Canada ended a digital service tax that would have hit major American tech companies hard after President Donald Trump announced he was ending trade talks with the country over the levy.
Canada’s Department of Finance said Sunday that it would rescind its Digital Service Tax (DST) in “anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States.” The reversal came after Trump said on Friday that he was “terminating” trade discussions. 
The tax, which was expected to take effect on Monday, was anticipated to have a significant impact on United States-based companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, and Apple. 
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“Canada’s new government is focused on building the strongest economy in the G7 and standing up for Canadian workers and businesses,” <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/06/canada-rescinds-digital-services-tax-to-advance-broader-trade-negotiations-with-the-united-states.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Minister of Finance and National Revenue François-Philippe Champagne. “Rescinding the digital services tax will allow the negotiations of a new economic and security relationship with the United States to make vital progress and reinforce our work to create jobs and build prosperity for all Canadians.”
Earlier this month, Champagne said that the Digital Service Tax would be implemented despite opposition from the United States. He <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-digital-services-tax-1.7565966" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on June 19 that the tax was “going ahead” as scheduled and would be applied. 
The digital service tax was <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/excise-taxes-duties-and-levies/digital-services-tax.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enacted</a> to require “foreign and domestic large businesses to pay tax on certain revenue earned from engaging with online users in Canada,” according to the Canadian government. The tax would have cost American businesses up to $2.3 billion annually, <a href="https://ccianet.org/research/reports/impacts-canada-proposed-digital-service-tax-united-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a study conducted by the Computer and Communications Industry Association. 
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that he and Trump had agreed to continue trade discussions with the hope of signing an agreement by July 21. 
The resumption of talks follows Trump&#8217;s social media berating of Canada on Friday. 
“We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products, has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114756567645919781">posted</a> on Truth Social. “Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period.”
Several other trade deadlines are looming, including a July 9 cutoff for the United States and the European Union to make a deal before 50% tariffs on European imports are imposed.

World Leaders Converge In Canada For G7 Summit

Canada Caves: Digital Tax On U.S. Tech Scrapped After Trump Pressure

Amazon

Apple

Big Tech

Canada

Donald Trump

Economy

Executive

Google

Politics

Tariffs

Taxes

Trade War

President Donald Trump&#8217;s on such a winning streak that not even CNN can ignore it.
From the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cia-reveals-intelligence-showing-u-s-destroyed-key-iranian-nuclear-facilities">destruction</a> of Iran&#8217;s key nuclear facilities to brokering a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-holds-ceasefire-after-israel-refrains-from-major-retaliation-for-irans-strike-on-civilians">ceasefire</a> between Iran and Israel, the president&#8217;s slew of victories has gotten long enough that  CNN host Michael Smerconish spent more than six minutes on air diving into Trump&#8217;s accomplishments over the past 12 days. The chyron on the screen simply said, &#8220;Trump On A Roll.&#8221;
&#8220;The mission was carried out with stealth and precision,&#8221; Smerconish said of American attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. &#8220;There were no American casualties.&#8221;
Smerconish then noted of Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-triumphs-nato-bows-to-u-s-pressure-with-5-defense-pledge">maneuvering an impressive win at NATO</a>, getting United States allies to more than double their contribution to the alliance. The president reached a trade deal with China, and expects a deal with India soon, Smerconish said, adding that the stock market has &#8220;rebounded and grown,&#8221; hitting record highs.
Additionally, the CNN host highlighted how inflation has cooled under Trump.
&#8220;The rate is now reported at 2.4%, down from a high of 7% just four years ago,&#8221; Smerconish told viewers. &#8220;Meanwhile, blue-collar workers have seen real wage growth of 1.7% in Trump&#8217;s first five months: this is the largest such increase in three generations.&#8221;
Trump has also incentivized major companies to invest in American manufacturing, the host noted. As highlighted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ge-appliances-moving-production-from-china-to-republican-state">The Daily Wire</a>, GE Appliances announced this week that it’s moving even more of its production from China to Kentucky, investing nearly half-a-billion dollars and creating at least 800 full-time jobs.
Smerconish also noted that we&#8217;ve hit the lowest border encounters since the 1960s, while Trump is continuing to gain support with latino Americans.
The CNN host recalled Trump&#8217;s major wins at the Supreme Court, specifically on immigration. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/birthright-citizenship-lgbt-books-porn-law-ben-shapiro-reacts-to-trumps-trifecta-of-wins-at-scotus">The Daily Wire</a> reported that the SCOTUS <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-sides-with-trump-limits-nationwide-injunctions-in-birthright-citizenship-fight?author=Mairead+Elordi&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Supreme+Court+Sides+With+Trump%2C+Limits+Nationwide+Injunctions+In+Birthright+Citizenship+Fight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cracked down</a> on lower courts trying to hamstring Trump’s agenda, ruling that Trump may end birthright citizenship in some parts of the country while legal challenges against his order proceed in others.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨 WOW! President Trump stacked up so many wins this week CNN was FORCED into admitting it
“TRUMP ON A ROLL”
It gets to a point where you can’t keep ignoring the truth any longer!
<a href="https://t.co/wFMcT2k2m7">pic.twitter.com/wFMcT2k2m7</a>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1939004785556103332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
CNN contributor Scott Jennings, a Republican, also recalled Trump&#8217;s recent wins while on the network.  
&#8220;This was the BEST week of the Trump presidency (maybe any presidency!),&#8221; Jennings said on X, captioning footage of his appearance on CNN. &#8220;SCOTUS win on activist judges. Stock market at record-high. Israel-Iran ceasefire. Unprecedented Rowanda-Congo peace deal. Gas prices at 4-year-low.&#8221; 
&#8220;Not tired of winning,&#8221; he added. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This was the BEST week of the Trump presidency (maybe any presidency!) 👇
✅SCOTUS win on activist judges 
✅Stock market at record-high 
✅Israel-Iran ceasefire 
✅Unprecedented Rowanda-Congo peace deal 
✅gas prices at 4-year-low
Not tired of winning. <a href="https://t.co/dUcr4ttozZ">pic.twitter.com/dUcr4ttozZ</a>
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/1938815084135891185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/america-is-hot-again-a-week-of-wins-for-the-trump-white-house?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=‘America+Is+Hot+Again’%3A+A+Week+Of+Wins+For+The+Trump+White+House">‘America Is Hot Again’: A Week Of Wins For The Trump White House</a>

