Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promised on Wednesday that relief is coming to Americans at the grocery store, as the Trump administration plans to make &#8220;substantial announcements&#8221; on foreign food imports in the coming days.
During an interview with &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6385001023112">Fox &amp; Friends</a>&#8221; co-host Brian Kilmeade, Bessent predicted that Americans would soon feel much better about their finances and hinted that certain grocery store items would be coming down in price.
&#8220;When you look at affordability now, and you go grocery shopping, for example, what products are you working on bringing down?&#8221; Kilmeade asked. &#8220;We know that certain products are down, certain [products] are up. For example, coffee. The president said, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to lower tariff rates on Brazil and Vietnam and other places to try to bring the price of coffee down.&#8217; What else do you do?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, it&#8217;s tough to do a lot of specific things, but I can tell you that you&#8217;re going to see substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don&#8217;t grow here in the United States,&#8221; Bessent replied. &#8220;Coffee being one of them. Bananas, other fruits, things like that. So that will bring the prices down very quickly.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Sec. Scott Bessent: &#8220;You&#8217;re going to see substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don&#8217;t grow here&#8230; coffee being one of them, bananas, other fruits&#8230; That will bring the prices down very quickly.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/OlwFniutbk">pic.twitter.com/OlwFniutbk</a>
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1988616150398214379?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bessent&#8217;s comments are a rare moment in which the Trump administration appears to acknowledge that tariffs have negatively affected Americans&#8217; wallets in some circumstances. Last week, President Donald Trump also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-shift-acknowledges-americans-are-paying-something-tariffs-2025-11-06/">admitted</a> that Americans are &#8220;paying something&#8221; due to his tariffs, adding, &#8220;But when you take the overall impact, the Americans are gaining tremendously.&#8221;
The average price of coffee in the United States has spiked in recent months after the Trump administration imposed hefty tariffs on countries around the world, including the leading coffee exporters. In September, the average price for a pound of ground coffee rose 3% from the previous month and jumped 41% from September 2024, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/coffee-prices-tariffs-climate-3503a37a8fc95b7dc5a1f29747c81e27">reported</a>. That increase has caused some coffee shops and grocery stores to hike prices. Banana prices have also risen slightly following the rollout of Trump&#8217;s tariffs.
Bessent said that the Trump administration is seeking to fix an &#8220;affordability mess&#8221; that began under former President Joe Biden.
&#8220;It was the worst inflation in 40-50 years, one of the worst in the nation&#8217;s history,&#8221; the Treasury Secretary added.
Bessent said the administration is working to address both affordability components: prices and income. He argued that by the first quarter of next year, Americans will see prices decline while their wages rise.
&#8220;You are going to feel it,&#8221; Bessent said, adding, &#8220;I think 2026 is going to be a blockbuster year.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s tariffs are currently hanging in the balance as the Supreme Court considers whether the president can use his broad authority over foreign policy to impose tariffs on countries worldwide. Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case, with multiple conservative justices appearing skeptical of the president’s authority.

Scott Bessent/Grocery Store

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

Donald Trump

Economics

Economy

Food prices

Politics

Scott Bessent

Tariffs

Trump Administration

President Donald Trump issued a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115529446165908851">Truth Social post</a> on Monday that centered on a major Supreme Court case that could reshape the limits of presidential power over U.S. trade policy.
President Trump warned that the U.S. Supreme Court “was given the wrong numbers” regarding the economic stakes of the pending tariff case. He stated that if the Court rules against him, the resulting “unwind” of the tariff system — reversing investments, refunds, and related measures — would exceed $3 trillion. He characterized that scenario as an “insurmountable National Security Event,” warning it could devastate the U.S. economy and threaten the country’s sustainability.
Trump’s statement is both an economic and political message, emphasizing that the stakes of the Supreme Court’s decision extend well beyond trade law. He suggests that an unfavorable ruling could require returning massive tariff revenues collected under his administration’s 2025 “reciprocal tariffs,” potentially exceeding $3 trillion when including lost investment and refunds. This would unwind a significant source of federal revenue and destabilize fiscal planning.
Trump is also framing tariffs as essential to protecting U.S. manufacturing and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers. Therefore, reversing them would not only hurt the economy but also compromise U.S. national security. By calling it a “national security event,” Trump connects trade policy to his broader presidential authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), arguing that tariffs are a legitimate tool for addressing threats tied to trade deficits and foreign economic influence.
Trump’s claim that the Supreme Court “was given the wrong numbers” implies he believes the economic consequences have been understated to the justices, a move aimed at shaping public perception and potentially influencing the Court’s understanding of the stakes.
The Supreme Court case, Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc., consolidates challenges to Trump’s use of IEEPA to impose wide-reaching tariffs without explicit congressional approval. The Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit <a href="https://www.swlaw.com/publication/what-if-the-supreme-court-overrules-the-reciprocal-tariffs-plan-now-for-refunds-protests-and-contract-reconciliation/">ruled</a> that the IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. Lower courts have ruled against Trump, saying that IEEPA does not authorize open-ended tariffs and that such economic measures require a clear congressional delegation. If the justices affirm those rulings, it could force the government to refund hundreds of billions — possibly trillions — in tariff payments, upend trade contracts, and reshape the executive’s emergency powers. On the other hand, if the Court rules in favor of the administration, it will dramatically expand the president&#8217;s authority to set trade policy under emergency declarations.
The federal government <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/trump-warns-supreme-court-tariff-ruling-could-trigger-3t-unwind">collected about $213 billion</a> in tariffs through September 2025, with monthly records of more than $31 billion in late summer.  Some forecasts <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-tariff-revenue-fiscal-year-2025-soars-10948543">project</a> around $3 trillion in tariff revenue over a decade. The Congressional Budget Office estimates these tariffs reduce deficits by $2.8 trillion over ten years but slightly dampen GDP and increase inflation by 0.4% by 2027.
According to a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inflation-tariffs-trump-prices-consumers/">study</a> by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, tariffs haven&#8217;t driven up consumer prices as much as some critics have predicted, because businesses want to see where tariff rates settle before they adjust their prices.

