WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump released a plan on Friday to expand American shipbuilding, ease regulations on commercial carriers, and boost domestic maritime jobs.
The plan represents what the White House called &#8220;the first holistic approach&#8221; to strengthening the maritime industry in the United States and streamlining government procurement, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told reporters on Friday morning.
The White House said the initiative would involve &#8220;hundreds of billions of dollars&#8221; in new investments, fulfilling Trump&#8217;s promise &#8220;to build ships in America.&#8221;
Kelly argued that America&#8217;s &#8220;strategic position and shipbuilding industrial capacity&#8221; has been weakened over the decades due to unnecessary regulatory burdens and a lack of sustained policy focus.
Kelly also accused foreign competitors of using unfair trade practices to expand their shipbuilding industries.
The White House described Trump as the first president in decades to elevate &#8220;American maritime dominance&#8221; as a priority, pointing to the newly released plan.
<div id="attachment_1043749" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unveils-plan-to-expand-u-s-shipbuilding-restore-americas-maritime-dominance/south-koreas-150-billion-bet-on-trumps-shipbuilding-dream" rel="attachment wp-att-1043749"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1043749" class="wp-image-1043749 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2231657244-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2231657244-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2231657244-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2231657244-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2231657244.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Workers construct a grand block of the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel Five (NSMV V), a training platform for state maritime academies, in the grand block shop at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. Photographer: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images.</div>
&#8220;He has done more than anyone to revitalize this vital sector for our national security,&#8221; Kelly said, citing his April 2025 executive order directing his team to craft a maritime action plan.
The plan calls for strengthening maritime supply chains, developing a strategy to secure Arctic waterways, expanding the fleet of American-built and American-flagged commercial vessels, and recapitalizing government-owned sealift ships.
Kelly said the plan would improve coordination among federal agencies involved in ship procurement. She added that it would expand government programs, encourage private investment in domestic shipbuilding, and pursue deregulation.
A copy of the plan indicates that the proposal is structured around four key pillars: expanding domestic shipbuilding capacity, reforming maritime workforce education and training, protecting the industrial base from foreign competition, and strengthening national security.
The document concludes by projecting that the plan will &#8220;reestablish America’s position as a global maritime power,&#8221; thereby strengthening national security and economic prosperity.

President Trump Tours Ford Rouge Complex In Michigan

Trump Unveils Plan To Expand U.S. Shipbuilding, Restore ‘America’s Maritime Dominance’

Donald Trump

Economy

Executive

Politics

White House

New federal data released Friday showed inflation slowing and wages rising in January, trends the Trump administration says signal improving affordability.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices rose 2.4% last month, below the 2.5% forecast. Markets rose following the news.
Average hourly earnings rose <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf">3.7%</a> over the past year, outpacing inflation and reflecting real wage growth. Private-sector employers added more than 170,000 jobs in January.
“We saw real wage growth in 2025,&#8221; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. &#8220;It could be very strong in 2026, and I think the American people are going to start feeling it.”
The White House said the data reflect the success of President Donald Trump&#8217;s economic policies.
“President Trump has defeated Joe Biden’s inflation crisis in record time,&#8221; said White House Spokesperson Taylor Rogers. &#8220;Inflation is low, wages are up, and the American economy is booming — all thanks to President Trump’s pro-growth agenda. President Trump is working hard to Make America Affordable Again — just like he promised.” 
&#8220;Real wages are up $1,400 in 2025 — nearly half of Biden era real wage decline made up for in just one year thanks to President Trump,&#8221; said White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai. &#8220;This is just the beginning: President Trump&#8217;s MFN drug pricing deals, tax cuts, trade deals, and deregulation are just starting to take effect.&#8221;
When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, annual inflation was running at 1.9%. During his term, inflation averaged 4.9% and peaked at 9.1% in 2022. Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in 2021, which included $1,400 direct payments to Americans.
“Joe Biden crashed the economy,” Bessent said. “The policies were a disaster for the American people.” 
Bessent argued that the Biden administration boosted demand through increased government spending while constraining supply with tighter regulations, driving up inflation. 
The January data marks the latest sign that inflationary pressures may be easing as the administration pushes its affordability agenda.