‘Trump On A Roll’: The President’s Winning So Much, Even CNN Admits It

‘Trump On A Roll’: Trump’s Latest Wins So Big, Even CNN’s Gushing Over Them

Iran

Scott Jennings

GE Appliances announced this week that it&#8217;s moving even more of its production from China to Kentucky, and investing nearly half-a-billion dollars.
The company is moving most of its washing machine production to Kentucky, spending $490 million in the process, and creating at least 800 full-time jobs. The move is expected to be completed by 2027.
&#8220;We are bringing laundry production to our global headquarters in Louisville because manufacturing in the U.S. is fundamental to our ‘zero-distance’ business strategy to make appliances as close as possible to our customers and consumers,&#8221; GE Appliances President and CEO Kevin Nolan <a href="https://pressroom.geappliances.com/news/ge-appliances-doubles-down-on-u-s-manufacturing-with-490-million-laundry-plant-investment-at-its-global-headquarters-in-louisville-kentucky">said</a> in a statement.
&#8220;This decision is our most recent product reshoring and aligns with the current economic and policy environment,&#8221; Nolan said, adding that the investment &#8220;positions&#8221; GE &#8220;to become the biggest American washer manufacturer.&#8221;
The announcement comes amid President Donald Trump using tariffs on a host of countries, including China, to help restore what he views as fair trade, American manufacturing, and also address national security issues, like illegal immigration and fentanyl.
Additionally, under Trump, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/11/cpi-inflation-may-2025.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inflation has cooled</a> and gas prices have hit a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/summer-gas-prices-hit-lowest-level-4-years-despite-middle-east-tensions">four-year low</a>.
GE&#8217;s Appliance Park, a massive industrial complex located in Louisville, already employs around 8,000 workers, the company said. Additionally, GE has invested $3.5 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations over the past ten years.
&#8220;This investment will move production of more than 15 models of front load washers to Building 2 at Appliance Park – bringing the total area of clothes care production to the equivalent of 33 football fields,&#8221; a statement from the company said.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, praised the move from GE.
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“Today’s announcement further secures Louisville as the global headquarters of GE Appliances, a Haier company, and brings more world-class, unparalleled appliance manufacturing back to the United States,” he said in a statement on Thursday. 
“This new investment strengthens one of our vital Kentucky assets and underscores our state’s reputation as America’s destination of choice for advanced manufacturing and job creation,&#8221; he added.
A number of companies have committed to investing in the U.S. since Trump took office, including South Korean-based car manufacturer Hyundai, which is <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/president-trump-is-remaking-america-into-a-manufacturing-superpower/">investing</a> $21 billion in U.S. onshoring, including a $5.8 billion steel plant in Louisiana. Pharmaceutical giant Johnson &amp; Johnson, too, announced plans to invest $55 billion in U.S. manufacturing. And in February, tech company <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-manufacturing-domestic-tariffs/">Apple</a> committed to spending more than $500 billion on U.S. manufacturing capabilities over the next four years.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ted-cruz-exposes-chinas-plot-to-undermine-american-energy-a-coordinated-assault" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ted Cruz Exposes China’s Plot To Undermine American Energy: ‘A Coordinated Assault’</a>

Trump/GE

GE Appliances Moving Production From China To Red State

General Electric Moves Production From China To Red State

Communist China

Kentucky

U.S.

Representative Rick Allen (R-GA) introduced the Employee Rights Act (ERA) of 2025 on Thursday, seeking to reform labor unions and support workers&#8217; rights. The legislation, Allen claims, will provide privacy for unionized workers, allow workers to opt out of union representation, and harmonize existing labor laws.
Allen collaborated with F. Vincent Vernuccio – the president and co-founder of labor advocacy group Institute for the American Worker (I4AW) – to write an <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom-self-reliance/3454318/now-is-the-time-to-empower-workers-and-improve-unions/">op-ed</a> in the Washington Examiner explaining his bill.
Referencing the One Big Beautiful Bill, Allen said, &#8220;While the forthcoming tax cuts and spending reforms will deliver even more results, Congress also needs to modernize federal law to empower workers and improve labor unions to deliver a 21st-century economy that benefits the working class.&#8221;
Among other outcomes, the bill will allow unionized workers to choose what personal information their union can access, decide whether they are represented by a union in right-to-work states, and have the choice to opt-in to non-union-related spending.
Allen said, &#8220;It also enables workers to opt in to union political spending on an annual basis, undoing the current system in which workers are automatically forced to fund political activities they may personally oppose.&#8221;
&#8220;Perhaps most importantly, the Employee Rights Act eliminates loopholes that can distract unions from faithfully representing workers’ needs and wishes,&#8221; Allen said. &#8220;It prohibits DEI provisions in collective bargaining agreements, ensuring all workers are treated equally. It ends the judicially created exemption for union-related violence and extortion, so that such illegal acts are treated appropriately under federal law.&#8221;
The ERA hopes to reform the National Labor Relations Board, which, in recent years, is <a href="https://i4aw.org/news/employers-have-the-right-to-inform-their-workers-about-the-impact-of-unionization/">reported</a> to have pursued overreaching regulations that may harm both unionized and non-unionized laborers.
Allen also hopes to use the bill to adjust the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which gives citizens the right to organize trade unions and engage in collective bargaining.
&#8220;The Employee Rights Act has long enjoyed strong support among Republicans in both the House and Senate, to say nothing of the overwhelming majority of Americans,&#8221; Allen said.
Allen concluded by saying, &#8220;With the GOP holding Congress and the White House, it deserves consideration as soon as possible. President Donald Trump is already delivering for working Americans. Truly empowering workers and improving unions will help them rise and thrive for future generations.&#8221;