President Trump Takes Part In Swearing In Of US Ambassador To India

Trump Sounds Alarm: SCOTUS Tariff Ruling Could Trigger $3 Trillion Economic ‘Unwind’

Courts

Executive

Supreme Court

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he wants to pay the majority of Americans $2,000 each from U.S. tariff revenue and use the &#8220;left over&#8221; funds to achieve debt reduction.
Trump argued that there would be enough tariff revenue to send stipends to all Americans — other than high-income earners — and &#8220;to SUBSTANTIALLY PAY DOWN NATIONAL DEBT.&#8221;
&#8220;All money left over from the $2000 payments made to low and middle income USA Citizens, from the massive Tariff Income pouring into our Country from foreign countries, which will be substantial, will be used to SUBSTANTIALLY PAY DOWN NATIONAL DEBT. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115526165519672797">wrote</a> on Truth Social.
The national debt recently surpassed <a href="https://www.usdebtclock.org/">$38 trillion</a> and is on pace to hit $44 trillion by 2029. More than four-fifths of Americans would qualify for Trump&#8217;s dividends if his proposal is enacted. As of 2024, 81% of the U.S. population is in the middle- or lower-income classes, according to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2024/05/31/the-state-of-the-american-middle-class/">Gallup</a>.
On Sunday, Trump called anyone who opposes his tariffs &#8220;FOOLS&#8221; and promised to hand out $2,000 dividends to Americans as the U.S. raked in nearly $2 billion in tariff revenue through the first three quarters of fiscal year 2025, according to the <a href="https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/files/reports-statements/mts/mts0925.pdf">Treasury Department</a>.
&#8220;We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115519726463094783">wrote</a>. &#8220;401k’s are Highest EVER. We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion. Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.&#8221;
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told ABC&#8217;s &#8220;This Week&#8221; on Sunday that he had not discussed the $2,000 dividend proposal with the president, adding that it &#8220;could come in lots of forms and lots of ways.&#8221; Trump&#8217;s desire to hand out $2,000 checks to Americans would need Congressional approval. Earlier this year, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced legislation to give Americans $600 tariff rebates, or $2,400 for a family of four. Hawley&#8217;s bill, however, has not gained any traction in the Republican-controlled Senate.
It&#8217;s not the first time Trump has floated the idea of handing out stipends to Americans while also paying down the national debt this term. Earlier this year, Trump suggested that Americans could receive government checks as a result of massive spending cuts proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. In February, SpaceX owner and former Trump adviser Elon Musk <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/02/19/musk-doge-dividend-check">discussed</a> handing out $5,000 dividend checks if his goal of $2 trillion in government spending cuts was met. The proposal would allocate 20% of the DOGE savings to dividend checks and another 20% to the national debt. At the time, Trump <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-doge-dividend-85f3d001d082aebaefd397035b0b86a9">told</a> reporters he supported the plan, but the idea seems to have lost momentum, and Musk later <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/04/28/nx-s1-5377445/doge-musk-trump-100-days">downgraded</a> his spending-cut goal to $150 billion.
Trump&#8217;s promise to hand out tariff revenue to Americans comes at a critical time for his tariff agenda as the Supreme Court weighs whether he has the authority to impose the worldwide tariffs. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Trump&#8217;s tariff case last week, with multiple conservative justices appearing skeptical of the president&#8217;s authority, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-liberation-day-tariffs-face-skepticism-among-some-supreme-court-justices">reported</a>.
The key questions at issue in the case revolve around the meaning of the phrase “regulate importation” in the law, whether a tariff can be considered a tax, and the tension between the president’s broad authority over foreign policy and Congress’s authority over taxation.  A ruling against Trump&#8217;s tariff authority would effectively stop his most important economic and foreign policy agenda in its tracks.
In another post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump pushed back against some of the arguments against his tariffs and argued that the president must be allowed to impose tariffs on foreign countries for national security.
&#8220;So, let’s get this straight??? The President of the United States is allowed (and fully approved by Congress!) to stop ALL TRADE with a Foreign Country (Which is far more onerous than a Tariff!), and LICENSE a Foreign Country, but is not allowed to put a simple Tariff on a Foreign Country, even for purposes of NATIONAL SECURITY,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115519951705472870">said</a>. &#8220;That is NOT what our great Founders had in mind! The whole thing is ridiculous! Other Countries can Tariff us, but we can’t Tariff them??? It is their DREAM!!! Businesses are pouring into the USA ONLY BECAUSE OF TARIFFS. HAS THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT NOT BEEN TOLD THIS??? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???&#8221;

Trump Wants To Use Tariff Revenue For $2K Payouts, Leftovers To Pay Down National Debt