Consumer Prices See Largest Increases In 30 Years

Inflation Cools, Wages Rise As Trump White House Celebrates Affordability Gains

Inflation

Jobs

Scott Bessent

Unemployment

A coalition of state attorneys general led by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is warning major corporations that participating in coordinated “plastics sustainability” initiatives could expose them to serious antitrust and consumer protection liability, according to a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eCxmUDluD7iaEOb6c9qOFvmbrXw03vW9/view">letter</a> obtained by The Daily Wire.
The letter, sent Tuesday, targeted 78 companies affiliated with several prominent plastics and packaging advocacy groups, including Amazon, Lego, Intel, and Microsoft. The attorneys general argue that collective commitments to eliminate products, reduce packaging options, or alter product quality may unlawfully restrain trade by limiting output and bypassing normal market competition.
The warning focuses on companies involved with the U.S. Plastics Pact, the Consumer Goods Forum, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. These organizations promote industry-wide targets aimed at reducing or eliminating certain plastic products and mandating recyclability and content standards. According to the attorneys general, those targets are not simply aspirational—they function as coordinated pressure campaigns that can distort markets and harm consumers.
This letter follows earlier warnings sent directly to the advocacy groups in October, escalating scrutiny from the organizational level to individual company participation.
The attorneys general warn that companies that continue to adhere to or enforce these policies may face enforcement under the Sherman Antitrust Act, as well as state and federal consumer protection laws. The letter emphasizes that membership in an industry association does not shield companies from liability if their conduct results in reduced output, degraded product quality, or higher prices.
Collective action lies at the heart of the concern. The advocacy groups themselves have acknowledged that their goals cannot be achieved through individual corporate decisions alone, but require coordinated commitments across competing firms—a hallmark of the kind of conduct antitrust laws are designed to prevent.
The letter draws on legal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/attorneys-general-warn-financial-institutions-of-antitrust-violations-over-climate-activism">scrutiny</a> of so-called “net-zero alliances”—industry groups that coordinated commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—as a cautionary example. In those cases, state attorneys general raised antitrust, fiduciary, and consumer protection concerns because competitors aligned on output-related targets and standards instead of competing independently. Some companies responded by withdrawing from the alliances, causing the initiatives to dissolve or weaken without full enforcement actions.
The attorneys general argue this history is instructive because the plastics advocacy groups at issue rely on similar coordinated commitments across multiple companies, which can produce the same anti-competitive effects antitrust law seeks to prevent.
The letter also cites a recent federal court ruling allowing antitrust and consumer protection claims against BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street to proceed. The court found that allegations of coordinated climate commitments leading to reduced output and market manipulation could support legal claims. The attorneys general contend that this precedent directly applies to plastics initiatives.
The letter stresses that environmental or social intentions do not exempt companies from antitrust law. Even for public-interest reasons, courts have consistently held that agreements to restrict output or reduce quality remain illegal. As the attorneys general note, no legal exception allows companies to collude to “protect consumers from their own choices.”
Beyond antitrust concerns, the attorneys general warn that companies may mislead consumers if they promote sustainability targets that are unrealistic, artificially imposed, or unlikely to be met—particularly if they fail to disclose the costs, tradeoffs, or feasibility of those commitments.
Attorney General Uthmeier framed the warning as a response to ideological pressure on corporations. “Multiple advocacy organizations have pressured companies into artificially changing the output and quality of their goods and services in ways that normal market forces would not otherwise bring about,” Uthmeier said. “Advocacy for a particular agenda is not a basis to mislead consumers.”
Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, compared the plastics initiatives to ESG-driven net-zero alliances. “When corporations coordinate through advocacy groups to restrict products, degrade quality, or manipulate markets outside normal competitive forces, that raises serious antitrust and consumer protection concerns,” Isaac said. “Coordinated pressure to eliminate products or reduce quality without regard to consumer demand is not sustainability—it is cartel-like behavior dressed up in advocacy language.”
Will Hild, Executive Director of Consumers’ Research, framed the letter as broader pushback against ESG-driven coordination. “State Attorneys General are sending a clear message to corporate America: you cannot collude with woke activists to push a political agenda and expect to escape scrutiny,” Hild said. “These plastics initiatives are not about serving consumers; they are about quietly eliminating products, reducing quality, and driving up costs.”
The attorneys general now demand that companies explain the legal basis for continued participation in these initiatives and provide documents showing why their conduct does not violate antitrust or consumer protection laws. The letter warns that failure to respond could trigger subpoenas or other compulsory legal action.
Requests for comment sent to Amazon, Intel, Lego, and Microsoft were not returned before publication.

US-NEWS-FLA-AG-TRUMP-ENDORSEMENT-OS

State AGs Tell Companies Their Sustainability Pacts Violate Antitrust Laws

Antitrust

Environmentalism

James Uthmeier

U.S.

