EXCLUSIVE Tucker Carlson spills on Fox News feud as stars battle for Trump's attention over nuclear bomb
A growing behind-the-scenes battle between Fox News personalities threatens to escalate into open war as they fight for President Donald Trump 's attention regarding the threat posed by and the proper way to address it.
Conservative radio legend and Fox News weekend host Mark Levin met with President Trump personally last week to warn him about Iran, revealing that the rogue nation was 'days away' from building a nuclear weapon, according to Politico.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump's policies could have a major impact on your credit score. Here's how
Your support helps us to tell the story Read more Support Now From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more President Donald Trump returned to the White House this January with a flurry of sweeping orders – some of which may impact Americans' credit scores. Trump and his allies are set on enacting his 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' which would add trillions to the country's already sizable deficit and drive up interest rates, producing large-scale macroeconomic repercussions. Financial markets have already warned of the rising debt, with Moody's cutting its pristine 'Aaa' U.S. credit rating, which could take even further hits if the deficit continues to rise. To help pay for the bill, Republicans are looking to make cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs, without which, more Americans are likely to go into medical debt. Some 15 million Americans with medical debt may suffer even greater consequences of Trump's policies after his administration paused a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would ban the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports. As of now, medical debt can be included in credit scores and a significant amount of medical bills can drag down a credit score. A lower credit score means a person appears to be a bigger risk to a lender, such as a bank. That could lead to higher interest rates on loans, such as for a car or a home. open image in gallery President Donald Trump's spending bill will have far-reaching macroeconomic repercussions and likely impact Americans' credit scores. ( AP ) A Biden-era rule would have removed $49 million in medical debt from credit score records, but new leadership at CFPB appointed by Trump is attempting to reverse its course, NPR reported. In addition to the complete switch in its stance, the CFPB joined forces with plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit trying to stop the Biden ban. The rule has since been stuck in limbo, with Judge Sean Jordan from Texas' Eastern District federal court twice ordering a stay, delaying the rule's new start date until the end of July. The outcome of the lawsuit will have tremendous financial implications for millions of Americans whose medical debt has negatively impacted their credit scores. Meanwhile, consumer advocates have been speaking out on behalf of the medical debt rule, worried abandoning it would take away necessary consumer protections. "I'm disappointed for the 15 million Americans who have medical bills on their credit reports and have to suffer the consequences of poor credit scores because of it," Patricia Kelmar, senior director of health care campaigns at the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, told USA Today. open image in gallery Trump-appointed CFPB leaders is looking to reverse a Biden-era rule that would ban the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports. ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) In the lawsuit filed in April, CFPB along with plaintiffs, the Consumer Data Industry Association and the Cornerstone Credit Union League, asked the judge to abandon the medical debt rule 'because it exceeds the bureau's statutory authority.' "We believe that Congress is the only one who can act on this and determine whether or not it can be on the credit report," Dan Smith, CEO and president of the Consumer Data Industry Association, told NPR. "Our intention here is to protect the credit reporting system. To ensure that it is as complete and accurate as possible," he said. In the lawsuit, the groups also note that the three largest credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion and Equifax – no longer list paid medical debts, unpaid medical debts less than a year old and medical debts less than $500. Americans' credit scores may also see some changes thanks to a proposal from Trump that would cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent – a significant reduction from the current average interest rate of about 21 percent. Lower rates mean people would be able to pay back credit card bills quicker, and improve their credit scores by having less debt. The proposal was touted as a solution to the debt many Americans owe due to high credit card interest rates, Newsweek reported. open image in gallery Americans held $45 billion more in credit card debt in 2024 than in 2023. ( Getty Images/iStockphoto ) Americans held $1.21 trillion in credit card debt as of December 2024 – an increase of $45 billion from September 2024, per New York Fed data. Data also shows that 7.18 percent of U.S. credit card debt is in serious delinquency, likely causing many credit scores to take a serious downward spiral. Following Trump's campaign promise, Reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Ny) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla) introduced legislation to cap credit card interest rates at a maximum of 10 percent. The measure would take the financial burden away from consumers, especially those with high-interest debt. The cap would last until January 1, 2031, according to the bill.
Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Reuters
Effort to strip Fed of interest paying power seen likely to bring upheaval to markets
NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - A Republican senator's plan to take away the Federal Reserve's power to pay banks interest on cash they park on central bank books could cause chaos for monetary policy implementation if it were implemented, market participants said. In recent days, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has been speaking about this power and his desire to see it ended as part of what he views as an effort to save money by the federal government. Stripping the Fed of the longstanding power would save the government $1 trillion, Cruz said in a CNBC interview last week. The senator said then that he did not know if it was likely his effort would work but that it was certainly possible. On Wednesday, Bloomberg, opens new tab reported that Cruz had also lobbied President Donald Trump, who has long been at odds with the Fed, as well as Republican colleagues, about his idea. 'We're agonizing trying to find a $50 billion cut here and there. This is over a trillion dollars, big dollars in savings,' Cruz told Bloomberg, saying of the payments, 'half of it is going to foreign banks, which makes no sense.' Cruz's office did not respond to a request for comment. The Fed declined to comment. Cruz's effort is being treated cautiously by Senator Tim Scott, the Republican from South Carolina who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. "While the desire to return to pre-crisis monetary policy operating procedures is understandable," the matter must be considered under normal Senate procedures, Scott said in a statement. Any move on this must start with a hearing, Scott said, adding, "this is not a decision to be rushed – it must be carefully considered and openly debated." The Fed's power to pay banks interest, granted by Congress, took effect in 2008 as the financial crisis dawned. It quickly gained prominence as part of a large-scale overhaul of the monetary policy architecture, as the Fed confronted the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. As it now stands, the Fed pays deposit-taking banks 4.4% for reserves. It uses another tool called the reverse repo facility to take in cash from money market funds and others, paying them 4.25%. Together, the two rates are designed to keep the federal funds rate, the central bank's main tool for influencing the economy, within the desired range. Paying financial firms for de facto loans of cash is essential for interest rate control due to the very large amount of liquidity created by bond buying stimulus efforts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fed more than doubled the size of its balance sheet to a peak of $9 trillion, with asset purchases providing support to the economy beyond what the then near-zero short-term rates could deliver. If the Fed did not have the power to pay interest on deposits, the still substantial amount of liquidity sloshing around in markets would prevent it from controlling short-term rates. That said, concerns have long existed, even among some former central bankers, that paying banks money to deposit cash at the Fed is effectively a subsidy to banks. The other issue with paying interest on reserves is that it has led the Fed into an unprecedented period of loss-making. The Fed has been operating in the red because the interest rate it now has in place outstrips the income it earns off bonds it owns. Most analysts expect the loss-making to occur for some time to come. Fed losses mean that it is not handing over profits back to the Treasury, as it is required to do when it is in the green. Sums handed back to the Treasury over recent years contributed modestly to lowering deficits. Experts believe Cruz's plan would completely fail to achieve its goals and would instead cause huge upheaval in money markets. Barclays Capital economists said on Tuesday that ending the power would simply push the cash into the reverse repo facility, which means the central bank would still be paying lots of interest to financial firms, thus negating any deficit savings. J.P. Morgan strategists said in a note last week that under Cruz's plan, 'the Fed's ability to control money market rates may be compromised, complicating its efforts to guide broader financial conditions via the fed funds rate and other money market rates.'
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Does Trump feel like a king? The president offers a surprising six-word response on whether he feels tyrannical
President Donald Trump was asked Thursday to react to the series of 'No Kings' protests planned for Saturday - as detractors take to the streets to push back against what they say are tyrannical actions. 'I don't feel like a king,' Trump mused during an East Wing event that turned into an impromptu press conference. 'I have to go through hell to get stuff approved.' The president was signing a resolution to roll back California's electric vehicle mandate, a first-of-its-kind initiative that would have stopped the sale of gas-powered vehicles in the state by 2035. 'A king would have never had the California mandate ... he wouldn't have to call up Mike Johnson and Thune and say "fellas you've gotta pull this off" and after years get it done,' Trump continued, name-checking House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Trump then added, 'We're not a king, we're not a king at all, thank you very much,' before moving onto the next question. The comments come as 'No Kings' protests are set to take place all across the country on Saturday, to coincide with the military parade marking the Army's 250th anniversary - also happening on Trump's 79th birthday. 'No Kings' organizers have told potential demonstrators to actually stay away from Washington, D.C., which already has a heavy security presence thanks to the parade. Fencing was erected around the White House, the Capitol Building and parts of the National Mall ahead of Saturday's event. Instead a major 'No Kings' demonstration is set to take place in Philadelphia - and D.C. locals are being steered to suburban Virginia and Maryland. The 'No Kings' protests come on the heels of anti-ICE demonstrations taking place all over the country pushing back on the president's 'mass deportation' plans. The epicenter of the demonstrations was in Los Angeles this week - setting up a major confrontation between Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Trump federalized California National Guard members against Newsom's wishes and deployed active duty Marines to the LA area. In the U.S., it's generally a no-no to have active duty troops patrolling civilian areas. Military parades have also historically been avoided, as they give off an authoritarian air akin to places like Russia and North Korea. But after seeing a Bastille Day - and World War I commemoration parade - in Paris in July of 2017, the president became fixated on having his own in the United States. Plans got nixed during his first term due to cost concerns - as the massive tanks were expected to damage Washington, D.C.'s roads. Saturday's parade for the Army kicks off more than a year's worth of celebrations marking the country's semicentennial - as July 4, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For years, Trump has talked about what all he would do to mark the occasion. While Trump distanced himself from being called a 'king' on Thursday, he's used royal imagery to troll critics in the recent past. In February, he posted an AI image of himself dressed as a monarch after officials from his administration moved to halt New York City's traffic congestion pricing system. 'Congestion pricing is dead. Manhattan, and all of New York, is saved. Long Live The King!' the post said. An official White House social media account also posted a fake Time magazine cover that replaced 'Time' for 'Trump' and showed the president grinning and wearing a crown.