Americans

There are some lessons that must be learned by Republicans from the elections this week. 
Republicans did quite poorly across the board. There&#8217;s a point Matthew Continetti of The Wall Street Journal made. He <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trumps-gop-is-losing-independents-d87b0110?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqeFdRQ_g38TJV0G2OKCWsyv2tgz8k1Fr9UDABIIONWBHzy2WdkvBiX33wOqwRA%3D&amp;gaa_ts=690e63b3&amp;gaa_sig=cNTYsP1fZFO_BxjK-DQqb69SuibyrCc8gefsLXn2XM_VkLX4DO1fhLbTkwJEefzCwe2Rzs4Snn3cTaYawFxvBQ%3D%3D">wrote</a>: 
<blockquote>The off-year Democratic wave flooded Republican safe harbors. Democrats flipped at least 13 seats in Virginia’s House of Delegates. They plan to use their governing trifecta—control of the governor’s mansion and both legislative chambers—to redraw the state’s congressional map in their favor. New Jersey Democrats will enjoy their largest Assembly majority in 52 years. And Georgia Democrats won two seats on the Public Service Commission, the state’s utility board. No Democrat has served on it since 2007.</blockquote>
That was 18 years ago. 
When you look at the 2026 election and the importance of Republicans retaining the House and the Senate, it looks as if Republicans are in a fairly decent position to retain the Senate. In order for Democrats to take the Senate in the next election cycle, they would have to flip a rather unlikely seat, e.g., Iowa. 
But in the House, where Republicans basically have zero margin at this point, Democrats do not need to flip very many seats in order to take over. According to the <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Cook Political Report</a>, of the 16 toss-up seats, 10 are held by Republicans. When you look at another eight that lean Republican and 10 that lean Democrat, you&#8217;re talking about a total possible variance of 34 seats. 
Republicans would have to do really, really poorly to lose all of those. But they don&#8217;t have to lose many of those to lose control of the House. And if they lose control of the House, all you&#8217;re going to get all day long are hearings and investigations and impeachment. 
We know all of this to be the case, and we also know it wouldn&#8217;t be solely due to anything that President Trump is doing. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2313-member-exclusive?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Midterm elections, since World War II, have almost always gone in the direction of the party that is out of power, according to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-warning-sign-2026-house-poll-11001168">Newsweek</a>. The president&#8217;s party has lost an average of 26 House seats and three to four Senate seats in midterms. When the president&#8217;s approval rating is below 50%, the losses tend to be more severe. Presidents with a 50% job approval have seen their parties lose an average of 37 House seats, as opposed to when the president is popular, where they lose about 14 seats on average.
Republican enthusiasm seems not to be nearly as high as when President Trump was on the ballot, and a sinking economy, or at least an economy that doesn&#8217;t feel as though it is soaring, is having a significant downstream impact.
There are audiences President Trump brought in who are beginning to move against him. One of those is Latino audiences, who went very heavily toward President Trump in the last election cycle, but seem to be bleeding away in New Jersey and in Virginia.
That&#8217;s not because Democrats are doing an extraordinary job. It&#8217;s because there has been so much focus on the immigration crackdowns. It&#8217;s one thing to shut the border. It&#8217;s another thing if there&#8217;s stuff all over your TV about your abuela being taken out and then deported.
I do think that all of that media coverage has been terrible, overblown, and inaccurate. Obviously, it&#8217;s not redounding to the benefit of Republicans among Latinos.
But with all that said, the real issue here is the economy. We all know it. Every exit poll from this week, every single one, said the economy was the number one issue.
Our economy is on some shaky footing, not only because of the continued government shutdown — which will end at some point — but because of a generalized feeling that the economic growth that we are currently seeing is not a broad-based economic growth.
When we are looking at the stock market, for example, the vast majority of stock market gains have accrued to the top seven companies in the market, all of which seem to be focused on tech and AI industries, where jobs are being created, but not industries where the vast majority of people are holding jobs.
The tech industry is really important, but if it&#8217;s the entirety of your economic growth, you&#8217;ve got a bit of a problem. The reason that is happening is because investors don&#8217;t know where to put their money. That is due to tariffs, bizarre regulations, and a generalized feeling of too much government involvement in private industry.
The more the government is involved in the economy, the more investors are likely to try and discern where the government’s hand is likely to come down next and then place their money there.
And that is a major problem.
This is something that Republicans should be considering as they head into the next year.
Employers are apparently not adding many jobs, but they&#8217;ve avoided resorting to widespread layoffs. Everyone is holding steady, which is why it feels as though the economy is on the edge. Polls are showing that people are deeply worried about the state of the economy. 
This week, there&#8217;s been a relatively significant decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. One of the reasons is nobody knows where to put their money. They don&#8217;t know how to invest in industries.
Typically, if you&#8217;re going to buy a stock, you&#8217;re supposed to buy a piece of a company that you like because you think it&#8217;s a good company and it is likely to succeed in the foreseeable future.
But that is not the way a lot of people are treating the stock market right now. They&#8217;re treating it the way they&#8217;re treating crypto. If you&#8217;re going to buy crypto, you should buy crypto as a hedge against inflation, for example, which is why I own some Bitcoin and some Ethereum, but nothing else. If you&#8217;re treating crypto as a get-rich-quick scheme, if you&#8217;re treating the stock market as a way of making a quick buck, that is not a solid way to treat your stock.
But that is how people are treating things right now, because people are looking around and things are more expensive. All of the inflationary money blown in during the last days of the Trump administration and the entirety of the Biden administration is still in people&#8217;s pockets. They don&#8217;t know what to do with it. 
Now, the Federal Reserve is lowering those interest rates again in an attempt to create more liquidity, which, again, I&#8217;ve always found is strange. We do not have a dearth of liquidity in the United States right now. We don&#8217;t have a dearth of opportunities for where to put the liquidity; nobody knows what to do next. It feels as if the market is doing fine, but it&#8217;s also paralyzed. 
And that&#8217;s the problem.
The real issue with the market right now is that the middle bulk of the market is not being invested in. One of the reasons that it&#8217;s not being invested in is that there are hungry speculators with too much cash in their pockets, thanks to the free rein of money for a very long time.
But also, there&#8217;s tremendous uncertainty if you&#8217;re in a service industry or manufacturing industry about the tariffs, and that does make a gigantic difference. There&#8217;s no question that people are confused and discombobulated by the day-to-day action of the administration. As I&#8217;ve been saying for literally the entirety of the Trump administration, if the administration pursued lower taxes, lower regulation, and free trade agreements with everybody around China, the economy would be in better shape.
The line for Democrats going forward is going to be if the economy collapses. If the economy goes down, it&#8217;s an existential danger to the Republican Party, which writ large, means an existential danger to the country, because the next step by a lot of people is going to be swiveling over and saying, we need more government. We need more centralized power. 
Ironically, one of the things that could help the Trump presidency is if the Supreme Court strikes down the tariffs, because then the economy will soar because a lot of investors who&#8217;ve been sitting on the sidelines will suddenly feel secure that their inputs are not going to be increased, jacked up randomly by 30, 40, 50%, depending on where they&#8217;re getting their products from. They&#8217;re not going to fear as much that export markets are going to disappear.
I understand that his tariff policy is very near and dear to the president&#8217;s heart. I get it. I understand his feeling that we have been screwed in past trade negotiations. I don&#8217;t even disagree with that. But the answer to that is to negotiate better deals with countries, not to put blanket tariffs on allies we need.
And President Trump understands better than anyone how central the success of the economy is.

Americans voting in an election

Uh-Oh: Warning Signs For Republicans?