One Republican lawmaker wants the controversial H-1B visa program to be gone for good.
Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) introduced the Ending Exploitative Imported Labor Exemptions (EXILE) Act, which would change the Immigration and Nationality Act to no longer include the visa type, which the Republican argues will help the American workforce.
“Prioritizing foreign labor over the well-being and prosperity of American citizens undermines our values and national interests,” Steube said in a statement.
“Our workers and young people continue to be displaced and disenfranchised by the H-1B visa program that awards corporations and foreign competitors at the expense of our workforce. We cannot preserve the American dream for our children while forfeiting their share to non-citizens. That is why I am introducing the EXILE Act to put working Americans first again,” he continued. The congressman pointed out that the vast majority of H-1B visas are doled out to citizens of India and China.
The H-1B visa program allows people to work in the United States for a “specialty occupation,” and it’s capped at 65,000 visas annually with another 20,000 for people with high levels of college education, like a master&#8217;s degree.
The Trump administration has already made sweeping changes to the program, including imposing a $100,000 fee for the visa petition in many circumstances, as well as a rule changing how the visas are granted to ensure that more “higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens” will be given them.
“The existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers,” said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser in a December statement regarding the rule.
“The new weighted selection will better serve Congress’ intent for the H-1B program and strengthen America’s competitiveness by incentivizing American employers to petition for higher-paid, higher-skilled foreign workers. With these regulatory changes and others in the future, we will continue to update the H-1B program to help American businesses without allowing the abuse that was harming American workers,” he continued.
Criticism of the H-1B visa program is not exclusive to the Right, as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has also been a proponent of reform over labor concerns.
“The primary purpose of H-1B and other guest worker programs is not to employ the ‘best and the brightest,’ but instead to replace American workers with lower-paid workers from abroad who often live as indentured servants,” Sanders wrote in a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/sen-bernie-sanders-h1-b-visas-hurt-one-type-worker-exploits-another-mess-must-fixed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> op-ed last year.
“Not only is this program disastrous for American workers, it can be very harmful to guest workers as well, who are often locked into lower-paying jobs and can have their visas taken away from them by their corporate bosses if they complain about dangerous, unfair or illegal working conditions,” he added.

Airport

GOP Lawmaker Proposes Nuking Controversial Visa Program Entirely

Congress

Immigration

Trump Administration

Vice President JD Vance became the highest-ranking U.S. official to ever visit Armenia while in office on Monday, joining Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to sign a civil nuclear agreement as part of the Trump administration&#8217;s efforts to secure peace in the South Caucasus.
During Vance&#8217;s visit, Pashinyan also reaffirmed Armenia&#8217;s commitment to the peace deal between his country and Azerbaijan that was brokered by President Donald Trump last August. The agreement signed on Monday promises $9 billion in potential U.S. investment in Armenia&#8217;s nuclear sector, an $11 million shipment of U.S. drones to the South Caucasus country, and a partnership on the sale of Nvidia chips to Armenia.
Vance <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/9NXWxKZhejE?si=zEdoR-IYl-vdgbcQ">called</a> the agreement a &#8220;win-win&#8221; that will provide additional energy exports to Armenia from the United States, as well as economic opportunities for American companies and security for Armenia. The nuclear cooperation would set up &#8220;a way for American and Armenian companies to strike deals on civil nuclear projects,&#8221; according to Vance, who added, &#8220;That means up to five billion dollars in initial U.S. exports, plus an additional four billion in long-term support through fuel and maintenance contracts.&#8221;
The civil nuclear agreement marks a major shift for Armenia, which has long relied on Russia for its energy and security. After President Trump took office last January, the United States strengthened its relationship with Armenia, a country that has grown increasingly open to the West under Pashinyan. Last August, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-week-in-armenia-hope-emerges-after-trumps-major-steps-toward-peace">struck a peace deal</a> between Armenia and its neighbor, Azerbaijan, after years of conflict that saw over 100,000 ethnic Armenians forced to flee Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inside of Azerbaijan that has been home to Armenians for thousands of years.
Pashinyan said that Vance&#8217;s visit &#8220;reflects the depth of the strong and strategic partnership&#8221; between the United States and Armenia. The prime minister also expressed gratitude for President Donald Trump&#8217;s work to negotiate a deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan and strengthen the U.S.-Armenia relationship.
&#8220;After the Washington Peace Summit, [Azerbaijani] President Aliyev and I nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize through a joint letter, and I have great hope that the president will rightfully receive this award in 2026,&#8221; Pashinyan added.
Vance commented on the &#8220;visionary&#8221; accomplishment that Trump achieved alongside Pashinyan in the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan last year.
&#8220;We&#8217;re not just making peace for Armenia, we&#8217;re also creating real prosperity for Armenia and the United States together,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;So much of the great cooperation that we&#8217;re going to announce today would not have been possible without [Pashinyan&#8217;s] leadership, without the peace that you committed your country to and without, of course, the president of the United States&#8217; leadership.&#8221;
&#8220;I really do believe that tonight marks a new beginning for Armenia and the United States and the partnership that our countries can have together,&#8221; Vance added.
Monday&#8217;s energy and economic agreement between the United States and Armenia comes on top of plans to develop an international trade route in Armenia to better connect the country to its neighbors. The route, which would be called the Trump Road for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), would open up more opportunities for business and trade in the region that has long been unstable. The Trump administration is hopeful that TRIPP will also ensure that the peace agreement signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan &#8220;will stick.&#8221;
Stepan Sargsyan, a former Armenian governor who works closely with the prime minister, told The Daily Wire on Monday that the TRIPP project is moving along smoothly.
&#8220;Right now, the Americans and Armenians and their Azeri counterparts are working very diligently and very expeditiously to bring it into fruition,&#8221; Sargsyan said. &#8220;Actually, literally a few days ago, the American embassy in Yerevan, Armenia, announced that a team of engineers from a U.S. company had already arrived in Armenia to do the surveying [for TRIPP]. So, we too in Armenia are very hopeful that this will come into existence very, very quickly.&#8221;
Vance plans to travel to Azerbaijan on Tuesday in hopes of continuing the Trump administration&#8217;s successful negotiations in the region and moving the August agreement forward.
In his press conference with Pashinyan on Monday, Vance also highlighted Armenia&#8217;s Christian foundation. Armenia is known as the first Christian nation in the world, officially declaring itself Christian in A.D. 301. Vance called Armenia a &#8220;true bedrock of Christian civilization and culture.&#8221;
&#8220;As a devout Christian myself, I know the meaning of this country to the entire world and to the religion that the prime minister and I share,&#8221; Vance added.