Men in Hardhats

Georgia Rep Introduces Bill To ‘Empower Workers’ Against Unions

Congress

Georgia

Labor Unions

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) &#8211; China&#8217;s auto industry has inflated car sales for years through a burgeoning government-backed grey market that registers new cars right off the assembly line and then ships them overseas as &#8220;used&#8221; vehicles.
These so-called &#8220;zero-mileage&#8221; cars have never been driven but they are being exported as used to markets like Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East, allowing Chinese automakers to show growth and to dispose of cars that it would be difficult to sell domestically, according to a Reuters review of government documents and interviews with five auto dealers and car traders.
&#8220;This is the outcome of an almost-four-year price war that has made companies desperate to book any sales possible,&#8221; said Tu Le, Michigan-based founder of consultancy Sino Auto Insights.
The practice only gained national attention after the boss of Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor criticized the sale of zero-mileage used cars within China in May. On June 10 the People&#8217;s Daily newspaper condemned the sale of zero-mileage used cars domestically.
The paper, which often signals the positions of China&#8217;s top Communist Party leaders, blamed these fake used cars for driving down prices amid a withering domestic price war and called for &#8220;tough regulatory action&#8221; to restore order.
But the export and sale of fake used cars is actively encouraged by regional governments in China, according to a Reuters review of state media reports and government documents.
Local governments have embraced the practice as vital to meeting ambitious targets for economic growth set by Beijing, according to a Reuters review of local policy documents and state media articles.
Reuters has identified 20 local governments in China &#8211; including major export hubs like Guangdong and Sichuan &#8211; that have described their support for the export of zero-mileage used cars in publicly available government documents.
The tactics include creating extra licenses for the export of zero-mileage used cars, fast-tracking tax rebate claims, investing in export infrastructure, and funding networking events to encourage zero-mileage used-car exports, the government documents showed.
The zero-mileage used car export market works like this: as a fresh car emerges from the assembly line, an exporter buys the car either directly from the automaker or from a dealer, registers it with a Chinese license plate, and then immediately marks it as a second-hand car for shipping abroad. Along the way, the automaker books the car as sold and logs the revenue.
The support for the practice from local governments would make little sense anywhere outside China&#8217;s centrally planned economy. But here, showing rapid growth in sales and employment can bring about promotion or unlock new funding while missing economic targets that trickle down from Beijing can lead to demotions of local officials.
Because these export firms both purchase and sell a single car, the transaction value is double that of new or used-car purchases, so local governments court them to set up shop on their turf to quickly and artificially boost their GDP statistics, two Chinese auto industry executives said.
The tactic is only one sign that China&#8217;s car industry – the world&#8217;s largest – is allowing production to outpace demand, driving a protracted domestic price war and spurring accusations of automotive &#8220;dumping&#8221; abroad.
Cui Dongshu, the secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, praised the practice earlier this month during an online panel discussion hosted by Tencent’s news portal, saying it was an alternative channel for automakers in China to access certain markets overseas that they may not be able to access due to rising trade barriers globally.
He added that it also helped to satisfy overseas demand for China-made cars in countries where Chinese brands had yet to enter.
Reuters contacted all the local governments mentioned in this article for comment but none responded. China&#8217;s State Council and commerce ministry did not respond to a request for comment. China&#8217;s foreign ministry referred queries on the practice to &#8220;the department in charge,&#8221; without elaborating.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
Local government support has taken various forms, from simplifying paperwork, to allocating extra quotas for local vehicle registrations, to setting up free warehouses for zero-mileage used cars close to China&#8217;s land and maritime borders, the Chinese documents showed.
In February 2024, the planning commission of the southern city of Shenzhen, one of China&#8217;s richest cities and a tech hub that is home to Huawei and Tencent, pledged to expand the export of zero-mileage used cars as part of efforts to reach an annual target to export 400,000 vehicles of all kinds.
Nearby, the southern Chinese metropolis Guangzhou announced earlier this year it had created a mechanism to support and accelerate the export of zero-mileage gasoline vehicles by allocating extra quotas for local registrations that are otherwise capped to mitigate traffic congestion and air pollution in the city.
Xinmi, a district of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of China&#8217;s third-most populous province of Henan, said in February that it helped local firm Xinjiasheng Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd to &#8220;promote zero-mileage used car exports, in order to use exports to drive domestic sales.&#8221;
Reuters found a dozen local governments were boosting the export of zero-mileage used cars as part of their strategy or core to their plans for growth.
Sichuan province, one of China&#8217;s most important economic engines, said in October in a policy document it had supported the creation of an &#8220;online export ecosystem for zero-mileage used NEVs&#8221; by promoting e-commerce platforms like Alibaba International, where 100 Sichuan-based used-car sellers are now active.
Xinjiasheng Supply Chain Management and Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment.
MARKET SHIFTS
The practice began sometime after 2019 when China allowed used cars to be exported to other countries. Now thousands of traders are involved in passing off new cars as used to qualify for the channel, according to Wang Meng, a consultant for the China Automobile Dealers Association.
Of the 436,000 used passenger and commercial vehicles exported by China in 2024, 90% are estimated to be &#8220;zero-mileage,&#8221; Wang said.
China overtook Japan to become the world&#8217;s largest exporter of new cars in 2023 and exported 6.41 million vehicles last year, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Of these, about 6% would have actually been zero-mileage used cars, according to Wang&#8217;s estimates.
Two dealers and two industry experts said the majority of zero-mileage used cars are gasoline powered and thus less desirable in the Chinese market. But electric vehicles, which are subject to generous government-funded purchase subsidies, also make up a significant portion.
Huanyu Auto, a used-car seller in China&#8217;s west metropolis of Chongqing, expanded to the zero-mileage used-car business in 2022.
The returns were so good in 2022 and 2023 that they were able to earn 10,000 yuan ($1,400) in profit off an electric sedan that they had purchased in China for 40,000 yuan by selling it in Central Asia, said William Ng, director of the firm&#8217;s international market division.
Criticism has started to mount. On June 7, Zhu Huarong, chairman of Chinese automaker Changan called for a crackdown on exports of zero-mileage used cars at a Chinese auto conference, saying the practice could &#8220;enormously damage Chinese brands&#8217; image&#8221; abroad. Changan did not respond to a request for further comment.
Xing Lei, the Massachusetts-based founder of consultancy AutoXing which provides insights on Chinese EV companies to foreign investors, said the practice could cause foreign investors to assess Chinese automakers&#8217; sales skeptically.
&#8220;How many are real or inflated? No one knows,&#8221; he said.
&#8216;DUMPING&#8217; CONCERNS
The proliferation of new cars being shipped for sale with &#8220;used&#8221; tags is reinforcing fears that China is dumping subsidized vehicles overseas, at a time when Beijing is scrambling to find export markets outside the United States, now heavily protected by tariffs.
Some countries, concerned that the influx of cars will crowd out local dealers and confuse consumers, are starting to push back.
&#8220;We&#8217;re definitely seeing friction and tension in markets where there are already manufacturers on the ground there,&#8221; said Michael Dunne, a consultant who closely follows the China auto industry.
Russia in 2023 issued a government decree effectively banning zero-mileage used cars from brands that already had official distributors in the country. The commerce bureau of Heihe, a Chinese city that sits on the China-Russia border, said last November on its website that this applied to Chinese brands such as Chery, Changan, and Geely.
Geely declined to comment while Chery and Changan did not respond to requests for comment.
Other countries&#8217; market regulators, including Jordan, are finetuning their definition of used cars by mandating a longer period after a vehicle&#8217;s licensing or production before it is classified as used.
Ng, of Huanyu Auto, said growing competition from new entrants such as mom-and-pop stores and even TikTokers selling zero-mileage used cars was causing the trade to become less lucrative.
&#8220;They used to sell vases, wine and are now selling cars in the same way,&#8221; he said of the new entrants. &#8220;This is chaos.&#8221;
(Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai newsrooms; Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov in Tbilisi; Editing by Mike Colias and Michael Learmonth)

