidly in the state of Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, Trump <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1945209947962118191">said</a> that he had received pledges worth over $90 billion for new AI and energy investment in the Keystone state. By Wednesday, that number had risen to more than $100 billion, including an investment from the asset manager Blackstone, which wants to bankroll $25 billion worth of new data centers and energy infrastructure in the state.
Pennsylvania is a key swing state located in the center of the Rust Belt – the old industrial heart of the United States – but electoral concerns aside, many of the same factors that helped the state rise to prominence in the industrial era have become relevant again in the AI age. Old industrial sites generally have ready access to water and electricity, which data centers consume huge amounts of for cooling and power generation – some data centers <a href="https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/civil-engineering-magazine/issues/magazine-issue/article/2024/03/engineers-often-need-a-lot-of-water-to-keep-data-centers-cool">require</a> millions of gallons of water per day and AI is <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech/">projected</a> to account for more than 20% of global power consumption by ~2030.
Pennsylvania also sits on top of the Marcellus Shale formation – that means plentiful natural gas ready to be tapped into, and less money spent on pipelines to get it to power plants to fuel the data centers. A deactivated coal plant in Homer City, Pennsylvania, is being rebuilt into the largest natural gas-fired power plant in the world – <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945515122551566624">according</a> to President Trump – and the nuclear plant at <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/26/1104516/three-mile-island-microsoft/">Three Mile Island</a> is being reactivated to exclusively power Microsoft data centers.
The U.S. leads the field in AI research and development, but China has emerged as a major competitor. China is investing heavily in new power stations to build out its already substantial lead over the U.S. In 2023, according to the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-do-china-and-america-think-about-the-energy-transition/#:~:text=China%20is%20very%20reliant%20on,that%20level%20of%20solar%20installations.">Brookings Institution</a>, China had over twice the electricity generation that the United States has and was on track to greatly increase that.

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Morning Brief: Trump Vs Fed Chair, Congressional Chats, $100 Billion Investment In Pennsylvania AI

Artificial Intelligence

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President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he is &#8220;not planning on doing anything&#8221; after reportedly writing a letter to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and asking House Republicans on Tuesday night if he should make the move, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/us/politics/trump-powell-firing-letter.html">reported</a>.
During a meeting in the Oval Office, Trump reportedly waved a copy of the letter in front of GOP lawmakers before polling them on what he should do, with some in the room voicing approval for Powell&#8217;s firing, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-asked-gop-lawmakers-if-he-should-fire-jerome-powell-sources/#">CBS News</a>. A White House official told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/16/trump-powell-fed-fire.html">CNBC</a> that Trump would &#8220;likely&#8221; fire Powell &#8220;soon.&#8221;
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) <a href="https://x.com/realannapaulina/status/1945275059670553019">posted</a> on X on Tuesday night, &#8220;Hearing Jerome Powell is getting fired! From a very serious source.&#8221; In a follow-up post, she <a href="https://x.com/realannapaulina/status/1945289134391636471">added</a>, &#8220;I&#8217;m 99% sure firing is imminent.&#8221;
Trump, however, told reporters in the Oval Office that it&#8217;s &#8220;highly unlikely&#8221; that he would fire Powell.
&#8220;Fortunately, we get to make a change in the next eight months or so, and we&#8217;ll pick somebody that&#8217;s good,&#8221; Trump added, appearing to refer to the end of Powell&#8217;s term as Fed Chair in May 2026. &#8220;We want to see lower interest rates. Our country deserves it. We&#8217;re making a lot of money. We&#8217;re doing great as a country. We have no inflation, record stock market, record business, record everything.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on Jerome Powell: &quot;He&#39;s too late — he&#39;s always been too late&#8230; He&#39;s a terrible Fed Chair&#8230; Fortunately, we get to make a change in the next eight months or so.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/H8iRMzGWwH">pic.twitter.com/H8iRMzGWwH</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945514766874603850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
For months, the president has been pushing the Fed to lower interest rates and blasting Powell. Trump has called Powell, whom he nominated in 2018, a &#8220;dummy&#8221; and one of the &#8220;<a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/trump-versus-powell-how-far-can-he-push-the-fed-chair">most destructive</a>&#8221; people in government. Last week, Trump <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/11/business/jerome-powell-trump-fire">said</a>, &#8220;I call him every name in the book trying to get him to do something. I do it every way in the book. I&#8217;m nasty. I&#8217;m nice. Nothing works.&#8221;
No president has ever fired the Fed Chair, which is designed to remain independent of political influence. The president does have the authority to fire the chair &#8220;for cause,&#8221; which the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/why-is-the-federal-reserve-independent-and-what-does-that-mean-in-practice/#:~:text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20Act%20says,1935%20case%20(Humphrey's%20Executor%20v.">ruled</a> in the 1930s must be over &#8220;inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,&#8221; not just policy disagreements.
The Fed has held off on lowering interest rates despite low inflation numbers, citing concern over Trump&#8217;s tariffs sparking more inflation. Last month, Powell <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jerome-powell-suggests-delaying-rate-cuts-beyond-july-meeting-while-fed-studies-tariff-impact?author=Reuters&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Jerome+Powell+Suggests+Delaying+Rate+Cuts+Beyond+July+Meeting+While+Fed+Studies+Tariff+Impact">told</a> Congress that he and many Federal Reserve Board Governors believe that inflation will start rising soon, adding that he was not considering a rate cut at the Fed&#8217;s July meeting, which is set to take place on July 29-30, Reuters reported.
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-creeps-up-as-trump-prepares-major-tariff-rollout">reported</a> that inflation slightly increased by 0.3% month-over-month and 2.7% year-over-year in June. On Wednesday, the BLS reported that wholesale inflation remained <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/economists-wrong-again-wholesale-inflation-remained-unchanged-in-june?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Economists+Wrong+Again%3A+Wholesale+Inflation+Remained+Unchanged+In+June" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unchanged</a> last month, defying economists&#8217; predictions.