U.S. Vice President Vance Travels To Armenia

‘A New Beginning’: JD Vance Signs Nuclear Deal In Historic Visit To Armenia

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Foreign Policy

JD Vance

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took a swing at liberal media network MS NOW — referring to it by its previous name, MSNBC — prompting laughs from Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) along with several others in Thursday&#8217;s Senate Banking Committee hearing.
Bessent was taking questions from the committee on the economy during President Donald Trump&#8217;s first year in office, and he made the argument that public sentiment — and consumer confidence — could easily be influenced by dishonest media narratives.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorRicketts?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenatorRicketts</a>: &#8220;What more could we be doing in the Senate…to be able to help out with confidence…of consumers&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/SecScottBessent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecScottBessent</a>: &#8220;Other than telling consumers to turn off MSNBC…it is a survey problem, where Democrats vote very low and Republicans are more realistic.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/HgwM2YULv5">pic.twitter.com/HgwM2YULv5</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/2019465329676808367?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) noted that consumer confidence did not appear to match the numbers coming from recent economic reports — and asked Bessent to identify where the disconnect might be and explain what could be done to bring people around.
&#8220;Despite all this progress, we&#8217;re seeing consumer confidence is not really rebounding the way that the economy seems to be,&#8221; Ricketts said. &#8220;In your opinion, what more can we in the Senate be doing with regard to consumer confidence and, you know, obviously, we had 40-year high inflation under the Biden administration. What more could we be doing in the Senate … to be able to help out with confidence … of consumers?&#8221;
&#8220;Other than telling consumers to turn off MSNBC,&#8221; Bessent began, prompting several loud laughs. &#8220;A large part of it is a survey problem, where Democrats vote very low and Republicans are more realistic, and then we end up — what we are seeing —&#8221;
Scott interrupted them to explain that the time had expired for Senator Ricketts and it was time to move on with the hearing.
&#8220;I appreciate your comments, believe me,&#8221; Scott said to Bessent with a chuckle.
Bessent also sparred with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who asked him during Thursday&#8217;s hearing whether he agreed with President Donald Trump about the &#8220;affordability crisis&#8221; being a &#8220;hoax.&#8221;
Bessent carefully explained — more than once — that the Trump administration&#8217;s position was not that the affordability crisis was a hoax. He argued instead that the &#8220;hoax&#8221; was a reference to Democrat efforts to spin a real crisis of their own making — during former President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration — as something brand new that was wholly created and owned by President Trump.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Interview

