Hamas is open to a ceasefire agreement. But Netanyahu says there's no room for group in postwar Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, vowed 'there will be no Hamas' in postwar Gaza.
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Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
Trump signs his tax and spending cut bill at White House July 4 picnic
Published Jul 04, 2025 • 4 minute read U.S. President Donald Trump (centre) prepares to sign the "Big Beautiful Bill Act" at the White House in Washington, D.C., Friday, July 4, 2025. Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / POOL / AFP / Getty Images WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed his package of tax breaks and spending cuts into law Friday in front of Fourth of July picnickers after his cajoling produced almost unanimous Republican support in Congress for the domestic priority that could cement his second-term legacy. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Flanked by Republican legislators and members of his Cabinet, Trump signed the multitrillion-dollar legislation at a desk on the White House driveway, then banged down a gavel gifted to him by House Speaker Mike Johnson that was used during the bill's final passage Thursday. Against odds that at times seemed improbable, Trump achieved his goal of celebrating a historic — and divisive — legislative victory in time for the nation's birthday, which also was his self-imposed deadline for Congress to send the legislation to his desk. Fighter jets and stealth bombers streaked through the sky over the annual White House Fourth of July picnic. 'America's winning, winning, winning like never before,' Trump said, noting last month's bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear program, which he said the flyover was meant to honour. 'Promises made, promises kept, and we've kept them.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The White House was hung with red, white and blue bunting for the Independence Day festivities. The U.S. Marine Band played patriotic marches — and, in a typical Trumpian touch, tunes by 1980s pop icons Chaka Khan and Huey Lewis. There were three separate flyovers. Trump spoke for a relatively brief 22 minutes before signing the bill, but was clearly energized as the legislation's passage topped a recent winning streak for his administration. That included the Iran campaign and a series of U.S. Supreme Court ruling she's fought for. Vice President JD Vance was traveling in the Dakotas with his family and missed the ceremony. A line on the bill where he would have signed because of his role as president of the Senate was crossed out and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., added his name instead, photographs show. Cotton has the responsibility of stepping in when the vice president isn't available for his Senate duties. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The budget legislation is the president's highest-profile win yet. It includes key campaign pledges like no tax on tips or Social Security income. Trump, who spent an unusual amount of time thanking individual Republican lawmakers who shepherded the measure through Congress, contended 'our country is going to be a rocket ship, economically,' because of the legislation. Big cuts to Medicaid and food stamps Critics assailed the package as a giveaway to the rich that will rob millions more lower-income people of their health insurance, food assistance and financial stability. 'Today, Donald Trump signed into law the worst job-killing bill in American history. It will rip health care from 17 million workers to pay for massive tax giveaways to the wealthy and big corporations, amounting to the country's largest money grab from the working class to the ultra-rich,' AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement. 'Every member of Congress who voted for this devastating bill picked the pockets of working people to hand billionaires a $5 trillion gift.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The legislation extends Trump's 2017 multitrillion-dollar tax cuts and cuts Medicaid and food stamps by $1.2 trillion. It provides for a massive increase in immigration enforcement. Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeper projects that nearly 12 million more people will lose health insurance under the law. The legislation passed the House on a largely party-line vote Thursday, culminating a monthslong push by the GOP to cram most of its legislative priorities into a single budget bill that could be enacted without Senate Democrats being able to block it indefinitely by filibustering. It passed by a single vote in the Senate, where North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis announced he would not run for reelection after incurring Trump's wrath in opposing it. Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In the House, where two Republicans voted against it, one, conservative maverick Tom Massie of Kentucky, has also become a target of Trump's well-funded political operation. The legislation amounts to a repudiation of the agendas of the past two Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, in rolling back Obama's Medicaid expansion under his signature health law and Biden's tax credits for renewable energy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the package will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the decade and 11.8 million more people will go without health coverage. Democrats vow to make bill a midterm issue Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin on Friday called the bill 'devastating' and said in a statement that Trump's signature on the legislation 'sealed the fate of the Republican Party, cementing them as the party for billionaires and special interests — not working families.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He predicted Republicans would lose their majority in Congress over it. 'This was a full betrayal of the American people,' Martin said. Trump exulted in his political victory Thursday night in Iowa, where he attended a kickoff of events celebrating the country's 250th birthday next year. 'I want to thank Republican congressmen and women, because what they did is incredible,' he said. The president complained that Democrats voted against the bill because 'they hate Trump — but I hate them, too.' The package is certain to be a flashpoint in next year's midterm elections, and Democrats are making ambitious plans for rallies, voter registration drives, attack ads, bus tours and even a multiday vigil, all intended to highlight the most controversial elements. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Upon his return to Washington early Friday, Trump described the package as 'very popular,' though polling suggests that public opinion is mixed at best. For example, a Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that majorities of U.S. adults support increasing the annual child tax credit and eliminating taxes on earnings from tips, and about half support work requirements for some adults who receive Medicaid. But the poll found majorities oppose reducing federal funding for food assistance to low-income families and spending about $45 billion to build and maintain migrant detention centres. About 60% said it was 'unacceptable' that the bill is expected to increase the $36 trillion U.S. debt by more than $3 trillion over the next decade. Toronto Blue Jays Editorial Cartoons Editorials Celebrity News