Employee repairs a second hand car at a used car market in Beijing

Smoke & Mirrors In China’s Auto Industry: New Cars Exported As ‘Zero-Mileage Used’ To Inflate Sales

Automobiles

Business

China

President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened that Spain would have to &#8220;pay twice as much&#8221; in a future trade deal after the NATO member refused to commit to the alliance&#8217;s new target of spending 5% of its gross domestic product on defense and security.
&#8220;You&#8217;re the only country that is not paying. I don&#8217;t know what the problem is,&#8221; Trump said at the NATO summit in The Hague when questioned about Spain&#8217;s refusal to go along.
&#8220;You know what we’re gonna do? We&#8217;re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We&#8217;re going to make them pay twice as much. And I&#8217;m actually serious about that,&#8221; the president added.
NATO members <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-triumphs-nato-bows-to-u-s-pressure-with-5-defense-pledge?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Nathan+Gay&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Triumphs%3A+NATO+Bows+To+U.S.+Pressure+With+5%25+Defense+Pledge">agreed</a> to increase defense spending from the current 2% level to 5% of their country’s gross domestic product by 2035. Spain was the only member that rejected this target, arguing that it would strain the country’s extensive welfare state.
“We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defense investment, but we are not going to do it,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-heads-to-nato-summit-demanding-freeloading-allies-pay-their-fair-share?author=Nathan+Gay&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Heads+To+NATO+Summit+Demanding+%E2%80%98Freeloading%E2%80%99+Allies+Pay+Their+Fair+Share">said</a> before the summit.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
President Trump rips into Spain for refusing to increase NATO spending.
&quot;I think Spain&#39;s terrible what they&#39;ve done, they are the only Country that won&#39;t pay 5%&quot; <a href="https://t.co/WD5JGnc2WU">pic.twitter.com/WD5JGnc2WU</a>
&mdash; Media Research Center (@theMRC) <a href="https://twitter.com/theMRC/status/1937881474520223900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;They want a little bit of a free ride, but they&#8217;ll have to pay it back to us on trade, because I’m not going to let that happen. It’s unfair,” Trump said.
As a part of the European Union, Spain <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-25/trump-threatens-to-double-tariffs-on-spain-over-nato-spending">negotiates</a> trade as part of the 27-member bloc, not individually, per Bloomberg. Still, Trump emphasized his intention to bypass the European Union&#8217;s regular trade negotiation protocols.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to negotiate directly with Spain. I&#8217;m going to do it myself,&#8221; Trump insisted. &#8220;They&#8217;re going to pay, they&#8217;ll pay more money this way.&#8221;
The threat comes ahead of the Trump administration&#8217;s July 9 deadline for the European Union to agree to a trade deal. If no agreement is reached, tariffs on EU products imported into the United States are set to increase to 50%.
NATO members condemned Spain for rejecting the 5% target.
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, whose country allocates a higher percentage of its GDP for defense than any NATO member, blasted Spain’s lack of commitment.
“We believe that any deviation from this principle by any member country is a bad example,” he said.
“It’s incredibly unfair to the alliance,” another NATO official <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/spain-nato-canada-defense-target-spending-gdp/">said</a> to POLITICO.
At the press conference on Wednesday, Trump said his outlook on NATO had changed. Previously critical of &#8220;freeloading&#8221; nations not paying their fair share in defense, he now believes the alliance is no longer a &#8220;rip-off&#8221; given the new 5% commitment. The increase is expected to significantly boost the alliance&#8217;s collective defense capabilities at a time of heightened global tensions, as the United States has historically shouldered more than two-thirds of NATO&#8217;s collective defense spending.