Ben Shapiro

Democrats

Opinion

Republicans

Stock Market

The Supreme Court considers President Donald Trump’s authority to impose tariffs, a standoff is brewing in New York City between Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and ICE, and the battle to shift the balance of power in Congress through redistricting ratchets up.
It’s Thursday, November 6, 2025, 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, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251106-member-exclusive">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">SCOTUS Hears Trump&#8217;s Tariff Case</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-996895" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trumps-Tariff-Tightrope-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trumps-Tariff-Tightrope-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trumps-Tariff-Tightrope-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trumps-Tariff-Tightrope-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trumps-Tariff-Tightrope-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trumps-Tariff-Tightrope.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case challenging Trump’s authority to impose broad tariffs. The ruling will have a significant impact on Trump’s signature trade policy.
The case is Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump. In total, seven businesses argue that Trump doesn&#8217;t have the legal authority to impose his sweeping tariffs and that these tariffs have caused them significant financial harm.
The tariffs at issue cover a wide range of imported goods, with many set at around 10%, on nearly every U.S. trading partner. Those were enacted due to the trade deficit and the declining American industrial base, which the administration said constituted an emergency. The other set of tariffs is more targeted. They relate to border protection and the illegal flow of drugs into the United States. China, Canada, and Mexico were <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-tariffs-february-1-canada-mexico-china/">hit</a> with varying rates.
The arguments: The plaintiffs argued that tariffs are taxes, and the power of the purse belongs to Congress, not the president. They claim the statute Trump cited to enact the tariffs, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), doesn’t explicitly allow the president to impose tariffs, though it does give him other powers when it comes to foreign trade during a declared emergency. It’s typically been used for sanctions.
The Trump administration argued that IEEPA does allow the president to impose tariffs, even though it’s never been used for that purpose. They say that the issue at the border constitutes an emergency, thereby allowing the tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. Similarly, they argue the trade deficit, among other reasons, is an emergency that justifies additional tariffs.
The Court: The response from the bench was nuanced, and opinions seemed to cut both ways.
“Your interpretation of the statute would allow the president to shut down all trade with every other country in the world, or impose some significant quota on imports from every other country in the world – but would not allow a 1% tariff. And that leaves, in the government’s words, an odd donut hole in the statute,” Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1986131942094319755">said</a>. “That doesn&#8217;t seem to have a lot of common sense behind it.”
In another moment, judges focused on what exactly constitutes an emergency, and if there are limits. Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested that if the Court broadly sides with the Trump administration, it would give future administrations significant power.
“Could the president impose a 50% tariff on gas-powered cars and auto parts to deal with the ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ from abroad of climate change? … I think that has to be the logic of your view,” Gorsuch <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1986101846285668665">said</a>.
View from the Oval: Trump very much believes in tariffs – he has spoken about tariffs and trade policy for decades and believes that Americans have been taken advantage of for too long. He framed this case as “literally life or death for our country.” In a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115493671705492320">Truth Social post</a> on Tuesday, he said a victory in court would mean financial and national security for America, but a loss would mean the U.S. being taken advantage of again. 
<h2 style="text-align: center;">ICE Undaunted By Mamdani</h2>
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Topline: With Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral election, how will immigration raids in the city look?
Trump border czar Tom Homan told The Daily Wire that nothing will change on the administration’s end and that “operations will continue.” He is undaunted by Mamdani, who has pledged to keep NYC a sanctuary city that refuses to work with ICE. For years, this has looked like illegal immigrant criminals benefitting from NYC’s lax-on-crime laws getting released from local jails only to walk free and end up in the revolving door of justice. ICE has to then go out into the communities, rather than have the jail contact them, to inform them that these criminals are being released.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Growing Redistricting War</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-996887" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/The-Race-To-Redistrict-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/The-Race-To-Redistrict-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/The-Race-To-Redistrict-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/The-Race-To-Redistrict-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/The-Race-To-Redistrict-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/The-Race-To-Redistrict.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Proposition 50 passed by an overwhelming margin in California on Tuesday. It&#8217;s just the latest in what&#8217;s likely to become a messy nationwide redistricting battle.
Challenges moving forward: The biggest issue is that voters gave the state permission to redraw up to five congressional districts to favor Democrats. This was meant to counter the state of Texas&#8217;s effort to create a map that gives the GOP the same advantage. But this could trigger redistricting efforts all around the country. Missouri, North Carolina, and other states have already launched redistricting efforts.
There’s a possibility that, through the wave of redistricting, California’s efforts are more than canceled out in other states. But while this battle plays out, there will be many court cases and different actions at the state level across the country that could influence the final tally.
For example, the California Republican Party just announced a federal-level lawsuit against Prop 50 on Wednesday, calling it unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. And that could also create sweeping implications if it goes up through the federal court system.
Other factors influencing 2026 maps: Louisiana is arguing a major Supreme Court case attempting to get rid of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Section 2, to an extent, removes the race factor from how congressional maps are redrawn. If that happens, it could benefit Republicans in the South and lead to redistricting that favors the GOP in that region. Even with Democratic backlash in other states, by and large, that would be strong news for Republicans.

MRN_251106_V1

Morning Brief: SCOTUS Takes Up Trump Tariffs, ICE Checks Mamdani, & Dems Rig Maps In California

Morning Brief: SCOTUS Takes Up Tariffs, ICE Faces Down Mamdani, And Redistricting In CA

California

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Morning Wire

New York City

Texas

Tom Homan

Zohran Mamdani

The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday that will determine the fate of President Donald Trump’s tariffs that he has used to bring countries around the world, including China, to the negotiating table. 
The arguments, which stretched on for over two-and-a-half hours, focused on complex questions on the meaning of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Trump administration has cited the law as justification for the tariffs it has imposed on over a hundred countries. 
Solicitor General John Sauer said that the fentanyl emergency and the declining American industrial base were the impetus for the tariffs. 
“President Trump has declared that these emergencies are country killing and not sustainable, that they threaten the bedrock of our national and economic security, and that fixing them will make America a strong, financially viable, and respected country again,” he said in his opening argument. “Due to IEEPA tariffs, President Trump has negotiated agreements worth trillions of dollars with major trading partners, including most recently China.”
The key questions at issue in the case revolve around the meaning of the phrase “regulate importation” in the law, whether a tariff can be considered a tax, and the tension between the president’s broad authority over foreign policy and Congress’s authority over taxation. 
The tariffs have been challenged by a group of businesses represented by Neal Katyal, who served as acting solicitor general under former President Barack Obama. A group of largely Democratic-led states has also challenged the tariffs. 
The justices&#8217; responses to the arguments were mixed, with some appearing to agree with the Trump administration and others asking more adversarial questions. 
The court’s three liberal justices — Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson — all were skeptical of the Trump administration’s arguments that they had the authority to impose broad tariffs across the world. 
Both Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito challenged Neal Katyal, the former acting solicitor general during the Obama Administration, who argued on behalf of businesses affected by the tariffs. 
Justice Brett Kavanaugh was focused on the historical precedent for the case, asking the lawyers about what they made of President Richard Nixon’s decision to impose 10% global tariffs back in the 1970s as a tool of trade negotiation. 
Kavanaugh also appeared sympathetic to the administration, noting that the law allows the president to completely cut off trade with countries. He said that the position of the challengers was &#8220;unusual&#8221; because it was “taking away the president&#8217;s suite of tools when the one is much more extreme that is authorized.”
Kavanaugh noted that Trump has placed tariffs on India with the intent of ending the Russia-Ukraine War. 
Justice Neil Gorsuch appeared to see the question come down to the issue of Congressional authority over taxation. He said the key context was “the constitutional assignment of the taxing power to Congress, the power to reach into the pockets of the American people is just different, and it&#8217;s been different since the founding and the Navigation Acts were part of the spark of the American Revolution.”
Justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett appeared skeptical of some of Sauer’s arguments but also pressed Katyal on his claims. 
“The vehicle is imposition of taxes on Americans, and that has always been the core power of Congress,” Roberts said. “So to have the president’s foreign affairs power trump that basic power for Congress seems to me to kind of at least neutralize between the two powers, the executive power and the legislative power.”
Trump, on Tuesday, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115493671705492320">wrote</a> on Truth Social that upholding his tariffs was a matter of “life and death.” 
“With a Victory, we have tremendous, but fair, Financial and National Security. Without it, we are virtually defenseless against other Countries who have, for years, taken advantage of us,” Trump wrote. “Our Stock Market is consistently hitting Record Highs, and our Country has never been more respected than it is right now. A big part of this is the Economic Security created by Tariffs, and the Deals that we have negotiated because of them.”