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Donald Trump signs his tax and spending cut bill at the White House July 4 picnic
Flanked by Republican legislators and members of his Cabinet, President Donald Trump signed the multitrillion-dollar legislation outside the White House, and then banged down the gavel that House Speaker Mike Johnson gifted him that was used during the bill's final passage Thursday. The bill extends Trump's 2017 multi-trillion dollar tax cuts and cuts Medicaid and food stamps by $1.2 trillion. (AP Video / July 4, 2025)
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Hamas says it responds to Gaza ceasefire proposal in ‘a positive spirit'
Smoke rises from Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, seen from the Israel-Gaza border, southern Israel, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) CAIRO/TEL AVIV- Hamas said it had responded on Friday in 'a positive spirit' to a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was prepared to enter into talks on implementing the deal which envisages a release of hostages and negotiations on ending the conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier announced a 'final proposal' for a 60-day ceasefire in the nearly 21-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, stating he anticipated a reply from the parties in coming hours. Hamas wrote on its official website: 'The Hamas movement has completed its internal consultations as well as discussions with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza. 'The movement has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterized by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework,' the statement said. In a sign of potential challenges still facing the sides, a Palestinian official of a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remain over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing to Egypt and clarity over a timetable of Israeli troop withdrawals. Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed 'to the necessary conditions to finalize' a 60-day ceasefire, during which efforts would be made to end the U.S. ally's war in the Palestinian enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment on Trump's announcement and in their public statements, the two sides remain far apart. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss. Netanyahu is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday. Trump has said he would be 'very firm' with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire, while noting that the Israeli leader wants one as well. 'We hope it's going to happen. And we're looking forward to it happening sometime next week,' he told reporters earlier this week. 'We want to get the hostages out.' Attacks overnight Israeli attacks have killed at least 138 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, local health officials said. Health officials at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, said the Israeli military had carried out an airstrike on a tent encampment west of the city around 2 a.m., killing 15 Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war. The Israeli military said troops operating in the Khan Younis area had eliminated militants, confiscated weapons and dismantled Hamas outposts in the last 24 hours, while striking 100 targets across Gaza, including military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers. Later on Friday, Palestinians gathered to perform funeral prayers before burying those killed overnight. 'There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother,' said 13-year-old Mayar Al Farr as she wept. Her brother, Mahmoud, was shot dead in another incident, she said. 'He went to get aid, so he can get a bag of flour for us to eat. He got a bullet in his neck,' she said. 'Make the deal' In Tel Aviv, families and friends of hostages held in Gaza were among demonstrators who gathered outside a U.S. Embassy building on U.S. Independence Day, calling on Trump to secure a deal for all of the captives. Demonstrators set up a symbolic Sabbath dinner table, placing 50 empty chairs to represent those who are still held in Gaza. Banners hung nearby displaying a post by Trump from his Truth Social platform that read, 'MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!' 'Only you can make the deal. We want one beautiful deal. One beautiful hostage deal,' said Gideon Rosenberg, 48, from Tel Aviv. Rosenberg was wearing a shirt with the image of hostage Avinatan Or, one of his employees who was abducted by Palestinian militants from the Nova musical festival on October 7, 2023. He is among the 20 hostages who are believed to be alive after more than 600 days of captivity. An official familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday that the proposal envisages the return of 10 of the hostages during the 60 days, along with the bodies of 18 others who had been held hostage. Ruby Chen, 55, the father of 19-year-old American-Israeli Itay, who is believed to have been killed after being taken captive, urged Netanyahu to return from meeting with Trump with a deal that brings back all hostages. Itay Chen, also a German national, was serving as an Israeli soldier when Hamas carried out its surprise attack on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage. Israel's retaliatory war against Hamas has devastated Gaza, which the militant group has ruled for almost two decades but now only controls in parts, displacing most of the population of more than 2 million and triggering widespread hunger. More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly two years of fighting, most of them civilians, according to local health officials. (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell in Tel Aviv, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Hatem Khaled in Gaza and Howard Goller in New York; Editing by Alex Richardson, Philippa Fletcher and Rosalba O'Brien)