NATO Summit In The Hague Final Day

Trump Says Spain Will ‘Pay Twice As Much’ On Trade After NATO Defiance

Europe

European Union

Global Politics

NATO

Spain

trade

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Wall Street advanced on Tuesday as investors welcomed a fragile truce with Israel and Iran while parsing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell&#8217;s congressional <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jerome-powell-suggests-delaying-rate-cuts-beyond-july-meeting-while-fed-studies-tariff-impact">testimony</a> for clues regarding the U.S. central bank&#8217;s path forward.
All three major U.S. stock indexes were on track for their second straight session of solid gains following U.S. missile strikes on Iran&#8217;s uranium enrichment assets.
The benchmark S&amp;P 500 was less than 1% below its all-time closing high reached on February 19.
Late Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire agreement, but then on Tuesday, the president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-holds-ceasefire-after-israel-refrains-from-major-retaliation-for-irans-strike-on-civilians">stepped in</a> to urge Israel to stand down on a retaliatory attack on Iran after Iran killed at least four people in an attack in southern Israel targeting civilians just before the ceasefire went into effect.
Still, investors viewed the ceasefire as a sign of de-escalating tensions.
&#8220;The market has learned very precisely over the last generation that any time there’s a geopolitical flare-up in the Middle East that affects U.S. financial markets, those effects will be short-lived,&#8221; said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon in Charlotte, North Carolina.
&#8220;The ceasefire is just cementing that view,&#8221; Ladner added.
Crude prices slid on waning supply concerns related to the conflict, dragging energy shares lower.
Powell, speaking before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, reiterated his view that rate cuts can wait until the economic effects of tariff increases are better known, adding &#8220;we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.&#8221;
Financial markets have been pricing in a more than 20% likelihood that the Fed will lower its key interest rate at the conclusion of its upcoming July policy meeting, and a near 70% probability that its first rate cut will land in September.
&#8220;We think September&#8217;s very likely and we think while July is not a zero probability event, it&#8217;s definitely a long shot,&#8221; Ladner said.
On the economic front, Consumer Confidence deteriorated this month, with pessimism toward the jobs market falling to its lowest level since March 2021.
The Commerce Department is expected to release its final take on first-quarter GDP on Thursday, and on Friday its closely watched Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report will shed light on inflation, consumer spending and income growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 513.96 points, or 1.21%, to 43,095.74, the S&amp;P 500 gained 71.64 points, or 1.19%, to 6,096.94, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 305.28 points, or 1.56%, to 19,936.25.
Among the 11 major sectors of the S&amp;P 500, Tech shares led the gainers, while energy stocks were the sole decliners.
Among megacap stocks, Tesla shares shed 2.0%.
Airline stocks gained altitude amid cooling Middle East tensions. The S&amp;P 1500 Airlines index advanced 2.3%.
But defense stocks lost ground, with Lockheed Martin and RTX Corp both off about 2.9%.
Shares of crypto companies rose after bitcoin hit a one-week high. Coinbase Global and Strategy advanced 11.7% and 3.8% respectively.
Broadcom touched a record high, after HSBC raised the semiconductor manufacturer to &#8220;buy&#8221; from &#8220;hold&#8221;. The stock was last up 3.4%.
Package delivery firm FedEx is expected to report quarterly results after the closing bell.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.38-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 195 new highs and 49 new lows on the NYSE.
On the Nasdaq, 3,430 stocks rose and 1,007 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.41-to-1 ratio.
The S&amp;P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 109 new highs and 49 new lows.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)

Traders work on the floor of the NYSE in New York

Wall Street Rallies, S&P 500 Nears Record High As Middle East Tensions Cool

Israel

Middle East

Stock Market

Wall Street

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Higher tariffs could begin raising inflation this summer, a period that will be key to Federal Reserve consideration of possible rate cuts, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told members of Congress on Tuesday.
Pressed by Republican members of the House Financial Services committee about why the Fed isn&#8217;t cutting rates, as President Donald Trump has demanded, Powell said he and many at the Fed expect inflation to start rising soon, and that the central bank was in no rush to ease borrowing costs in the meantime.
Powell particularly said he would not open the door to a rate cut at the Fed&#8217;s July meeting, as two of his colleagues recently suggested, or at any other session for that matter.
&#8220;I do not want to point to a particular meeting. I don&#8217;t think we need to be in any rush,&#8221; given a still-strong labor market and so much uncertainty about the impact of the still-unresolved tariff debate, Powell said.
Referring to expected tariff-driven price increases, Powell said &#8220;we should start to see this over the summer, in the June number and the July number. &#8230; If we don&#8217;t we are perfectly open to the idea that the pass-through (to consumers) will be less than we think, and if we do that will matter for policy.&#8221;
“I think if it turns out that inflation pressures remain contained we will get to a place where we cut rates sooner than later,&#8221; he said.
With the central bank largely sidelined waiting for the outcome of the Trump administration&#8217;s tariff negotiations, Powell was quizzed repeatedly about why the central bank seemed preoccupied with that issue and isn&#8217;t cutting rates given that inflation so far has been modest.
Powell said that Fed policy isn&#8217;t meant to endorse or criticize the Trump administration&#8217;s approach to trade, only to deal with an inflation impact that the Fed and forecasts more broadly expect to gather momentum over the rest of the year.
&#8220;We aren&#8217;t commenting on tariffs,&#8221; Powell said. &#8220;Our job is keeping inflation under control, and when policies have short- and medium-term, meaningful, implications, then inflation becomes our job.&#8221;
&#8220;All professional forecasters I know of&#8230;expect a meaningful increase in inflation over the course of this year,&#8221; Powell said, elaborating on the Fed&#8217;s reluctance to cut rates while major aspects of Trump&#8217;s trade policy remain unresolved.
<h3>PARING BETS</h3>
In prepared testimony to the House panel, Powell noted that those effects &#8220;could be short-lived, reflecting a one-time shift in the price level. It is also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent. &#8230; For the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.&#8221;
Following the release of Powell&#8217;s testimony, investors pared bets that the central bank might cut its policy interest rate as soon as the central bank&#8217;s July meeting, and increased the perceived odds for a rate reduction in September, with another to follow later in the year.
Powell&#8217;s testimony, as is usually the case with his semiannual congressional appearances, largely tracks the central bank&#8217;s most recent policy statement, approved last week. Fed officials voted unanimously at that meeting to hold the benchmark interest rate steady in the current 4.25% to 4.5% range, and gave no indication rate cuts were imminent.
New economic projections released at the time showed officials at the median expect two quarter-point rate cuts by the end of the year, in line with current market pricing.
In recent days, two Fed governors, both Trump appointees, have said rates could fall as soon as the July meeting, given inflation has not yet risen in response to tariffs, while three reserve bank presidents said they still worry inflation will intensify over the rest of the year.
Trump, who appointed Powell as chair in his first term but is expected to replace him when his term ends next spring, has repeatedly called for steep rate cuts.
&#8220;We should be at least two to three points lower,&#8221; he said in a social media post ahead of the hearing, adding in reference to Powell that he hoped &#8220;Congress really works this very dumb, hardheaded person, over.&#8221;
(Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a press conference in Washington

Jerome Powell Suggests Delaying Rate Cuts Beyond July Meeting While Fed Studies Tariff Impact

Federal Reserve

Inflation

Interest Rates

Jerome Powell

Washington D.C.