Supreme Court Confronts Trump’s Power To Disrupt Global Economy

Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Face Skepticism Among Some Supreme Court Justices

Trump's 'Liberation Day' Tariffs Face Final Test At Supreme Court As Some Justices Skeptical

President Donald Trump said he discussed numerous issues with Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, including a potential trade deal and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump and Xi spoke for about an hour and 40 minutes in South Korea, the last leg of Trump&#8217;s weeklong trip to Asia. During the summit, Trump was joined by multiple top White House officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“Overall, I guess on the scale of from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump said.
The president said that he and Xi have &#8220;come to conclusions on very many important points,&#8221; adding that a trade deal could be signed &#8220;pretty soon.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his meeting with President Xi: &#8220;I thought it was an amazing meeting&#8230; a lot of decisions were made, too — there wasn&#8217;t too much left out there, and we&#8217;ve come to conclusion on many very important points.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/cr81Yojr24">pic.twitter.com/cr81Yojr24</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983911291866538068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Here are the key points that Trump and Xi discussed:
<h3>Rare Earth Minerals</h3>
Trump secured an important win for the United States and the rest of the world on rare earth minerals, with Xi agreeing to pause export controls for one year. Trump said China&#8217;s pause could be “very routinely extended as time goes by.”
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&#8220;Now, every year we’ll renegotiate the deal, but I think the deal will go on for a long time, long beyond the year,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But all of the rare earth has been settled, and that’s for the world.”
&#8220;That roadblock is gone now,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;There&#8217;s no roadblock at all on rare earth. That will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.&#8221;
<h3>Tariffs and Fentanyl</h3>
Trump said that tariffs on China will be slashed from 57% to 47% after Xi promised that his country would take more action to prevent fentanyl from being trafficked into the United States.
&#8220;On fentanyl, we agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow,&#8221; Trump told reporters as he flew back to the United States on Air Force One. &#8220;It&#8217;s a very complex subject because it&#8217;s used for lots of different reasons, including anesthetics and things, but he&#8217;s going to work very hard on it.&#8221;
Trump added that he is hopeful that China will take &#8220;some real action.&#8221; After Xi promised to address the issue, Trump said that his 20% tariff on China that was imposed in response to fentanyl trafficking will be reduced to 10%, dropping the overall tariff rate on the communist country to 47%, &#8220;effective immediately.&#8221;
<h3>Trump Trip to China</h3>
President Trump said he will travel to China in April for continuing talks, while Xi will visit the United States &#8220;some time after that.&#8221; Trump said he expects a trade deal with China to happen &#8220;pretty soon.&#8221;
&#8220;The whole relationship is very important, and I think [the meeting] was very good,&#8221; Trump added.
<h3>Oil and Gas</h3>
While no deal was reached on China purchasing oil and gas from Alaska during the summit, Trump said he&#8217;s optimistic that an agreement will be signed in the future. The president added that Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will meet with Chinese officials to continue oil and gas negotiations.
<h3>Computer Chips</h3>
Xi promised to discuss the potential purchase of computer chips from U.S. tech companies, such as Nvidia, according to Trump.
&#8220;I said that&#8217;s really between you and Nvidia, but we&#8217;re sort of the arbitrator or the referee,&#8221; Trump said, adding that it would be &#8220;good for us&#8221; if China bought more chips from the United States.
<h3>Ukraine-Russia War</h3>
The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia &#8220;came up&#8221; during Trump&#8217;s meeting with Xi, and the two leaders &#8220;talked about it for a long time,&#8221; according to Trump. Xi has been friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and China has been accused of sending military equipment to Russia during the war.
&#8220;We&#8217;re both going to work together to see if we can get something done,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;We agree that the sides are locked in fighting, and sometimes you have to let them fight, I guess. But he&#8217;s going to help us, and we&#8217;re going to work together on Ukraine.&#8221;
China also buys large amounts of oil from Russia, but Trump said that topic didn&#8217;t come up during the meeting.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
&#8220;Ukraine came up very strongly. We talked about it for a long time, and we&#8217;re both going to work together to see if we can get something done,&#8221; says <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his meeting with President Xi.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to work together on Ukraine.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/ygzOKy9Gvn">pic.twitter.com/ygzOKy9Gvn</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983915198147612876?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h3>Taiwan &#8216;Not Discussed&#8217;</h3>
Trump also said that Taiwan &#8220;never came up&#8221; during the meeting. Xi has long had his sights set on Taiwan, a vital island nation that currently manufactures around 90% of the world&#8217;s most advanced semiconductors.
&#8220;It was not discussed, actually,&#8221; he said.
<h3>Farm Products</h3>
Xi promised that China would purchase American soybeans, sorghum, and other farm products. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added during an interview with Fox Business that China would buy 12 million metric tons of American soybeans before the end of the year and 25 million metric tons over the next three years.
Listen to Trump&#8217;s remarks below:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="President Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One, Oct. 30, 2025" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KjqKGq3-C9Q?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Donald Trump/Xi Jinping

Trump Calls Xi Summit A ’12’ Out Of 10 – Here’s What Went Down

China

rare earth minerals

trade

U.S.