Jerome Powell/Donald Trump

Trump Drafted Letter To Fire Fed Reserve Chair, But Says ‘We’re Not Planning On Doing It’

Executive

Federal Reserve

Interest Rates

Tariffs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Bahrain&#8217;s crown prince announced plans to invest more than $17 billion in the United States during a meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
As part of the investment, Bahrain is expected to sign a deal between Gulf Air and Boeing/GE valued at around $7 billion for 12 aircraft with an option for six more.
The deal also includes the sale of 40 GE engines, a White House official said.
&#8220;We&#8217;re very happy to be announcing $17 billion worth of deals that are coming to the United States,&#8221; said Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. &#8220;And this is real. These aren&#8217;t fake deals.&#8221;
The announcement from Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa comes on the heels of foreign investment deals Trump made during a trip to the Middle East in May.
During a visit to Riyadh, Trump secured a $600-billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the United States and agreed to sell the Saudis an arms package worth nearly $142 billion.
The White House official said the Bahrain deal will support 30,000 American jobs and was secured with help from Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Bahrain is expected to sign deals with Oracle and Cisco, with plans to replace Chinese servers with Cisco products, the official said.
Bahrain also seeks to increase its investments in U.S. energy, tech, and manufacturing sectors.
The official said the crown prince intends to deploy capital to increase U.S. domestic aluminum production, invest in U.S. LNG production to secure energy supplies, and purchase cutting-edge AI chips, partnering with U.S. hyperscalers.
The crown prince visited the White House twice during Trump&#8217;s first term.
During this visit, the crown prince will announce the kingdom&#8217;s intention to make these investments and sign various deals and memoranda of understanding.
One of these MOUs creates a framework for Bahrain to begin discussions towards developing commercial nuclear capabilities, the official said.
It was signed at the State Department by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani before the White House visit.
Later this year, the king of Bahrain will visit Washington to finalize these agreements and solidify the progress made in building the two nations&#8217; economic prosperity, the U.S. official said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Rod Nickel)

FILE PHOTO: Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa attends the 2nd ASEAN-GCC Summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 27, 2025.