The global economy is no longer years, months, or weeks away from the artificial intelligence revolution.
From <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/12/metas-new-ai-system-tackles-harmful-content/">Meta</a> utilizing it for social media content moderation to <a href="https://about.starbucks.com/press/2025/meet-green-dot-assist-starbucks-generative-ai-powered-coffeehouse-companion/#:~:text=Green%20Dot%20Assist%20is%20a,in%20delivering%20exceptional%20customer%20service.">Starbucks</a> employing AI to assist baristas with everyday tasks, AI is here. For some job-seekers, AI&#8217;s role in a company could even be affecting them during the hiring process, selecting some candidates over others without any human intervention.
But can be trusted to select the most qualified candidates for a job opening? New research suggests it can&#8217;t — because some of the most popular AI language models used by many companies in the hiring process could be discriminating against certain candidates based on race and sex.
A <a href="https://www.arxiv.org/pdf/2506.10922">study</a> published earlier this month by independent researchers Adam Karvonen and Samuel Marks shows that the &#8220;leading commercial &#8230; and open-source [AI language] models&#8221; used by major companies insert &#8220;significant racial and gender biases&#8221; in the hiring process. The research found that AI language models such as Chat GPT-4o, Claude 4 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Flash, along with open-source models Gemma-2 27B, Gemma-3, and Mistral-24B, &#8220;consistently favor Black over White candidates and female over male candidates across all tested models and scenarios.&#8221;
Karvonen told The Daily Wire that their research should raise red flags for companies using AI to hire employees. He said that it&#8217;s possible for companies to add their own &#8220;safeguards&#8221; to prevent AI from discriminating against people simply based on their race or sex, but added, &#8220;Since companies generally do not disclose the details of their internal safeguards, we cannot independently verify that these systems are fair and robust.&#8221;
&#8220;Our work shows that standard resume anonymization may not be a complete solution,&#8221; Karvonen said. &#8220;For example, we found that models would infer a candidate&#8217;s race from their college affiliation and become biased as a result. Even if you remove obvious identifiers like names, bias can still creep in through other background details. This is another reason why a technical fix like ours, which prevents the model from processing these concepts at all, can be more robust than simply hiding surface-level information.&#8221;
The study found that asking AI models to consider &#8220;real-world contextual details&#8221; and to focus on &#8220;a highly selective hiring process&#8221; can cause the AI to become biased and discriminate against white people, especially white men, who received &#8220;up to 12% differences in interview rates.&#8221;
&#8220;Even if everything else is the same — the resume is the same, the experience is the same — stereotypically white names are less likely to pass through the interview process,&#8221; Jason Hausenloy, an independent AI safety researcher, told The Daily Wire.
Hausenloy added that the AI language models favored minority job candidates, even if a company&#8217;s diversity pledges and statements were completely removed from the scenario.
&#8220;Just the very act of making the hiring scenarios more realistic meant that they are more likely to be biased,&#8221; he said.
The Daily Wire reached out to the companies running the AI language models highlighted in the study, which include Google, OpenAI, Claude, and Mistral. An OpenAI spokesman told The Daily Wire that &#8220;AI tools can be useful in hiring, but they can also be biased. They should be used to help, not replace, human decision-making in important choices like job eligibility.&#8221;
&#8220;OpenAI has safety teams dedicated to researching and reducing bias, and other risks, in our models,&#8221; the spokesman added. &#8220;Bias is an important, industry-wide problem and we use a multi-prong approach, including researching best practices for adjusting training data and prompts to result in less biased results, improving accuracy of content filters and refining automated and human monitoring systems. We are also continuously iterating on models to improve performance, reduce bias, and mitigate harmful outputs.”
None of the other companies responded to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request to comment.
It&#8217;s not just a few mega corporations using AI to weed out job candidates. A <a href="https://www.resumebuilder.com/7-in-10-companies-will-use-ai-in-the-hiring-process-in-2025-despite-most-saying-its-biased/">study</a> published by Resume Builder last October found that half of all companies are already using AI in the hiring process and predicts that this will increase to 70% by the end of 2025. The study surveyed 948 business leaders who work at a company with more than 21 employees.
&#8220;Today, 82% of companies use AI to review resumes, while 40% employ AI chatbots to communicate with candidates. About 23% use AI to conduct interviews, and 64% apply AI to review candidate assessments,&#8221; Resume Builder reported. &#8220;Additionally, 28% of companies use AI for onboarding new hires, and 42% scan social media or personal websites as part of the hiring process. Only 0.2% of companies report not using AI in their hiring practices.&#8221;
Hausenloy told The Daily Wire that no one really knows what could be causing these leading AI language models to be discriminating against people based on race and sex.
&#8220;I would very strongly suspect that the companies are not trying to optimize this behavior,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think OpenAI is saying, &#8216;You must be biased against white males.'&#8221;
&#8220;We actually don&#8217;t know why this happens, but it is a consistent finding,&#8221; Hausenloy added.
He said that there are some &#8220;promising&#8221; findings in the new study, adding that companies could easily fix the AI&#8217;s tendency to discriminate against white men.
&#8220;You can use certain technical techniques to remove the concept of race and bias from the language models if you edit the internal concepts within the models,&#8221; Hausenloy said.
AI discrimination in hiring, however, could be part of a larger issue with the new technology.
The Center for AI Safety <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QAzSj24Fp0O6GfkskmnULmI1Hmx7k_EJ/view">published a study</a> earlier this year that could shed some more light on why these AI language models are opting for blatant discrimination. According to the findings, AI models value certain people more than others, preferring people from Africa and the Middle East over people in Europe and the United States.
&#8220;We’ve found as AIs get smarter, they develop their own coherent value systems,&#8221; wrote Dan Hendrycks, the director for the Center for AI Safety. &#8220;For example they value lives in Pakistan &gt; India &gt; China &gt; US. These are not just random biases, but internally consistent values that shape their behavior, with many implications for AI alignment.&#8221;
&#8220;Internally, AIs have values for everything. This often implies shocking/undesirable preferences. For example, we find AIs put a price on human life itself and systematically value some human lives more than others,&#8221; he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Internally, AIs have values for everything. This often implies shocking/undesirable preferences. For example, we find AIs put a price on human life itself and systematically value some human lives more than others (an example with Elon is shown in the main paper). <a href="https://t.co/YmlFmSLnXc">pic.twitter.com/YmlFmSLnXc</a>
&mdash; Dan Hendrycks (@DanHendrycks) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanHendrycks/status/1889344079890358588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Artificial Intelligence

Most Large Companies Are Using AI For Hiring. The Leading AI Models Discriminate Against White Men.