Xi Jinping

Five Senate Republicans joined with Democrats on Tuesday in a vote denouncing President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Brazil.
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina sided with Senate Democrats in a 52 to 48 vote against the president’s trade policy, exposing a small rift in the GOP between the president and some lawmakers.
“Protectionists eagerly celebrate the revenue from tariff duties. But they don’t talk nearly as much about how much of that revenue they’ll spend protecting American growers and producers from the avoidable harm of their policies,” McConnell said in a <a href="https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=D1763366-63E6-4404-8FDD-B932A4691CB7">statement</a> defending his vote.
“Tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive. The economic harms of trade wars are not the exception to history, but the rule. And no cross-eyed reading of Reagan will reveal otherwise,” he continued, referencing the late President Ronald Reagan, whose support for free trade became news recently because of an anti-tariff advertisement <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-sets-10-hike-in-tariffs-on-canada-after-fake-ad-that-aired-during-world-series">purchased</a> by the Ontario government.
The Senate’s Tuesday resolution against Trump’s Brazil tariffs is symbolic, and it is not expected to receive a vote – much less pass – in the House. Additional resolutions on Trump’s tariffs are expected to receive votes in the Senate this week.
Vice President JD Vance warned Republicans ahead of the vote not to side against the president in the symbolic gesture, calling a move to buck to White House on tariffs a “big mistake,” according to <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/3867090/senate-rebukes-trump-tariff-vote-jd-vance-warning/">The Washington Examiner</a>.
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“The point that I made to my Republican colleagues, recognizing there’s a diversity of opinions about it, is that the tariffs give us the ability to put American workers first,” said Vance after meeting with GOP senators on Tuesday. “They force American industry to reinvest in the United States of America instead of a foreign country.”
Prior to Trump’s trade wars, U.S. tariffs on Brazil were roughly 3% in line with its status as a Most Favored Nation for U.S. trade. Brazil’s tariffs on U.S. goods were higher at around 11%, according to the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/regulating-imports-with-a-reciprocal-tariff-to-rectify-trade-practices-that-contribute-to-large-and-persistent-annual-united-states-goods-trade-deficits/">White House</a>.
In April, Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs, placing a minimum 10% levy on all nations, with some receiving a much higher tariff. In July, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114825119138468153">threatened</a> to hike tariffs on goods from Brazil up to 50% because of its treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison after Brazil’s left-wing government accused him of attempting to overthrow democracy.
Since coming into office in January, Trump has aggressively sought to remake the world’s trade lines, levying relatively exorbitant tariffs on enemies and allies. Through unilateral action on tariffs, Trump has sought to eliminate U.S. trade deficits and to establish leverage for action on drug trafficking and ending international conflicts.
Trump has cited emergency authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to issue most of his tariffs. The president’s tariff authority under the act is currently under <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/10/small-businesses-and-states-urge-court-to-strike-down-trumps-tariffs/">review</a> at the Supreme Court.
The president has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/trumps-dramatic-rhetoric-tariffs-ramps-pressure-supreme-court-rcna238207">said</a> if his administration loses the case, the United States “will be a weakened, troubled, financial mess for many, many years to come.”

Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell

Five Senate Republicans Buck White House In Vote Against Trump’s Tariffs

Brazil

Global Politics

JD Vance

Senate

TOKYO — Long associated with American ruggedness, pickup trucks such as Ford&#8217;s top-selling F-150 have now become a symbol of international trade talks, showing how far countries such as Japan will go to win over U.S. President Donald Trump.
When Trump met Japan&#8217;s new prime minister and first female premier, Sanae Takaichi, in Tokyo on Tuesday, an F-150 was parked prominently outside the Akasaka Palace venue.
Burly U.S. pickup trucks are a rare sight in the Japanese capital, where the streets are narrow and turns can be tight.
But the placement of the F-150, which is not typically available for sale in Japan, sent a clear message about Tokyo&#8217;s willingness to buy more cars from its ally, an issue that has been a sticking point for Trump for decades.
Last week, Reuters reported that Takaichi&#8217;s government was working on a package to buy F-150 trucks, an idea originally floated by Trump, as well as soybeans and gas.
&#8220;Well, that&#8217;s great. She has good taste,&#8221; Trump told reporters on Air Force One, when asked about the report. &#8220;That’s a hot truck.&#8221;
In August, Trump said Japan was ready to purchase the &#8220;very beautiful&#8221; F-150.
It was not clear how many F-150s Japan planned to buy.
Japanese government sources have told Reuters the trucks would probably end up being used as snow plows, given their size.
Japan and Europe, Trump has often argued, refuse to accept U.S. cars even as Japanese and European automakers sell millions of their vehicles each year in the United States.
The F-150 won&#8217;t be the first American car brought in to Japan to help ease trade friction. Three decades ago, Toyota responded to U.S. pressure by selling a mid-sized General Motors car under its own brand in Japan.
The Toyota Cavalier was introduced with much fanfare, sold poorly, and quietly faded after a few years, said John Shook, a former Toyota manager and an auto industry veteran in both Japan and the United States.
A third of the 3.7 million new cars sold in Japan last year were mini or &#8220;kei&#8221; cars, tiny vehicles that are not produced by American automakers.
Foreign cars accounted for 6% of new car sales overall, with European brands among some of the top sellers, industry data showed, while Ford itself pulled out of Japan almost a decade ago.
Separately, Trump said Toyota would open auto plants in the United States to the tune of $10 billion.
A Toyota spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on Trump&#8217;s remarks.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and David Dolan; Additional reporting by Maki Shiraki; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Ros Russell)

A Ford F-150 and a Toyota pickup truck are parked outside of Akasaka Palace, in Tokyo

Trump’s ‘Hot Truck’ Becomes Symbol Of Japan Trade Talks

Ford Motor Co.