Scott Bessent Nukes MSNBC When Asked How To Boost Consumer Confidence

Media

MSNBC

Tim Scott

It is better to give the next generation ownership of America’s future instead of handouts President Trump told attendees of the Trump Account Summit on Wednesday.
Over the next fifteen years, the United States Treasury and a plethora of fortune 500 companies will be putting about $4 trillion dollars of wealth into the hands of young Americans through Trump Accounts which are investment accounts for children under the age of eighteen with a $1000 seed investment from the government. The accounts will give children ownership in the American economy from birth.
“Trump Accounts represent the triumph of capitalism over socialism,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Through Trump Accounts, our President is creating an ownership economy where all citizens become shareholders in America’s wealth.”
Bessent called Trump Accounts the greatest merger in world history, the merger of Wall Street and Main Street and that it will forever change the relationship Americans have with the United States economy. Children won’t be able to take money out of their accounts until eighteen, so theoretically as America’s economy grows so will the value of children’s Trump Accounts.
“People are going to turn to socialism if they aren’t part of the system,” Counselor to the Treasury Secretary, Joe Lavorgna, told the Daily Wire. “This is a way to directly get them involved and partake in United States economic growth and prosperity, so they have no reason to move away from capitalism and move toward a subpar inferior system if they can actually benefit from capitalism.”
While the program has seen support across both sides of the aisle, some critics argue it will widen the wealth gap with the account predicted to total $5,000 when a child turns eighteen without additional investments from parents and employers versus $300,000 with additional investments. “I think that is a terrible criticism and it shows how out of touch anyone who says that is. Because if they say only $5,000 … huge numbers of families in America don’t have $500 to meet a medical emergency.” Bessent added, “You don’t want a wealth gap? Go to Venezuela, go to Cuba. Nobody owns anything.”
Marking the Trump Account launch day, seven different companies announced they would be matching contributions to their employees who opened the account including JPMorgan, Steak ‘n Shake, Bank of America, Broadcom, Intel, Coinbase, Comcast, and Turning Point USA. Past companies who previously announced employee match contribution programs were Charles Schwab, Uber, Charter Communications, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, Mastercard, Visa, Block, Robinhood, SoFi, Chime, Russell Investments, and Dell Technologies.
World famous rapper Nicki Minaj also unveiled she will be pledging money to help fund her fans&#8217; Trump Accounts. Minaj did not announce which fans will be eligible for the contribution.
Minaj said, &#8220;If I had access to something like this my whole life would be different. So now I&#8217;m thinking about those kids who are bright and aren&#8217;t born with a bank account or wealthy relatives or parents but they have so much to offer this world. Now they get to have some sort of hope.&#8221;
In addition to wealth creation, the White House says Trump accounts will create a real-time laboratory of financial literacy for all Americans as students are able to watch their investment accounts grow when they log in to their accounts. Bessent said two-thirds of Generation Z cannot answer more than half of the basic financial literacy questions on the Nation’s Personal Finance Index and that the real-time Trump Account education will give Americans the opportunity to course correct financial literacy.