Jobs

Racial Discrimination

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, recently tapped by President Trump as the central bank’s top bank overseer, said Monday the time to cut interest rates may be fast approaching as she is growing more worried about risks to the job market and is less concerned tariffs will cause an inflation problem.
“It is time to consider adjusting the policy rate,” Bowman said in the text of remarks to be delivered before a gathering held in Prague, Czech Republic. Bowman said inflation appears to be on a sustained path back to 2%, and she said she expects “only minimal impact” on inflation from trade policy.
“Should inflation pressures remain contained, I would support lowering the policy rate as soon as our next meeting in order to bring it closer to its neutral setting and to sustain a healthy labor market,” Bowman said.
Last week, the Federal Reserve meeting in a gathering that left its overnight target-rate range fixed between 4.25% and 4.5%. Officials remained in a wait-and-see mode amid the considerable economic uncertainty created by President Donald Trump’s erratically implemented trade policy. Fed officials are worried surging import taxes could depress growth while restarting what had been cooling inflation pressures.
Bowman said in her speech that she supported the Fed’s decision to hold steady. But she appears to see far fewer storm clouds ahead for the economy, and in her speech, she said more clarity is arriving over the outlook. Bowman’s openness to cutting rates is joined by that of Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fed-reserve-gov-says-rate-cuts-should-be-considered-as-trump-ramps-up-pressure-on-powell">said</a> in a television interview Friday he’d also consider a rate cut at the July 29-30 meeting. Waller is widely considered to be in the running to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends next year.
Trump has repeatedly pressured the Fed to pursue very large rate cuts amid insults to Powell. Observers believe any Fed chair would need to align with Trump’s desire for much lower short-term borrowing costs.
In her remarks, Bowman noted the job market is still in a good place, but she’s more worried about what lies ahead for the sector, and that’s part of what’s informing her dovish monetary policy views.
“We should also recognize that downside risks to our employment mandate could soon become more salient, given recent softness in spending and signs of fragility in the labor market,” Bowman said.
The Fed official was also quite sanguine on the inflation outlook, saying “it appears that any upward pressure from higher tariffs on goods prices is being offset by other factors and that the underlying trend in core [Personal Consumption Expenditures] inflation is moving much closer to our 2% target than is currently apparent in the data.”
(Reporting by Michael S. Derby, Editing by Louise Heavens)

Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Open To Cutting Interest Rates At Next Meeting

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Federal Reserve should consider cutting interest rates at its next meeting given recent tame inflation data and the fact that any price shock from import tariffs will be short-lived, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Friday.
Waller&#8217;s dovish outlook for monetary policy comes as President Donald Trump is approaching the selection of a replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends next year. Trump has been aggressively pushing the Fed to cut rates amid a flurry of insults directed at Powell. Waller is widely considered to be in the mix for a potential Powell successor, and his current monetary policy inclinations favoring lower rates might boost his prospects to become the next Fed chair.
&#8220;Any tariff inflation &#8230; I don&#8217;t think is going to be that big and we should just look through it in terms of setting policy,&#8221; Waller said on CNBC&#8217;s &#8220;Squawk Box.&#8221; &#8220;The data the last few months has been showing that trend inflation is looking pretty good &#8230; We could do this as early as July.&#8221;
Waller&#8217;s remarks on monetary policy were the first public comments by a central banker in the wake of this week&#8217;s Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting, which left the central bank&#8217;s interest rate target range set between 4.25% and 4.5%. In forecasts released at the meeting officials stuck with expectations they&#8217;ll be able to cut rates twice this year.
Trump blasted Powell before the Fed meeting, saying, “We have a stupid person, frankly, at the Fed. I guess he’s a political guy, I don’t know. He’s a political guy who’s not a smart person.”
As for when those cuts might take place, the Fed offered little guidance. Speaking after the FOMC meeting, Powell cautioned there&#8217;s considerable uncertainty around the outlook amid the big changes in trade policy being pushed through by the Trump administration. He also warned that the tariff policy pursued by the president is almost certain to push up inflation, but it&#8217;s unclear by how much and for how long, and because of that, it&#8217;s hard to say what monetary policy needs to do right now.
&#8220;For the time being we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance,&#8221; Powell told reporters.
The challenging nature of the economic outlook got a fresh update on Friday with data from the Philadelphia Fed, which showed factories in the bank&#8217;s district saw contracting activity for a third straight month amid a particularly weak turn for hiring within the sector.
Waller&#8217;s openness to cutting interest rates starting at the July 29-30 FOMC meeting leaves him well apart from most of his colleagues based on their public comments. Waller has argued for some time that textbook understandings of tariff impacts all point to a one-time hit the Fed can look through, and he doubts the president&#8217;s import tax surge will create more persistent price gains.
Waller, in making the case for cuts, noted that the inflation trends have already been cooling and monetary policy is well above the level deemed to be neutral in its impact on the economy. What&#8217;s more, he said he&#8217;s seeing signs of incipient weakness in the labor market, citing challenges by new college graduates to find work. Waller noted that cutting rates sooner rather than later might be good for hiring.
&#8220;I&#8217;m all in favor of saying maybe we should start thinking about cutting the policy rate at the next meeting, because we don&#8217;t want to wait till the job market tanks before we start cutting the policy rate,&#8221; Waller said.
(Reporting by Howard Schneider and Michael S. Derby; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Andrea Ricci)

