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NBC News
16 minutes ago
- NBC News
JD Vance urges Republican voters to 'talk to your friends' about the 'big, beautiful bill'
WEST PITTSTON, Pa. — Vice President JD Vance gave an early glimpse of the argument that Republicans will make ahead of the 2026 midterm elections while touting the mega bill that the White House pushed through Congress. In a 20-minute speech Wednesday in northeast Pennsylvania, Vance urged the audience to become fellow evangelists for what he called the "Big, Beautiful Bill" in conversations with family and friends. Vance supplied the talking points he wants them to use, describing how workers at the machine shop that hosted his appearance will no longer pay taxes on overtime pay. Vance was silent about less popular facets of what had been a nearly 900-page bill. He did not mention, for example, steep cuts to Medicaid, which provides health coverage to low-income people. A report published Wednesday in JAMA Health Forum found that the cuts could lead to 1,000 more deaths a year. And while Vance said that Trump and congressional Republicans are getting 'Washington spending under control,' the nation's debt will increase by $3.3 trillion over the next decade under the legislation, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The vice president invited the audience to do their own research, but asked them to 'take what I said and … go talk to your neighbors, go and talk to your friends about what this bill does for American citizens.' Without explicitly mentioning the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, Vance said, 'We don't want to wake up in a year and a half and give the Democrats power back.' Both parties are now in the opening phase of a battle to shape voter impressions of the new law ahead of the midterms. Trump's cabinet members are expected to travel the country in the coming months to help sell the bill to voters. Introducing Vance was Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration. She used her speech to promote the law, calling it 'rocket fuel for small business.' Republicans face some headwinds in selling the legislation. A recent Economist/YouGov survey taken after Trump signed the bill on July 4 showed that 35% of adults supported it, compared to 53% who were opposed. The White House needs GOP voters to be enthused about the law and motivated to vote next year if the party hopes to hang onto majorities in the House and Senate. 'The Trump voters are happy and complacent right now,' said John McLaughlin, a Trump pollster. 'And we have to get them fired up for next year. We have a lot of work to do. If President Trump is not on the ballot, it's harder to get them out.' The vice president's appearance was also an investment of sorts in his own political future. Pennsylvania is a perennial battleground state. Trump lost it in 2020 when he was defeated by Joe Biden, but won it back in 2024 when he was elected to a new term. Vance is a likely GOP candidate in the next presidential race — a prospect that voters interviewed before his speech said they welcome. Dwayne McDavitt, 63, of the group Bikers for Trump, said: 'I love JD Vance. I hope he runs in 2028. He's a very intelligent man.' In his remarks, Vance said nothing about the ongoing furor that threatens to divide Trump voters: The Justice Department's finding that the Jeffrey Epstein files contain no ' incriminating 'client list' ' or evidence that would implicate third parties. Many hardcore Trump have balked at the claim, while Trump has called upon them to drop the subject and stop talking about Epstein. Before Vance's appearance, supporters waiting in line offered mixed views of whether they believe the Trump administration is suppressing damning information involving Epstein. Steven Taylor, a truck driver living across the street from the machine shop said he was 'angered' when Trump said that people should move on from the Epstein controversy. 'I think we're being lied to,' said Taylor, 52. 'And I don't appreciate it. This is supposed to be the era of transparency.' 'We put our trust in him [Trump],' he continued. 'I'm still going to support him, but with a slanted eye. We're the ones who put him where he is. It's totally disrespectful.' But Richard Geiersbach, 66, a contractor wearing a MAGA hat, echoed a point that Trump has been making in recent days: Epstein isn't worth discussing anymore. 'It's a waste of time, a waste of money,' he said. 'Let it go.'