gettyimages-2258679584-594×594

White House Says Trump Accounts Are Antidote To Socialism

Socialism

Virginia Democrats have introduced legislation that would significantly raise income and investment taxes, putting the Commonwealth on track to become the highest-taxed state in the nation. These proposals, which include new top tax brackets and higher levies on investment income, would push Virginia’s effective income tax rate above California’s.
Democrats introduced the legislation shortly after consolidating power in Richmond, creating higher income tax brackets and expanding taxes on capital gains and other investment income. If lawmakers enact the bills, the changes would raise Virginia’s top effective income tax rate to roughly 13.8%, surpassing all other states.
Lawmakers backing the measures argue the tax hikes are necessary to fund public priorities and stabilize state finances. Virginia Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler (D-VA) said the proposals would require “millionaires [to] pay their fair share of taxes,” arguing the revenue would help “buffer” Virginians from broader economic pressures. Left-wing policy group The Commonwealth Institute, one of the many groups behind this proposed plan, said a “Fair Share tax” could raise more than $1 billion annually for education, housing, and other public services.
Democrats have positioned the tax proposals as part of a broader affordability agenda. Governor Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) has said her administration will prioritize lowering health care, housing, and energy costs. She campaigned on what she called an agenda to build a more “Affordable Virginia.”
Throughout her campaign, Spanberger emphasized cost relief as a central theme. Her campaign promised that an “Affordable Virginia Plan will lower costs, save Virginians money, and make it easier for people who work hard to get ahead.” She later pledged that her administration would “lower health care, energy, and housing costs in 2026.”
But critics argue the tax increases directly undermine those affordability promises.
Virginia Republicans remain skeptical of these promises, with State House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore (R-VA) pointing to the tax proposals as the leading edge of what he calls a slate of “bad bills.&#8221; The Republican Party of Virginia released an official statement saying, “Spanberger’s economic agenda would take Virginia down the same failed path as California and New York.&#8221;
The criticism quickly extended beyond Richmond. Conservative policy groups and Republican-aligned organizations warned the proposals would put Virginia at a competitive disadvantage nationally. “It’s always a bad time to raise taxes, but it would be particularly foolish for Governor Spanberger and the Democrats who now control Richmond to do so at this time of heightened state tax competition,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.
Other conservative groups echoed that warning. The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), a major fundraising organization aligned with House Republicans, said the proposed tax increases would raise costs statewide, discourage investment, and drive jobs and capital out of Virginia. “It’s about to get very, very expensive to live, work, and raise a family in Virginia,” the organization said.
The CLF also accused Democrats of moving quickly to raise taxes after campaigning on affordability, noting that “within 48 hours of taking power in Richmond, Virginia Democrats have introduced legislation creating new sales and retail taxes.” The group added that “Democrats campaign on affordability, but the minute they’re given power they rob hardworking families of their paycheck in the form of higher and new taxes.”
Although lawmakers have not officially adopted the plan, Democrats’ 64-36 control of the House of Delegates and 21-19 majority in the Senate make passage likely.
Still, as Democrats defend the tax hikes as a “fair share” contribution to fund affordability initiatives, the measures risk turning Virginia into a tax-hiking outlier and a liability for Democrats in the 2026 midterms, as voters increasingly see higher taxes as the party’s solution to affordability concerns.

Abigail Spanberger Is Sworn In As First Female Virginia Governor

After Running On Affordability, Virginia Dems Push For Nation’s Highest Income Tax

abigail spanberger

Taxes

Virginia

President Donald Trump urged Congress on Wednesday to pass legislation capping credit card interest rates at 10% for the next year, a proposal that has drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers.
Trump pressed Congress to take action on credit card interest rates during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Last week, the president pressured banks and credit card companies to lower interest rates for one year, but he didn&#8217;t address how he would force them to comply. A deadline had been set for Jan. 20, but institutions have yet to follow Trump&#8217;s directive.
&#8220;The profit margin for credit card companies now exceeds 50%, and they charge Americans interest rates of 28%, 30%, 31%, 32%. Whatever happened to usury?&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2013983796039647649">said</a> on Wednesday. &#8220;So, to help our citizens recover from the Biden disaster all caused by this horrible president, I&#8217;m asking Congress to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year.&#8221;
&#8220;And this will help millions of Americans save for a home,&#8221; he added.
Leftist Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has pushed for capping credit card interest rates, said last week that Trump <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/14/warren-trump-credit-card-interest-rate-affordability.html">called her</a> to discuss the issue. Warren said that she told Trump &#8220;he had not lifted a finger to try to get something through on credit card interest rate caps.”
Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Republican Josh Hawley of Missouri also support the idea. Both senators introduced a bill last year to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for five years. Leftist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna introduced a similar bill in the House, but the legislation has not made any progress in Congress.
When Trump publicly floated the idea of capping interest rates last week, Republican leaders in the Senate and House poured cold water on the proposal. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said last Tuesday, &#8220;The president is the ideas guy,” adding, “I wouldn’t get too spun up about ideas that are out of the box, that are proposed or suggested,&#8221; POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/13/trump-credit-cards-congress-republicans-00725477">reported</a>.
&#8220;You&#8217;ve got to be very careful if you go forward in that,&#8221; Johnson continued. &#8220;In our zeal to bring down costs, you don&#8217;t want to have negative secondary effects. The problem is, if you do that, then the credit card companies, the negative secondary effect is that they would just stop lending money, and maybe they cap what people are able to borrow at a very low amount.&#8221;
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said, “That’s not something I’m out there advocating for.&#8221; Thune told NBC News that he believes Trump is getting bad advice.
&#8220;He may be getting advice on some of those issues, like, for example, the 10% cap on credit cards,” he said. “Don’t know where that came from. I don’t know. I don’t know the answer.”
Now that Trump has called on Congress to act on capping credit card interest rates, Republican leaders could find themselves in a tougher spot if they continue to publicly oppose his plan.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who is also in Davos, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/21/jamie-dimon-trump-credit-card-rate-cap-vermont-massachusetts.html">said</a> on Wednesday that a cap on credit card interest rates &#8220;would be an economic disaster.&#8221;
“In the worst case, you’d have a drastic reduction of the credit card business” for 80% of Americans, Dimon said, according to CNBC. He then quipped that the United States should test the idea in Warren&#8217;s and Sanders&#8217; home states of Massachusetts and Vermont, &#8220;and see what happens.&#8221; The banker added that those on &#8220;the Left&#8221; who push for price controls “will learn a real lesson, and the people crying the most won’t be the credit card companies.&#8221;
“It’ll be the restaurants, the retailers, the travel companies, the schools, the municipalities, because people miss their water payments,” Dimon said. “It would be something else to watch.”