Middle East Country Announces $17 Billion Investment In U.S. During Trump Talks

Global Politics

Middle East

Trump Administration

The producer price index, which measures wholesale costs in the United States, showed no change last month, defying the expectations of economists who have predicted for months that Americans would soon feel the pain of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The seasonally adjusted producer price index (PPI), released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Wednesday, came in at zero while economists were expecting an increase of at least 0.2%, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/07/16/ppi-inflation-report-june-2025.html">reported</a>. Month-over-month core PPI, which strips out food and energy, also remained unchanged after experts expected a 0.2% jump.
“Combined with Tuesday’s consumer price index release, the data suggests that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are indicating only a marginal bite on the U.S. economy and the prices for goods and services,” CNBC reported.
Vice President JD Vance commented on the good economic news, <a href="https://x.com/jdvance/status/1945469193756750065?s=46&amp;t=o-U3qwC25WnWaylJ0oeG7Q">writing</a> on X, “It’s almost like the economics profession doesn’t fully understand tariffs.”
Year-over-year headline PPI was up 2.3% in June, down from the 2.7% increase in May. The June number was the lowest annual PPI level since September 2024. Core PPI came in at an annual rate of 2.6% in June, which was the lowest gain since July of last year.
Wednesday’s producer price index report came one day after the BLS revealed that inflation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-creeps-up-as-trump-prepares-major-tariff-rollout?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Inflation+Creeps+Up+As+Trump+Prepares+Major+Tariff+Rollout">crept up</a> 0.3% month-over-month and 2.7% year-over-year in June, coming in slightly above economists’ predictions. On Tuesday, the White House said that inflation remains “on the right track.”
“Every month since President Trump took office, core inflation — the best measure of inflation — has beat[en] or matched expectations. The data proves that President Trump is stabilizing inflation and the Panicans continue to be wrong about tariffs raising prices,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The economic reports come two weeks before tariffs on numerous countries around the world, imposed by President Trump, are set to take effect on August 1. The president is also pointing to the inflation numbers to push the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. The Fed is scheduled to meet at the end of the month to discuss interest rates, as reports swirl that Fed Chair Jerome Powell is considering stepping down.
“Fed should cut Rates by 3 Points. Very Low Inflation. One Trillion Dollars a year would be saved!!!” Trump said on Tuesday.

Economists Wrong Again: Wholesale Inflation Remained Unchanged In June

President Donald Trump championed over $90 billion in fresh energy and artificial intelligence investments in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
Trump led the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy &amp; Innovation Summit, accompanied by top tech and energy leaders, as well as Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) and members of his Cabinet.
“This afternoon, 20 leading technology and energy companies are announcing more than $92 billion of investments in Pennsylvania,” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945208346836963612">said</a> Trump. “This is a really triumphant day for the people of the commonwealth and for the United States of America.”
“The investments being announced this afternoon include more than $56 billion dollars in new energy infrastructure, and more than $36 billion dollars in new data center projects. And a lot more than that are going to be announced in the coming weeks,” he <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945212116190756879">said</a>.
The Trump administration has prioritized the development of both AI and energy in a bid to lead the world in the advance of the next major technological breakthrough. The administration has placed special emphasis on the need to compete with China in AI development.
“We’re here today because we believe that America’s destiny is to dominate every industry and be the first in every technology, and that includes being the world&#8217;s number one superpower in artificial intelligence,” the president <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945211160107655245">said</a>.
“We are way ahead of China,” he added. “I have to say we’re way ahead of China, and the plants are starting up, the construction is starting up.”
The tens of billions in investments to pour into the Keystone State include a $25 billion commitment from Blackstone Inc. Blackstone plans to build AI centers, as well as energy infrastructure to help power those centers.
“What makes us so excited about this area is that you can co-locate the data centers next to the source of power,” Blackstone President Jon Gray <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-15/trump-hails-92-billion-in-investments-for-ai-energy-projects">said</a> Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. “The special sauce here is putting these together, because building transmission lines, pipelines — that’s really difficult.”
The Trump administration has leaned hard into increasing fossil fuel energy production in the United States to keep pace with the surging power demand of expanding AI centers. Data centers have increased the pressure on the United States’ already strained grid.
The Energy Department released a report earlier this month <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/department-energy-releases-report-evaluating-us-grid-reliability-and-security">warning</a> “that blackouts could increase by 100 times in 2030 if the U.S. continues to shutter reliable power sources and fails to add additional firm capacity.”