Daily Mail
16 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump floats appointing a special prosecutor to put Epstein 'hoax' to bed forever as he blasts 'duped' supporters
President Donald Trump signaled support for appointing a special prosecutor who could further investigate the bombshell case of financier and convicted pedophile Jeffery Epstein. Trump spoke about the case in an interview with John Solomon of and signaled his support for an independent investigator to look into the weaponization of DOJ against conservatives in the 2016 election. The president also volunteered that the special prosecutor could look into the Epstein files as well. 'I think they could look at all of it. It's all the same scam. They could look at this Jeffrey Epstein hoax also, because that's the same stuff that's all put out by Democrats,' Trump said when asked what he'd most like to see the FBI investigate. Trump expressed concerns that former intelligence and law enforcement officials could have tampered with evidence surrounding Epstein case. 'I can imagine what they put into files, just like they did with the others. I mean, the Steele dossier was a total fake, right? It took two years to figure that out,' he said, referring to former FBI directors James Comey and Christopher Wray. He described the case as a 'hoax' and lamented that Republicans were still hung up on the case despite an effort by the Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice to put the controversial case behind them. 'But they ought to look into the Jeffrey Epstein hoax too, because that's another hoax that's frankly, put out by the Democrats pushing, pushing the Republicans, and put out by the Democrats,' he added. The president and his administration has faced growing controversy after the Justice Department announced in a memo that there was no evidence to support the conspiracy theory that Epstein was murdered in prison and that he did not have a client 'list' that they could release. The news sparked outrage from the president's followers who anticipated the eventual release of the files after Trump promised during his presidential campaign to release them. Congressional Democrats jumped on the case, further exploiting the disappointment from Trump's base, even suggesting the president was tied up with the Epstein case and covering it up. Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office he was discouraged by many of his supporters clinging to the case. 'I've lost a lot of faith in certain people, yeah, I've lost. Because they got duped by the Democrats,' he told reporters. On Wednesday, Trump also berated his followers on social media for their focus on the 'Epstein scam' he said was perpetrated by Democrats. 'Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker. They haven't learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years,' he wrote. He criticized Republicans and his MAGA supporters for not focusing on his successes and distracting the public with the case. 'Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don't want their support anymore!' he added. On Tuesday, Trump tried to dismiss the case as 'boring' and said he did not understand why the case was so important to his supporters. 'He's dead for a long time,' Trump said of the disgraced financier. 'He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody.' The president spoke about the issue that threatens to further plague his presidency after a trip to Pennsylvania on Air Force One. 'It's pretty boring stuff. It's sordid, but it's boring, and I don't understand why it keeps going,' he said to reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. Epstein's associate Ghislane Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Florida after she was convicted in June 2022 for conspiring with her boss Epstein in the sexual exploitation of minors. The White House dismissed any notion of Trump pardoning Maxwell.
Reuters
16 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trading Day: Trump-Powell drama sizzles, dollar fizzles
ORLANDO, Florida, July 16 (Reuters) - TRADING DAY Making sense of the forces driving global markets By Jamie McGeever, Markets Columnist A dramatic day on Wednesday ended with Wall Street in the green and the dollar and short-dated Treasury yields lower, although off their earlier extremes, after President Donald Trump denied reports he will soon fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell. More on that below. In my column today I look at Trump's call for 300 basis points of Fed rate cuts and, although it is wishful thinking, why it shines a light on whether Fed policy is too tight, too loose, or maybe just about right. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today. Today's Key Market Moves Trump-Powell drama sizzles, dollar fizzles At around midday in the U.S. session on Wednesday, it looked like six months of verbal attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell from President Donald Trump for not cutting interest rates were about to reach boiling point - according to Bloomberg News, Powell would soon be fired. The market reaction was what you might expect - the dollar, stocks, and short-dated Treasury yields fell, and the yield curve steepened. The most notable moves were in the dollar and two-year yield. But Trump swiftly denied the report, insisting that although he had discussed ousting Powell with lawmakers, it was "highly unlikely" he would fire him. Markets recovered their poise, especially stocks, although the rebound in short-dated yields and the dollar was less pronounced. Trump firing Powell would be a monumental event as no president has ever formally dismissed a Fed