Trump Urges Congress To Cap Credit Card Interest Rates As Republican Leaders Push Back On Plan

Trump Calls On Congress To Cap Credit Card Interest Rates As Republican Leaders Push Back On Plan

Bernie Sanders

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Exactly one year into President Donald Trump&#8217;s second term, the economy remains a top concern for voters, and the president believes his administration is doing enough to address so-called affordability issues, but is failing to promote that success to combat &#8220;fake news.&#8221;
Trump spoke to reporters in the White House briefing room on Tuesday, highlighting his biggest wins so far in his second term. <a href="https://x.com/PhilipWegmann/status/2013729430741365212">Asked</a> by RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Melanchthon Wegmann if economic woes are still pressing down on Americans or if the economy is a messaging issue for the White House, Trump replied, &#8220;A lot of people are listening to the fake news a little bit.&#8221;
&#8220;And I&#8217;m not blaming everybody. I blame ourselves,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;I think we&#8217;ve done a much better job than we were able to promote. We&#8217;re not promoting. We&#8217;re doing a great job and sort of letting the promotion take care of itself.&#8221;
&#8220;But if you look at prices, compared to a year or a year-and-a-half ago, you look at the Biden prices, they were way up through the sky,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;And they use the word &#8216;affordability,&#8217; they just say &#8216;affordability&#8217; and they don&#8217;t talk about it. They created the affordability problem, and we are solving it. We have solved a lot of it.&#8221;
Addressing the economy, along with immigration, have been the biggest issues for the president since he was sworn in last January. In his first year back in the White House, Trump has rewritten global trade with his unprecedented tariffs, which have resulted in billions of dollars of commitments from countries and companies to ramp up manufacturing in the United States.
It will take time before those commitments materialize, however, and in the meantime, Trump&#8217;s tariffs are hitting Americans&#8217; wallets in some cases. Grocery items such as beef, coffee, and some fruits jumped thanks to the president&#8217;s tariffs on nearly all foreign imports. After some concerning election results for Republicans in November, Trump began to more aggressively address the economy, and he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-rolls-back-tariffs-on-dozens-of-food-imports-heres-what-will-be-affected">rolled back</a> tariffs on numerous grocery items and agricultural products.
Under Trump, other grocery items have dropped in price as inflation steadied around 3% for most of the past year. Egg <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/eggs-us">prices</a> are down over 13% since last year and reached their lowest level since 2019, according to Trading Economics. <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/poultry">Poultry</a> prices have also dropped over 12% since last year. Gas prices nationwide have tumbled since Trump took office, with the current U.S. average down over 15 cents per gallon compared to this time last year, according to <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/gas-prices-nudge-higher-remain-lower-than-last-year/">AAA</a>.
Trump made sure to mention the drop in gas prices during the briefing on Tuesday afternoon, saying, &#8220;Everybody in this room agrees that gasoline prices are way down. When that happens, everything else goes down.&#8221;
The Trump administration has also floated some other policies to address the economic pinch that many Americans are feeling, such as allowing Americans to tap into their 401k penalty-free to purchase a home. Last week, President Trump demanded that credit card companies cap interest rates at 10%, an idea that has been criticized by many conservatives. The administration has also promised that Americans would see massive tax refunds this year thanks to the president&#8217;s tax policies.

Trump Says Admin Isn’t Good At ‘Promoting’ Economic Success As Voters Hear ‘Fake News’