Trump Touts Over $90B In Fresh AI, Energy Investment In Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a trade deal with Indonesia, the latest pact in a bid to cement better terms with trading partners and reduce a massive trade deficit, even as the European Union readied retaliatory measures should talks between Washington and its top trading partner fail.
&#8220;Great deal, for everybody, just made with Indonesia. I dealt directly with their highly respected President. DETAILS TO FOLLOW!!!&#8221; Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Indonesia&#8217;s total trade with the United States — totalling just under $40 billion in 2024 — does not rank in the top 15, but it has been growing. U.S. exports to Indonesia rose 3.7% last year, while imports from there were up 4.8%, leaving the U.S. with a goods trade deficit of nearly $18 billion.
The top U.S. import categories from Indonesia, according to U.S. Census Bureau data retrieved on the International Trade Centre&#8217;s TradeMap tool, last year were palm oil, electronics equipment including data routers and switches, footwear, car tires, natural rubber, and frozen shrimp.
Susiwijono Moegiarso, a senior official with Indonesia&#8217;s Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, told Reuters in a text message: &#8220;We are preparing a joint statement between U.S. and Indonesia that will explain the size of reciprocal tariff for Indonesia including the tariff deal, non-tariff and commercial arrangements. We will inform (the public) soon.&#8221;
Trump had threatened the southeast Asian country with a 32% tariff rate effective August 1 in a letter sent to its president last week.
Trump sent similar letters to roughly two dozen trading partners this month, including Canada, Japan, and Brazil, setting blanket tariff rates ranging from 20% up to 50%, as well as a 50% tariff on copper.
The August 1 deadline gives the targeted countries time to negotiate agreements that could lower the threatened tariffs. Some investors and economists have also noted Trump&#8217;s pattern of backing off his tariff threats.
Since launching his tariff policy, Trump has clinched only a few deals despite his team touting an effort to bring home &#8220;90 deals in 90 days.&#8221; So far, framework agreements have been reached with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, and an interim deal has been struck with China to forestall the steepest of Trump&#8217;s tariffs while negotiations continue between Washington and Beijing.
<h3>E.U. READIES RETALIATION</h3>
The breakthrough with Indonesia came as the European Commission, the E.U.&#8217;s governing body, gets set to target 72 billion euros ($84.1 billion) worth of U.S. goods — from Boeing aircraft and bourbon whiskey to cars — for possible tariffs if trade talks with Washington fail.
Trump is threatening a 30% tariff on imports from the E.U. from August 1, a level European officials say is unacceptable and would end normal trade between two of the world&#8217;s largest markets.
The list, sent to E.U. member states and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, pre-dates Trump&#8217;s move over the weekend to ramp up pressure on the 27-nation bloc and responds instead to U.S. duties on cars and car parts and a 10% baseline tariff.
The package also covers chemicals, medical devices, electrical and precision equipment as well as agriculture and food products — a range of fruits and vegetables, along with wine, beer, and spirits &#8211; valued at 6.35 billion euros.
Following a meeting of E.U. ministers in Brussels on Monday, officials said they were still seeking a deal to avoid Trump&#8217;s heavy tariff blow.
But E.U. trade chief Maros Sefcovic said those at the meeting expressed unprecedented resolve to protect E.U. businesses using European countermeasures if negotiations with Washington fail to produce a deal.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels and David Lawder in Washington; Additional reporting by Richard Lough in Paris; Amanda Teresia, Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo in Jakarta; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

A drone view shows stacks of containers at the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta

Trump Lands Indonesia Trade Deal As E.U. Readies Retaliation

Europe

European Union

Indonesia

Trade War

United States tech giant Apple announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to purchase $500 million worth of rare earth magnets from American company MP Materials, after the Defense Department became the company&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/defense-department-becomes-largest-shareholder-of-company-that-owns-americas-lone-rare-earth-mine">largest shareholder</a> last week.
Apple said that it will rely on MP Materials&#8217; Fort Worth, Texas, facility to provide it with rare earth magnets that are used in important components of iPhones, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-cpi-inflation-tariffs-07-15-2025/card/apple-strikes-500-million-deal-to-buy-rare-earths-from-u-s-supplier-wA62cPCKdBo26wFi9h03">reported</a>. Apple also needs rare earth magnets for audio equipment and microphones in other products.
MP Materials <a href="https://mpmaterials.com/news/mp-materials-and-apple-announce-500-million-partnership-to-produce-recycled-rare-earth-magnets-in-the-united-states">said</a> that the deal with Apple means it &#8220;will significantly expand the capacity of its Fort Worth magnetics facility,&#8221; adding that &#8220;Magnet shipments are expected to begin in 2027 and ramp up to support hundreds of millions of Apple devices.&#8221;
“We are proud to partner with Apple to launch MP’s recycling platform and scale up our magnetics business,” said James Litinsky, Founder, Chairman and CEO of MP Materials. “This collaboration deepens our vertical integration, strengthens supply chain resilience, and reinforces America’s industrial capacity at a pivotal moment.”
MP Materials&#8217; <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=mp+materials+stock&amp;rlz=1C5GCCM_en&amp;oq=mp+materials+stock&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqFAgAEEUYOxhGGIMBGPoBGLEDGIAEMhQIABBFGDsYRhiDARj6ARixAxiABDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBCDM1MTFqMGo3qAIAsAIA&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">stock</a> reached an all-time high on Tuesday following the deal with Apple, jumping 28% and surpassing $62 per share as of Tuesday morning. Apple stock was also up <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+stock&amp;sca_esv=4aa233782b511ba8&amp;rlz=1C5GCCM_en&amp;ei=MWp2aOKTIIqY5OMPn6WImAc&amp;ved=0ahUKEwii8Ijvjb-OAxUKDHkGHZ8SAnMQ4dUDCBE&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=apple+stock&amp;gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiC2FwcGxlIHN0b2NrMhUQABiABBixAxhDGIMBGIoFGEYY-gEyEBAAGIAEGLEDGEMYgwEYigUyCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBMgoQABiABBhDGIoFMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMiEQABiABBixAxhDGIMBGIoFGEYY-gEYlwUYjAUY3QTYAQFI_ewBUIsEWOcVcAV4AZABAJgBjQGgAe8IqgEDOS4zuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIRoAKlCcICChAAGLADGNYEGEfCAg0QABiABBiwAxhDGIoFwgIQEC4YgAQY0QMYQxjHARiKBcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGMcBwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAhMQLhiABBixAxjRAxhDGMcBGIoFwgILEC4YgAQYsQMY5QTCAg4QLhiABBiSAxjHARivAcICCBAAGIAEGMkDwgIOEC4YgAQYxwEYjgUYrwHCAgcQABiABBgKwgIGEAAYFhgewgILEAAYgAQYhgMYigWYAwCIBgGQBgq6BgYIARABGBOSBwQxNC4zoAeCfbIHAzkuM7gHlAnCBwYwLjEyLjXIBy4&amp;sclient=gws-wiz-serp">0.5%</a> at the time this article was published.
The agreement between Apple and MP Materials marks yet another positive economic and national security development for President Donald Trump as the White House pushes to break free from reliance on China for rare earth minerals. China currently produces around 60% of the world’s rare earths and refines nearly 90%, <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-chinas-ban-rare-earths-processing-technology-exports-means">according</a> to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
For decades, MP Materials has operated the only rare earth mine in the United States, which is located in Mountain Pass, California, 60 miles southwest of Las Vegas. Last week, the Trump administration <a href="https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/07/11/first-u-s-rare-earth-mine-in-70-years-opens-in-wyoming/">announced</a> the grand opening of the country&#8217;s second rare earth mine in Wyoming, where workers at the Brook Mine, owned by Ramaco Resources, Inc., will extract rare earth materials directly from coal.
Shortly after starting his second term, President Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-takes-immediate-action-to-increase-american-mineral-production/">said</a> that he wants to make the United States “the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals.”
After the Pentagon agreed to buy $400 million of preferred stock in MP Materials, the company said it would soon begin construction on a “second domestic magnet manufacturing facility (the ’10X Facility’) at a soon-to-be-chosen location to serve both defense and commercial customers.”

