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‘It's like a game of Whac-A-Mole': How Trump's ICE raids knocked Los Angeles to its knees

‘It's like a game of Whac-A-Mole': How Trump's ICE raids knocked Los Angeles to its knees

Politico19-07-2025
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, contested reports that most people detained did not have a criminal record. She said the government's operations have arrested 'drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members, convicted rapists, convicted murderers — people you would not want to be your neighbors. And yet, Karen Bass, instead of thanking law enforcement, continues to demonize them and attack them.'
The fear permeating Latino life has added resonance for Bass; her late ex-husband was Mexican American and many family members, including her late daughter, her step-children and grandchildren, have Latino heritage.
'So yes, it impacts me personally, because I know that all Latinos are suspect now, anybody that looks Latino,' Bass said, pointing to border czar Tom Homan's comments that 'physical appearance' was sufficient for federal authorities to detain someone. He later said appearance could not be the sole reason for suspicion. But the federal judge who blocked the roving immigration raids in Los Angeles said officials were relying on improper factors, such as race, occupation and speaking with an accent, during their operations.
McLaughlin said it was a 'convenient and disgusting smear to say that law enforcement targets based on skin color. It is about it is about legal status, that everything and criminality. That's what we're focused on.'
Beyond the family bonds, Bass said, leaning into immigrant rights is 'fundamentally who I am' — a culmination of years of community activism, of anti-apartheid advocacy, of collaborations between Black and Latino communities in the 1980s and 1990s.
'It's not because it's politically in. It's not because of some calculation of what happened in the first part of the year,' she said. 'This is an issue that has been fundamental to me for my entire adult life.'
Loathe as Bass is to make comparisons to her handling of the fires, the contrast is notable, even to her closest allies. The mayor was hamstrung from the start of the blazes, when she was out of the country, and she failed to regain control of the narrative upon her return. This time, Bass has ramped up her media presence; during her brief stop at El Chapulín, she squeezed in two Zoom interviews with Spanish-language media, and she has been a regular staple on national cable.
'She is really trying to paint a different picture of what is going on here — not letting Breitbart and Fox tell the story,' said Courtni Pugh, a senior adviser for Bass' political operation. 'We really tried very hard to put a human face on the toll.'
Onlookers watch as federal agents with US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) ride on an armored vehicle driving slowly down Wilshire Boulevard near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, California, on July 7, 2025. | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
When militarized federal agents, including officials on horseback, descended onto MacArthur Park in the heart of downtown in an intimidating though largely theatrical display, Bass rerouted from a ceremony marking the six-month anniversary of the fires to the scene, demanding to speak to whoever was in charge.
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Global Markets Welcome US-EU Trade Deal
Global Markets Welcome US-EU Trade Deal

Newsweek

timean hour ago

  • Newsweek

Global Markets Welcome US-EU Trade Deal

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Financial markets around the world welcomed a framework trade agreement on Monday between the United States and the European Union with a 15 percent U.S. tariff on most EU goods and billions of dollars of European investment. U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the agreement on Sunday at Trump's luxury golf course in Scotland following months of difficult negotiations. Why It Matters The deal averts a devastating trade war between the two economies, which represent the world's largest trade volume, encompassing hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars in commerce. Trump had this month threatened to impose a 30 percent tariff on goods from the E.U., which would have meant American consumers facing higher prices on everything from French cheese to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals. The EU had prepared retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of American products, including beef, auto parts, beer and Boeing airplanes, which could have sent shock waves through global economies. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after reaching a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, on July 27. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after reaching a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, on July 27. Jacquelyn Martin/AP What To Know The deal provides clarity for companies after months of uncertainty, and global markets breathed a sigh of relief as they opened on Monday, with stocks rising and the euro firmer. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq futures gained 0.5 percent while the euro firmed against the dollar, sterling and yen. European futures surged almost 1 percent. Under the deal, the EU seeks to invest some $600 billion in the U.S. and ramp up its purchases of U.S. military equipment and buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy. "I think this is the biggest deal ever made," Trump told reporters in Scotland on Sunday. Von der Leyen described Trump as a tough negotiator. She told reporters that the 15 percent tariff, which applied "across the board," was "the best we could get." In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.27 percent early on Monday, just shy of the almost four-year high it touched last week. Japan's Nikkei index fell 0.8 percent after hitting a one-year high last week when Japan struck its own trade deal with the U.S., which also included a 15 percent U.S. tariff on Japanese goods. China's blue-chip stocks rose 0.3 percent on Monday morning, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index put on 0.75 percent. The Australian dollar, often seen as a proxy for risk appetite, was at $0.657 to the U.S. dollar, near an eight-month high set last week. What People Are Saying European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen told reporters: "We should not forget where we would have been on the first of August. We would have been at 30 percent, and it would have been much more difficult to get down now to the 15 percent. Fifteen percent is certainly a challenge for some, but we should not forget that it keeps us the access to the American market, and what we are also doing intensively is diversifying to other regions of the world." Prashant Newnaha, a senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities, told Reuters: "A 15 percent tariff on European goods, forced purchases of U.S. energy and military equipment and zero tariff retaliation by Europe, that's not negotiation, that's the art of the deal. A big win for the U.S." Marc Velan, the head of investments at Lucerne Asset Management in Singapore, told Reuters: "A major tail-risk has now been defused. … Markets are interpreting this as a sign of stability and predictability returning to trade policy." What Happens Next Trade negotiators from the U.S. and China—the world's two largest economies—are due to meet in Stockholm on Monday. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach an agreement with the Trump administration. Many other countries are racing to finalize deals before an August 1 deadline.

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