Japan

President Trump brokers several monumental deals in Asia, the U.S. ramps up its military presence in the Caribbean, and we get an expert opinion on the state of the Trump economy.
It’s Monday, October 27, 2025, 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, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251027-member-exclusive">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<div class="ad-wrapper" data-testid="ad-wrapper"><iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-asia-trip-carriers-to-the-caribbean-10-27-25/id1576594336?i=1000733666489" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Strikes Trade Deals In Asia</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-991431" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Trade-Tour-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Trade-Tour-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Trade-Tour-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Trade-Tour-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Trade-Tour-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Trade-Tour.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: President Trump landed in Asia on Sunday to kick off a whirlwind diplomatic tour aimed at securing new trade deals and peace treaties.
Trump arrived in Malaysia, the first stop on his tour of South Asia, which will also include visits to Japan and South Korea.
The main goal of the trip is to lock down more trade deals and open up access to Asian markets. Within hours of his arrival in Malaysia, the president announced new trade agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Each country will eliminate the vast majority of existing tariffs on U.S. imports, and the latter two will allow for unprecedented American investments in rare earth mineral production.
While this trip was focused on trade, the president also signed a ceasefire deal between Cambodia and Thailand, two longtime foes who were on the brink of war this summer after fighting broke out over a border dispute. Under this new agreement, the two sides will pull back military forces from the border and exchange POWs.
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“I love doing it. I shouldn’t say it’s a hobby, because it’s so much more serious than a hobby — but it’s something that I’m good at and it’s something I love to do,” <a href="https://x.com/clashreport/status/1982325118300004784">said</a> Trump.
Meeting Xi: This trip will be defined by Trump’s sit-down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The two will meet face-to-face on Thursday for the first time since 2019. Ahead of that high-stakes showdown, Trump expressed optimism regarding a “comprehensive deal” that could end the tit-for-tat trade war that’s lasted all year and resulted in unprecedented tariff rates exceeding 100%.
Ahead of that sit-down, officials from both sides have been meeting virtually non-stop this week to hammer out the framework for a potential deal. Beijing says a “basic consensus” has been reached and that the two sides “engaged in candid, in-depth, and constructive exchanges.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump’s Moves Against Drug Trade In South America</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-991433" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Carriers-To-The-Caribbean-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Carriers-To-The-Caribbean-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Carriers-To-The-Caribbean-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Carriers-To-The-Caribbean-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Carriers-To-The-Caribbean-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Carriers-To-The-Caribbean.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: President Trump ordered the most advanced U.S. aircraft carrier group to the Caribbean last week as he floated the possibility of strikes against drug cartels on land. And the Trump administration placed sanctions on the president of Colombia as tensions continue to rise with the erstwhile U.S. ally.
Venezuela: President Trump moved the USS Gerald R Ford carrier group to join the forces already stationed in the Caribbean. The Ford carrier group is the largest in the U.S. military, so this is an aggressive signal from the president that he isn’t satisfied with a few drug boats blown up here and there.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on CBS’ &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; on Sunday and said he had spoken to President Trump about potential land strikes in South America.
“I think that’s a real possibility,” <a href="https://x.com/FaceTheNation/status/1982479665525613037">said</a> Graham. “I think President Trump has made a decision that Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, is an indicted drug trafficker, that it’s time for him to go, that Venezuela and Colombia have been safe havens for narco-terrorists for too long.”
Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro said last week that there are 5,000 Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles stationed around the country to defend the airspace. He also said that “millions of men and women with rifles would march across the country” if the United States were to attack on Venezuelan soil.
Colombia: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his family on Friday. Bessent said in a statement that Petro “has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity.”
Colombian officials have pushed back, pointing to continued interdiction of cocaine &#8212; but the country’s coca fields have grown continuously since Petro took power in 2022. Trump’s moves against Colombia have received support from Republicans representing sizable communities of Colombian Americans.
“Colombia is once again the number one producer of coke in the world. Colombians don&#8217;t deserve that,” <a href="https://x.com/RepMariaSalazar/status/1982503947744243931">said</a> Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar. “President Trump has a responsibility to stop drugs coming into this country.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">E.J. Antoni On Inflation and Trump’s Trade Deals</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-991435" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Growth-Without-Gimmicks-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Growth-Without-Gimmicks-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Growth-Without-Gimmicks-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Growth-Without-Gimmicks-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Growth-Without-Gimmicks-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Growth-Without-Gimmicks.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: The latest economic report shows inflation slightly cooler than experts predicted at 0.3% rather than the predicted 0.4%. The White House is touting the numbers as yet more proof that Trump’s economic plan is working.
Morning Wire spoke with economist E.J. Antoni of the Heritage Foundation. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.)
Morning Wire: First, big picture – we&#8217;re nine months into Trump&#8217;s second term. How is the economy doing?
Antoni: I&#8217;d say the best way to describe it is that it&#8217;s in the midst of a transition, right? For basically the last two years of the Biden administration, you had a labor market that was being propped up in a lot of ways by government hiring. That&#8217;s gone away. In fact, it&#8217;s been replaced with government firings. And the result of that is a drag on the overall jobs numbers, right? In the same way, when you look at something like the way we measure the economy through gross domestic product or GDP, you had government purchases which were accounting for a very large percentage of that. That&#8217;s all gone away. In fact, it&#8217;s been replaced by a reduction in those government purchases, which is a drag on the headline number. What I&#8217;m trying to get at here is, as the government re-privatizes, as the Treasury Secretary says, you will see what looks like sluggish growth – which I think we&#8217;re in right now – but in reality is actually a returning to health. It&#8217;s almost like the chemotherapy that makes you feel really lousy, but gets rid of your cancer.
Morning Wire: The inflation numbers were a little bit cooler than projected. How do you feel about the state of inflation right now?
Antoni: Pretty good, especially since the number one driver of inflation in that CPI report for the month of September was gasoline prices going up so much, except that increase has completely reversed in the first three weeks of October. Now, prices are actually slightly lower than they were in most markets. We should expect the next CPI report – if we can even get it, it&#8217;s unclear because the government shut down – but if we could get it, we would expect even cooler CPI numbers.
Morning Wire: Treasury data show the tariff collection has really surged in recent months. What is the net effect of Trump&#8217;s tariff plan thus far in the economy? Are they working as advertised?
Antoni: Well, I guess it depends on how we want to say as advertised, right? … But here are the facts. They&#8217;re bringing in way more revenue than anticipated to the Treasury. We can certainly have a debate over who is paying for those tariffs. But, the fact is they&#8217;re bringing in billions of dollars in revenue, in fact, hundreds of billions of dollars when you annualize it. That&#8217;s one of the reasons why September had the biggest surplus ever for the month of September in terms of the Treasury monthly statement. It was because not only have we seen a reduction in overall government spending, but an increase in revenues, overall revenues of course, because the economy&#8217;s growing, but also specifically from customs duties, which are from the increase in tariffs.
Morning Wire: Is the reshoring effect — like Stellantis moving some production to the U.S. — is that a real trend or just a few isolated incidents?
Antoni: It’s certainly a real trend, but it is being blunted to a certain extent right now. You are seeing help to the manufacturing sector, and that some of it is being re-shored. But you&#8217;re also seeing, at least in the short term, some pain inflicted on manufacturing because, again, some of the things being tariffed are actually inputs. You&#8217;re making it more expensive, let&#8217;s say, for a car manufacturer to buy steel from abroad for the time being. Now, once that steel gets re-shored back to the United States and you can buy it domestically, then it&#8217;s a moot point, right? But at least for the time being, you&#8217;re having competing effects there where one is helping, the other is hurting.
Morning Wire: Final question, we&#8217;re about to wrap up the year with a couple months left here. What do you project to happen big-picture with the economy over the next few months?
Antoni: I think we&#8217;re going to continue to see some of these very positive trends with economic growth where, although the public sector, the government is shrinking, we&#8217;re going to continue to see growth in the productive private sector. And in particular, one of the reasons why I&#8217;m so optimistic here is that the growth we have seen thus far this year, which I think will continue, has been driven by increases in earnings, not simply increases in debt. … Their money is going further because earnings growth is outpacing inflation. That&#8217;s a very positive development.