Apple Logo

Apple Agrees To $500M Deal To Buy Rare Earths From American Company, Reduce China Dependence

Apple

Business

China

rare earth minerals

Inflation ticked up last month, coming in slightly above economists&#8217; predictions for the June Consumer Price Index <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">report</a> as President Donald Trump prepares to impose tariffs on countries around the world.
In June, the Consumer Price Index rose 2.7% year-over-year and was up 0.3% from May, according to the monthly report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday. The June inflation reading was just above economists&#8217; predictions of 2.6% after each of the readings from February through May came in lower than expected, Reuters reported.
The White House <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945106084575817907">celebrated</a> the report, saying it reflects another month of inflation remaining &#8220;on the right track.&#8221;
&#8220;Since President Trump took office, core inflation has come in below or at economists’ expectations every single month,&#8221; the White House&#8217;s official &#8220;Rapid Response&#8221; X account stated.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/1945126037014081963">added</a>, &#8220;Every month since President Trump took office, core inflation — the best measure of inflation — has beat[en] or matched expectations. The data proves that President Trump is stabilizing inflation and the Panicans continue to be wrong about tariffs raising prices.&#8221;
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday morning that the &#8220;substantial price level rise&#8221; from tariffs that was predicted by experts &#8220;just hasn&#8217;t happened.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecScottBessent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecScottBessent</a>: &quot;I think one thing that Wall Street, a lot of economists&#8230; got wrong early on was that tariffs were going to cause a substantial price level rise, which just hasn&#39;t happened.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/zwTCLsPq2l">pic.twitter.com/zwTCLsPq2l</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1945107129968341310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The price index for shelter, which rose 0.2%, was the leading driver &#8220;in the all items monthly increase,&#8221; the BLS report stated. Gas prices rose 1%, and the energy index jumped 0.9% month-over-month. The food index, meanwhile, was up 0.3%.
Economists have been predicting for months that President Trump&#8217;s large-scale tariffs, some of which have already gone into effect on America&#8217;s biggest trading partners — China, Canada, and Mexico — would result in higher inflation levels and likely be felt by Americans over the summer. Trump has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-threatens-new-tariffs-on-mexico-european-union-as-trade-deadline-looms">informed</a> many more countries that they will be hit by the president&#8217;s &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariffs, set to take effect on August 1. Most of the tariffs were initially scheduled to take effect in April, but Trump granted a 90-day pause for further trade negotiations.
Tuesday&#8217;s inflation report comes two weeks before the Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet again to discuss interest rates. President Trump has been pressuring Fed Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates, citing the better-than-expected inflation reports as justification for reducing borrowing costs. Last week, amid <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-cheers-reports-that-jerome-powell-considering-resigning">reports</a> that Powell was considering resigning, the Trump administration said that a resignation from Powell would &#8220;be the right decision for America, and the economy will boom.&#8221;
After the inflation report was released, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114857639804190832">wrote</a> on Truth Social, &#8220;Fed should cut Rates by 3 Points. Very Low Inflation. One Trillion Dollars a year would be saved!!!&#8221;
The Fed is expected to leave its benchmark overnight interest rate between 4.25% and 4.50% at the July meeting, as inflation hovers above the Fed&#8217;s 2% target.