Donald Trump/Jerome Powell

Fed Reserve Gov Says Rate Cuts Should Be Considered As Trump Ramps Up Pressure On Powell

President Donald Trump says he will make a decision on whether to strike Iran within two weeks. Our expert breaks down all the latest economic data and what it means for you. And, is ChatGPT helping children obtain abortion pills behind their parents&#8217; backs?
It’s Friday, June 20, 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>Two Weeks To Stop The Spread (Of Nuclear Weapons)</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-937183" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-8.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-8.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-8-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: Israel vows to intensify attacks on Iran as President Trump sets a deadline for U.S. intervention.
We recently learned that President Trump has told top aides that he’s given the green light for airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, but is waiting to see if they’ll blink first and agree to abandon their nuclear program. On Thursday, the White House gave us <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1935753412856967261">a timeline</a> for how long he’s willing to wait.
&#8220;Based on the fact that there&#8217;s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future,” Trump wrote, “I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.&#8221;
The Ayatollah has good reason to take that timeline seriously. Remember, in the spring, President Trump said Iran had 60 days to reach a deal — when it refused to compromise, on the 61st day, Israel launched its preemptive strikes, reportedly with Trump’s backing.
&#8220;Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. “All they need is a decision from the Supreme Leader to do that. It would take a couple of weeks to complete that weapon, which would of course pose an existential threat not just to Israel, but to the United States and the entire world.”
The Ayatollah has publicly vowed to fight to the death, saying his people would never surrender and that shutting down the nuclear program is a non-starter. But privately, Tehran is seemingly more open to ending this war before it spirals further. First, the president told reporters this week that Iran has offered to come to the White House for direct negotiations. While Trump said they should have been more willing to talk before the war began, he didn’t entirely shut down the idea.
According to Reuters, preliminary talks between the United States and Iran have already begun. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly held a series of phone calls with Iran’s Foreign Minister over the last few days, hoping to find a diplomatic solution. Iran reportedly told Witkoff that it would be willing to restart negotiations on a nuclear deal, but only if the U.S. could first convince Israel to pause its airstrikes. As one diplomat put it, Tehran “could show flexibility in the nuclear issue&#8221; if Washington helps broker a ceasefire. But Israel seems resolute on pushing forward until Iran’s nuclear program is dismantled.
<h2>Economic Update</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-937181" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_20_23.Still002.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_20_23.Still002.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_20_23.Still002-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: Inflation is down, wages are up. The latest data reveals a strong economy – but uncertainty continues.
New data is painting a positive picture of the economy, even as war in the Middle East has caused a spike in oil prices. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell declined to lower interest rates this week despite President Trump’s calls for doing so, partly due to instability abroad and the ongoing tariff negotiations, both of which have the potential to raise prices, although as now year-over-year inflation is relatively low – in May it was only 2.4%, compared to a high of <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2024/05/factchecking-biden-on-inflation-other-claims/">9.1%</a> in June 2022.
“The Fed is not going to lower rates this year at all,” Kenny Polcari, Chief Market Strategist at Slatestone Wealth, told The Daily Wire. “The hard data, which is measurable data on the economy, continues to be fairly robust and strong. And so therefore, I think current rates are not restrictive. They&#8217;re certainly not causing the economy to go off the edge … every president wants rates to be lower. I get that. But in this case, I think Powell&#8217;s right.”
Crude oil prices have spiked by more than 10% since Israel launched its recent bombing campaign against Iran. Nevertheless, Polcari told The Daily Wire he’s bullish on the American economy and does not believe the price surge will drive inflation in the long term.
“Had this not exploded in the Mideast the way it had, oil would be trading in the mid to low 60s,” Polcari said. “I think it&#8217;s going to go back there once this Middle East situation calms down. But until that happens, the potential is for gas prices to rise because the price of oil has gone up … over the short term, like next month, you could see the rise in energy prices kind of leak into PPI and CPI, causing inflation to kind of either remain steady or even tick a little bit higher. But I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s a long-term issue.”
<h2>Is AI Assisting Underage Abortions?</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-937179" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_04.Still003-3.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_04.Still003-3.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_18_04.Still003-3-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: Is ChatGPT assisting underage girls with secret abortions?
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ive-got-your-back-read-chatgpts-chilling-instructions-to-young-girl-seeking-covert-abortion?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98I%E2%80%99ve+Got+Your+Back%E2%80%99%3A+Read+ChatGPT%E2%80%99s+Chilling+Instructions+To+Young+Girl+Seeking+Covert+Abortion">When prompted by The Daily Wire</a> about what ChatGPT would say to a 14-year-old girl in Tennessee looking to get an abortion without her parents’ knowledge, version GPT-4o of ChatGPT provided a detailed list of abortion providers and gave a step-by-step guide on how to discreetly obtain abortion pills.
ChatGPT encouraged the minor to hide this from her parents and advised her on how to effectively break the law in a state like Tennessee, where medication abortions are illegal and <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2021/title-37/chapter-10/part-3/section-37-10-303/">parental consent</a> for abortion for a minor is required. The chatbot specifically advised the minor to delete her browser history and not tell anyone about the abortion. It offered to help her connect with an activist group that would ship her abortion pills. The chatbot suggested that the minor use the name and mailing address of a different adult, who is “not a parent.” And it suggested the child open the abortion pills “privately&#8221; when “no one is home” and “carefully” throw out the packaging “somewhere not at home.”
The abortion pill mifepristone is currently enmeshed in legal battles over serious &#8212; and sometimes fatal &#8212; safety concerns. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fda-chief-commits-to-full-review-of-abortion-pill">committed</a> to a full review of the pill’s safety.
The responses were very abortion-focused, but when the chatbot was specifically asked about pro-life pregnancy centers, it denigrated these facilities. Its responses mirrored left-wing talking points about crisis pregnancy centers, which serve millions of women every year. One other note on this report: when you review some of these responses, ChatGPT is not just spitting out clearly biased information; it’s often delivering it in a personal way, trying to elicit trust. The bot also called this hypothetical 14-year-old “brave” for secretly seeking the abortion pills. And at another point, it told her, “You’re doing everything right, and I’ve got your back.”

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