Chair. But it would come as little surprise. Trump's desire for lower interest rates is ferocious, and he regularly berates Powell for not cutting them. Political interference in monetary policymaking? Yes, but Trump crossed that Rubicon some time ago. Rates traders still expect no change from the Fed on rates later this month and a quarter point cut by October. They added around 10 bps of expected easing into next year's forecasts. Even at the depths of the selloff on Wednesday Wall Street's main indices were never down more than 1%, perhaps reflecting investors' skepticism that Trump really will pull the trigger. But it's noteworthy given that the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had clocked new highs the day before - there's scope for a deep correction if investors want one. The latest twist in the Trump-Powell saga dominated the U.S. session and will likely be the main driver of global markets again on Thursday. But investors have other signposts to guide them, including corporate earnings, tariffs and economic data. On Wednesday, three of America's biggest banks reported results - Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. On Thursday the spotlight turns to Netflix, and before that in Asia, Taiwan's TSMC, the world's main producer of advanced AI chips. Trump boxes in Fed with extreme rate cut calls While almost no one thinks Donald Trump's verbal attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell are a positive development, they have electrified the debate about whether the U.S. president is right that interest rates are too high. Presidential tirades aside, there is a strong case to be made that the fed funds rate should be lower than its current 4.25-4.50% target range. The labor market is beginning to show signs of cracking, 'hard' economic data is softening, and a tariff-led slowdown may be in the offing. On the other hand, economic growth is clocking in at an annualized pace of around 2.5% and not expected to dip much below 2% next year, unemployment is still historically low, the stock market is at a record peak, and other financial assets like bitcoin have also never been higher. And, crucially, core inflation is still almost a percentage point above the Fed's 2% target, suggesting that we may be starting to see the inflationary impact of tariffs. By those measures, policy may be too loose, not too tight. Indeed, Jason Thomas, head of global research and investment strategy at Carlyle, reckons financial conditions are "unusually accommodative", and argues that had the Fed not said in December that policy was 'restrictive', there would be no need to explain why it hadn't cut rates six months later. The president clearly does not agree. Trump is clamoring for borrowing costs to be slashed by 300 basis points. That would take the policy rate closer to 1%, a level usually associated with severe financial market stress, strong disinflationary pressures or a deep economic funk. Or all three. One would be hard-pressed to find many experts who would agree with Trump's call, even those who fall on the dovish side. But then where should rates be? Policymakers typically use forward-looking models and frameworks to inform their decisions. The most famous of these, so-called 'R-Star', comes in for a lot of criticism, as it is theoretical, referring to the inflation-adjusted long-term neutral interest rate that neither accelerates nor slows growth when inflation is at target. This may be a fuzzy concept, but officials look at it, so investors cannot dismiss it completely. There are two benchmark 'R-Star' models, both partly created by New York Fed President John Williams. One currently puts this rate at around 0.80% and the other around 1.35%. If inflation were at the Fed's target 2%, then these models would put the nominal fed funds rate at around 2.80% or 3.35%, respectively. Fed policymakers split the difference in their latest median projections, putting the long-term nominal Fed funds rate right at 3.00%. If these estimates are anywhere close to accurate, the nominal policy target range of 4.25-4.50% now appears to be restrictive, so the path ahead is lower. Rates traders and investors seem to agree. While the latest CPI report has caused jitters at the long end of the yield curve, rates markets are still pricing in more than 100 basis points of easing over the next 18 months. But this has helped fuel the asset price rally, which, ironically, strengthens the argument that policy may be closer to neutral than models suggest. Powell may have backed the Fed into a corner by maintaining that policy is still restrictive, albeit "modestly" so. These claims signal the Fed will lower rates, but it has not done so, as it is waiting to see if Trump's protectionist trade agenda unleashes inflation. Moreover, it also does not want to appear to be responding to political pressure to cut rates. "Some will say this collision was unavoidable. But the Fed would find itself in a far more defensible position had it embraced a posture of neutrality, pledging to cut or hike as warranted by future developments (including policy shifts)," Carlyle's Thomas wrote on Tuesday. In short, the Fed is in a bit of a bind, and Trump's attacks will only make it worse. His call for 300 basis points of rate cuts may end up being similar to his 'reciprocal tariff' gambit: aim extremely high, settle for something less, and claim victory. The problem, of course, is that monetary policy is not supposed to be a negotiation. What could move markets tomorrow? Want to receive Trading Day in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for my newsletter here. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