Inflation Creeps Up As Trump Prepares Major Tariff Rollout

President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he would hit both Mexico and the European Union with a 30% tariff, effective August 1. 
Trump made the announcements in letters sent to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday. In response, von der Leyen stated that the European Union would continue its efforts to reach a trade deal with the United States before the August 1 trade negotiation deadline. 
“The United States of America has agreed to continue working with the European Union, despite having one of our largest Trade Deficits with you. Nevertheless, we have decided to move forward, but only with more balanced and fair TRADE,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com">wrote</a> to von der Leyen. 
He added that there would be no tariffs for European companies that relocate their manufacturing to the United States and that the rates could be adjusted if the European Union dropped trade barriers for American goods. If the European Union retaliated with its own new tariffs, Trump said he would raise the 30% levy by an equal number. 
After Trump&#8217;s letter was posted on Truth Social, von der Leyen <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_25_1816">said</a> that the tariffs would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains.” 
“Few economies in the world match the European Union&#8217;s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices. The EU has consistently prioritized a negotiated solution with the U.S., reflecting our commitment to dialogue, stability, and a constructive transatlantic partnership,” she said. 
“We remain ready to continue working towards an agreement by August 1. At the same time, we will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required,” she added. 
The European Union <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/european-union">exported</a> about $605.8 billion worth of goods to the United States in 2024. Trump has already imposed tariffs on European steel and aluminum.  
Trump’s letter to Mexico said that it was not doing enough to crack down on drug cartels. 
“Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough,” he wrote. “Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground. Obviously, I cannot let that happen!”
He said that if Mexico was successful in stopping the cartels, he would consider an adjustment to the tariff rates. In a statement, Mexico&#8217;s government <a href="https://www.gob.mx/sre/prensa/mexico-ya-esta-en-negociaciones-con-estados-unidos-para-proteger-empresas-y-empleos">said</a> that it was already negotiating with the American officials over the proposed tariffs. 
On Monday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social that other countries had been taking advantage of the United States through trade. 
“The United States of America has been ripped off on TRADE (and MILITARY!), by friend and foe, alike, for DECADES. It has come at a cost of TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS, and it is just not sustainable any longer &#8211; And never was! Countries should sit back and say, &#8216;Thank you for the many year’s long free ride, but we know you now have to do what’s right for America.&#8217; We should respond by saying, &#8216;Thank you for understanding the situation we are in. Greatly appreciated!&#8217;”

President Trump Returns To White House From New Jersey

Trump Threatens New Tariffs On Mexico, European Union As Trade Deadline Looms

Free Trade

Mexico

Tech company Nvidia on Wednesday <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/nvidia-becomes-first-company-clinch-4-trillion-market-value-2025-07-09/">became</a> the first publicly traded company to hit a $4 trillion market cap.
Nvidia, which designs graphics processing units (GPUs) — chips that power artificial intelligence (AI) programs, such as ChatGPT, is the world&#8217;s most valuable company.
It surpassed Apple and Microsoft, which both reached $3 trillion mark before Nvidia, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/09/nvidia-4-trillion.html">according</a> to CNBC. Nvidia, based in California, hit $2 trillion in February 2024 and $3 trillion in June 2025.
Nvidia shares surged to an all-time high of $164.
The growth comes after previous lows in March and April, when President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariff announcements led to a decline in stock markets, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-stocks-plunge-as-trump-warns-of-economic-transition-period">reported</a>. Nvidia faced a year-to-date loss of 20% in March.
In April, Nvidia <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tech-giant-commits-500-billion-to-make-ai-supercomputers-entirely-in-the-u-s">committed</a> $500 billion to building AI infrastructure in the United States. The company outsources its chip production to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung and said it wants &#8220;to build and test NVIDIA Blackwell chips in Arizona and AI supercomputers in Texas,&#8221; The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tech-giant-commits-500-billion-to-make-ai-supercomputers-entirely-in-the-u-s">reported</a>.
&#8220;Adding American manufacturing helps us better meet the incredible and growing demand for AI chips and supercomputers, strengthens our supply chain and boosts our resiliency,&#8221; Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at the time.
The announcement was a win for Trump, who has encouraged tech companies to manufacture in the United States.
Huang praised Trump&#8217;s manufacturing vision in May.
&#8220;Our president wants America to win,&#8221; Huang told CNBC. &#8220;The president laid out a bold vision for the United States, for America, to re-industrialize, to onshore manufacturing so that we can have a more resilient supply chain, so that we can create jobs locally.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang hails President Trump&#8217;s &#8220;bold vision for the United States, for America, to re-industrialize, to onshore manufacturing.&#8221;
&#8220;Our President wants America to WIN.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/l3RtpdllXp">pic.twitter.com/l3RtpdllXp</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1928060927309394107?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
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9th VivaTech – Viva Technology: Day Two

Nvidia Becomes 1st Company To Hit $4 Trillion Market Cap As Trump’s AI Vision Paying Off

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