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Morning Brief: Trump’s Asia Blitz & Military Build-Up In The Caribbean

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Top Chinese and U.S. economic officials on Sunday hashed out the framework of a trade deal for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to decide on later this week that would pause steeper American tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, U.S. officials said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur had eliminated the threat of Trump&#8217;s 100% tariffs on Chinese imports starting November 1. Bessent also said he expects China to delay implementation of its rare earth minerals and magnets licensing regime by a year while the policy is reconsidered.
Chinese officials were more circumspect about the talks and offered no details about the outcome of the meetings.
Trump and Xi are due to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, to sign off on the terms. While the White House has officially announced the highly anticipated Trump-Xi talks, China has yet to confirm that the two leaders will meet.
&#8220;I think we have a very successful framework for the leaders to discuss on Thursday,&#8221; Bessent told reporters after he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and top trade negotiator Li Chenggang for their fifth round of in-person discussions since May.
Bessent said he anticipates that a tariff truce with China will be extended beyond its November 10 expiration date, and that China will revive substantial purchases of U.S. soybeans after buying none in September while favoring soybeans from Brazil and Argentina.
U.S. soybean farmers &#8220;will feel very good about what&#8217;s going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years&#8221; once the deal&#8217;s terms are announced, Bessent told the ABC program &#8220;This Week.&#8221;
Greer told the &#8220;Fox News Sunday&#8221; program that both sides agreed to pause some punitive actions and found &#8220;a path forward where we can have more access to rare earths from China, we can try to balance out our trade deficit with sales from the United States.&#8221;
China&#8217;s Li Chenggang said the two sides reached a &#8220;preliminary consensus&#8221; and will next go through their respective internal approval processes.
&#8220;The U.S. position has been tough, whereas China has been firm in defending its own interests and rights,&#8221; Li said through an interpreter. &#8220;We have experienced very intense consultations and engaged in constructive exchanges in exploring solutions and arrangements to address these concerns.&#8221;
Trump arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, his first stop in a five-day Asia tour that is expected to culminate in Thursday&#8217;s face-to-face with Xi in South Korea.
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After the weekend talks, Trump struck a positive tone, saying: &#8220;I think we&#8217;re going to have a deal with China.&#8221;
Trump had threatened new 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and other trade curbs starting on November 1, in retaliation for China&#8217;s expanded export controls on rare earth magnets and minerals.
China controls more than 90% of the world&#8217;s supply of the materials, which are essential for high-tech manufacturing from electric vehicles to semiconductors and missiles. The export controls and Trump&#8217;s threatened retaliation would disrupt a delicate six-month truce under which China and the U.S. reduced tariffs that had quickly escalated to triple-digit rates on each side.
The U.S. and Chinese officials said that, in addition to rare earths, they discussed trade expansion, the U.S. fentanyl crisis, U.S. port entrance fees and the transfer of TikTok to U.S. ownership control.
Bessent told NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; program that the two sides have to iron out details of the TikTok deal, allowing Trump and Xi to &#8220;consummate the transaction&#8221; in South Korea.
On the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, Trump hinted at possible meetings with Xi in China and the United States.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve agreed to meet. We&#8217;re going to meet them later in China, and we&#8217;re going to meet in the U.S., in either Washington or at Mar-a-Lago,&#8221; Trump said.
Among Trump&#8217;s talking points with Xi are Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans, concerns around democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, and the release of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
The detention of the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily has become the most high-profile example of China&#8217;s crackdown on rights in Hong Kong.
Trump also said he will seek China&#8217;s help in U.S. dealings with Moscow, as Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine grinds on.
Tensions between the world&#8217;s two largest economies flared in the past few weeks as a delicate trade truce, reached after a first round of trade talks in Geneva in May and extended in August, failed to prevent the United States and China from hitting each other with more sanctions, export curbs and threats of stronger retaliatory measures.
China&#8217;s expanded controls of rare earths exports have caused a global shortage. That has prompted the United States to consider a block on software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, according to a Reuters report.
(Reporting by Xinghui Kok and David Lawder; Writing by David Lawder, Mei Mei Chu, Yukun Zhang and John Mair; Editing by Tom Hogue, Will Dunham, Ros Russell and Edmund Klamann)

U.S. And China Sketch Out Rare Earths, Tariff Pause For Trump And Xi To Consider

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The United States signed a flurry of deals on trade and critical minerals with four Southeast Asian partners on Sunday, looking to address trade imbalances and diversify supply chains amid tighter export curbs on rare earths by China.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who is in Kuala Lumpur to attend a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, signed reciprocal trade deals with his Malaysian and Cambodian counterparts, as well as a framework trade pact with Thailand that will see the countries work to address tariff and non-tariff barriers.
The United States would maintain a tariff rate of 19% on exports from all three countries under the deals, with the levy to be reduced to zero for some goods, according to joint statements released by the White House.
Washington also announced a similar framework deal with Vietnam, which has been levied with a tariff rate of 20% on its exports to the United States.
Vietnam, which recorded a trade surplus of $123 billion with the United States last year, has pledged to vastly boost its purchases of U.S. products to reduce the trade gap between the two countries.
Trump on Sunday inked two separate U.S. deals with Thailand and Malaysia seeking cooperation to diversify critical minerals supply chains, amid competing efforts from Beijing in the rapidly growing sector.
Reuters reported exclusively this month that China was in talks with Kuala Lumpur on rare earths processing, with Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional expected to partner with a Chinese firm to build a refinery in Malaysia.
China, the world&#8217;s top miner and processor of rare earths, has imposed increasingly stringent export controls on its refining technology, sending global manufacturers scrambling to secure alternative supplies for critical minerals used widely in semiconductor chips, electric vehicles and military equipment.
Malaysia agreed on Sunday to refrain from banning or imposing quotas on exports to the U.S. of critical minerals or rare earth elements, the countries said in a statement.
The statement however did not specify whether Malaysia&#8217;s pledge applied to raw or processed rare earths.
Malaysia, which has an estimated 16.1 million tonnes of rare earth deposits, has banned the export of raw rare earths to prevent the loss of resources as it looks to develop its downstream sector.
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The agreements were inked after Trump oversaw the signing of an enhanced ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, following deadly border clashes between the neighbours earlier this year.
Under the deals, the four Southeast Asian countries pledged to remove trade barriers and provide preferential market access to various U.S. goods.
The deals also include commitments in digital trade, services and investments as well as promises by the Southeast Asian countries to protect labour rights and strengthen environmental protections.
Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam further agreed to accept vehicles built to U.S. motor vehicle safety and emissions standards, according to the statements.
Malaysia, a majority Muslim country recognized as a global leader in halal certification, agreed to streamline requirements for U.S. products such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
Its trade minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz told reporters that Malaysia had also secured tariff exemptions for aerospace equipment and pharmaceutical products as well as commodities such as palm oil, cacao and rubber.
Thailand said it would eliminate tariff barriers on approximately 99% of goods, and relax foreign ownership restrictions for U.S. investment in its telecommunications sector, both countries said in a statement.
They also took note of several forthcoming commercial deals between Thai and U.S. companies, including the purchases of agriculture products such as feed corn and soybean meal worth an estimated $2.6 billion per year.
Thailand has also committed to purchases of 80 U.S. aircraft totalling $18.8 billion and energy goods including liquefied natural gas and crude oil of around $5.4 billion annually, the statement said.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Danial Azhar, Orathai Sriring, Khanh Vu and Mikhail Flores; Writing by Rozanna Latiff; editing by David Stanway and Mark Heinrich)

Trump Signs Slew Of Trade, Critical Minerals Deals On Southeast Asia Tour

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