affordability

The Trump administration&#8217;s top auto policy officials on Saturday touted federal efforts to lower car prices by eliminating vehicle emissions regulations, as affordability remains a key concern among Americans.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer toured the annual Detroit Auto Show to wrap up a two-day Midwestern swing that included stops at a Ford truck factory and Stellantis Jeep plant in Ohio on Friday.
The administration has aggressively rolled back electric vehicle rules from former President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration.
Duffy said the rules &#8220;will bring car prices down and allow car companies to offer products that Americans want to buy.&#8221;
He added, &#8220;this is not a war on EVs at all &#8230; We shouldn&#8217;t use government policy to encourage EV purchases all the while penalizing combustion engines.&#8221;
President Donald Trump is grappling with economic headwinds a year after taking office and ahead of November&#8217;s midterm ⁠elections, having campaigned on quickly fixing higher prices for American consumers.
Average new car transaction prices hit a record $50,326 in December as Americans bought more pricey trucks and SUVs, research firm Cox Automotive said, while automakers are offering fewer entry-level vehicles.
Trump signed legislation last year eliminating a $7,500 EV tax credit, rescinding California&#8217;s EV rules and cancelling penalties for automakers not meeting fuel efficiency requirements.
Zeldin said the government &#8220;should not be forcing, requiring, mandating that the market go in a direction other than what the American consumer is demanding.&#8221;
Automakers also face steep tariffs imposed by Trump on imported vehicles and parts. Despite the EV policy changes and new tariffs, new U.S. vehicle sales rose 2.4% in 2025 to 16.2 million vehicles.
Democrats say auto tariffs and efforts to eliminate EV incentives will harm consumers. But Greer said car prices are trending down and &#8220;whatever effects those tariffs may have on various parts of the supply chain, they&#8217;re not really getting down to the consumer.&#8221;
Kathy Harris, director of clean vehicles at environmental activist group NRDC, criticized the administration&#8217;s auto policies. &#8220;The oil industry will rake in billions more from cash-strapped Americans who can&#8217;t afford to spend more to fuel up their car or truck.&#8221;
In December, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed rolling back Biden-era fuel efficiency standards that had prodded auto companies to build more EVs to comply. The EPA is also expected to finalize a rule in the coming weeks eliminating vehicle tailpipe emissions requirements.
USDOT estimates its proposal would reduce average up-front vehicle costs by $930, but increase fuel consumption by as much as 100 billion gallons through 2050, and cost Americans up to another $185 billion for fuel.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in DetroitEditing by Rod Nickel)

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Trump Admin Touts Push To Lower Car Prices, De-Emphasize EVs

Electric cars

New economic data rolls in with good news for Americans’ wallets, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on whether states can bar males from competing in women’s sports, and how did Minnesota get here? We speak to former GOP governor Tim Pawlenty to learn more.
It’s Tuesday, January 13, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump’s Wins</h2>
Nearly one year after retaking the presidency, the White House says President Donald Trump’s economic and domestic agenda is starting to pay off. When Trump launched his trade war, the consensus among most economists and Democratic lawmakers was that it would tank the economy and stall GDP growth. But each month, the data continues to defy those expectations. At the beginning of 2025, the U.S. GDP shrank by half a percentage point. That set off alarm bells in Washington that a recession was looming. But in Quarter 2, GDP grew 3.8%; by Quarter 3, it was up to 4.3%, and based on the latest projections from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, GDP growth in the final quarter of 2025 was a stunning 5.1%. On Monday, gas prices fell for the seventh straight week. On housing, mortgage rates fell below 6% for the first time in nearly three years, while rents declined for the fifth straight month. Inflation has trended in the right direction for months.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">SCOTUS Weighs Women&#8217;s Sports</h2>
The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on Tuesday in two high-stakes cases that could have sweeping consequences for women’s sports and state authority. The paired cases come from Idaho and West Virginia and center on whether states can enforce laws banning biological males from competing in women’s sports. In Idaho’s Little v Hecox, Lindsay Hecox, a male who identifies as a transgender woman, is challenging Idaho&#8217;s Fairness in Women&#8217;s Sports Act. In the West Virginia case, a male middle school athlete known as BPJ is asking the court to invalidate a similar law. The Court consolidated the two cases because they raised nearly identical legal questions.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Former Gov Tim Pawlenty Talks MN Fraud And ICE</h2>
The protests gripping Minneapolis over the last few days have come amid federal investigations into widespread fraud, which President Trump is now sending even more agents to investigate. Former Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty joined Morning Wire to discuss the issue rocking his state. The former governor blamed the tense standoff between local leaders and federal law enforcement on the state&#8217;s sanctuary policies. The extent of social service fraud in the state could be as high as $9 billion or more, which “could be the largest theft or fraud of public money in the history of our country,” Pawlenty said. On the chances that Democratic Governor Tim Walz could have known about the massive amount of fraud in his state prior to the recent media attention, Pawlenty said that the Minnesota state government has quashed fraud investigations before, simply by bureaucrats refusing to work with investigators.

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Morning Brief: Trump Economy Surges, SCOTUS Weighs Women’s Sports, & What Went Wrong In Minnesota

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