Trump pulls sanctions on Syria, extends olive branch to Iran
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Donald Trump announced plans Tuesday to lift sanctions against the Syrian government and expressed in his strongest terms yet a willingness to negotiate with Iran, signaling a reordering of U.S. foreign policy in which there are no 'permanent enemies.'
Trump's speech, which kicked off the first major foreign trip of his second term, offered a sweeping but at times contradictory vision of the role of U.S. military force in the world. He declared his opposition to past U.S. interventions in the Middle East but also a willingness to use force to defend the United States and its allies.
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Chicago Tribune
7 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
President Donald Trump tax bill will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit and leave 10.9 million more uninsured, CBO says
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's big bill making its way through Congress will cut taxes by $3.75 trillion but also increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The CBO also estimates an increase of 10.9 million people without health insurance under the bill by 2034, including 1.4 million who are in the United States without legal status in state-funded programs. The package would reduce federal outlays, or spending, by nearly $1.3 trillion over that period, the budget office said. What is the CBO? A look at the small office inflaming debate over Trump's tax bill'In the words of Elon Musk, this bill is a 'disgusting abomination,'' said Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, reviving the billionaire former Trump aide's criticism of the package. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he called Musk late Tuesday to discuss the criticism but had not heard back. 'I hope he comes around,' Johnson told reporters. The analysis comes at a crucial moment in the legislative process as Trump is pushing Congress to have the final product on his desk to sign into law by the Fourth of July. The work of the CBO, which for decades has served as the official scorekeeper of legislation in Congress, will be weighed by lawmakers and others seeking to understand the budgetary impacts of the sprawling 1,000-page-plus package. Ahead of the CBO's release, the White House and Republican leaders criticized the budget office in a preemptive campaign designed to sow doubt in its findings. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the CBO has been 'historically wrong,' and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the CBO was 'flat wrong' because it underestimated the potential revenue growth from Trump's first round of tax breaks in 2017. The CBO last year said receipts were $1.5 trillion, or 5.6% greater than predicted, in large part because of the 'burst of high inflation' during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. White House Budget Director Russ Vought said when you adjust for 'current policy' — which means not counting some $4.5 trillion in existing tax breaks that are simply being extended for the next decade — the overall package actually doesn't pile onto the deficit. He argued the spending cuts alone in fact help reduce deficits by $1.4 trillion over the decade. Democrats and even some Republicans call that 'current policy' accounting move a gimmick, but it's the approach Senate Republicans intend to use during their consideration of the package to try to show it does not add to the nation's deficits. Vought argued that the CBO is the one using a 'gimmick' by tallying the costs of continuing those tax breaks that would otherwise expire. Leavitt also suggested that the CBO's employees are biased, even though certain budget office workers face strict ethical rules — including restrictions on campaign donations and political activity — to ensure objectivity and impartiality. 'When it comes time to make prognostications on economic growth, they've always been wrong,' House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said at a press conference. Asked if it's time to get rid of the CBO, Scalise did not dismiss the idea, saying it's valid to raise concerns. Alongside the costs of the bill, the CBO had previously estimated that nearly 4 million fewer people would have food stamps each month due to the legislation's proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. The bill, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act after the president's own catch phrase, is grinding its way through Congress, as the top priority of Republicans, who control both the House and the Senate — and face stiff opposition from Democrats, who call it Trump's 'big, ugly bill.' All told, the package seeks to extend the individual income tax breaks that had been approved in 2017 but that will expire in December if Congress fails to act, while adding new ones, including no taxes on tips. It also includes a massive buildup of $350 billion for border security, deportations and national security. To help cover the lost revenue, Republicans want to slash some federal spending. They propose phasing out green energy tax breaks put in place during Democrat Joe Biden's presidency. New work requirements for some adults up to age 65 on Medicaid and SNAP would begin in December 2026 and are expected to result in less spending on those programs. Republicans argue their proposals are intended to make Medicaid and other programs stronger by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. They want the federal funding to go those who most need health care and other services, often citing women and children. But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said those claims are bogus and are simply part of long-running GOP efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, as most states have expanded Medicaid to serve more people under the program. 'They just want to strangle health care,' Schumer said. The package also would provide a $4 trillion increase to the nation's debt limit, which is now $36 trillion, to allow more borrowing. The Treasury Department projects the debt limit will need to be raised this summer to pay the nation's already accrued bills. Now in its 50th year, the CBO was established by law after Congress sought to assert its control, as outlined in the Constitution, over the budget process, in part by setting up the new office as an alternative to the White House's Office of Management and Budget. Staffed by some 275 economists, analysts and other employees, the CBO says it seeks to provide Congress with objective, impartial information about budgetary and economic issues. Its current director, Phillip Swagel, a former Treasury official in Republican President George W. Bush's administration, was reappointed to a four-year term in 2023.
Chicago Tribune
7 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
What is the CBO? A look at the small office inflaming debate over President Donald Trump's tax bill
WASHINGTON — A small government office with some 275 employees has found itself caught in the political crossfire as Congress debates President Donald Trump's 'one big beautiful bill.' The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the legislation would increase federal deficits by about $2.4 trillion over 10 years. That's a problem for a Republican Congress that has spent much of the past four years criticizing former President Joe Biden and Democrats for the nation's rising debt levels. The White House and Republican leaders in Congress are taking issue with CBO's findings. They say economic growth will be higher than the office is projecting, resulting in more revenue coming into government coffers. Meanwhile, Democrats are touting CBO's findings as evidence of the bill's failings. President Donald Trump tax bill will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit and leave 10.9 million more uninsured, CBO saysHere's a look at the office at the center of Washington's latest political tug-of-war. Lawmakers established the Congressional Budget Office more than 50 years ago to provide objective, impartial analysis to support the budget process. The CBO is required to produce a cost estimate for nearly every bill approved by a House or Senate committee and will weigh in earlier when asked to do so by lawmakers. It also produces a report each Congress on how to reduce the debt if lawmakers so choose with each option including arguments for or against. Plus, it publishes detailed estimates when presidents make proposals that would affect mandator spending, which includes programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Lawmakers created the office to help Congress play a stronger role in budget matters, providing them with an alternative to the Office of Management and Budget, which is part of a Republican or Democratic administration, depending upon the president in office. CBO hires analysts based on their expertise, not political affiliation. Staff is expected to maintain objectivity and avoid political influence. In evaluating potential employees, the CBO says that for most positions it looks at whether that person would be perceived to be free from political bias. Like other federal employees, the CBO's staff is also prohibited from making political contributions to members of Congress. The CBO's director, Phillip Swagel, served in former Republican President George W. Bush's administration as an economic adviser and as an assistant secretary at the Treasury Department. The stakes are incredibly high with Republicans looking to pass their massive tax cut and immigration bill by early July. Outside groups, Democrats and some Republicans are highlighting CBO's analysis that the bill will increase federal deficits by about $2.4 trillion over 10 years and leave 10.9 million more people uninsured in 2034. Republicans spent much of Biden's presidency focused on curbing federal deficits. They don't want to be seen as contributing to the fiscal problem. GOP lawmakers say the CBO isn't giving enough credit to the economic growth the bill will create, to the point where it would be deficit-neutral in the long run, if not better. 'The CBO assumes long-term GDP growth of an anemic 1.8% and that is absurd,' said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. 'The American economy is going to boom like never before after the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' is passed.' Republicans began taking issue with the CBO even before Trump and the current Congress were sworn into office. 'CBO will always predict a dark future when Republicans propose tax relief – but the reality is never so dire,' Rep. Jason Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a December news release. Recently, House Speaker Mike Johnson has been taking digs at the office. 'The CBO is notorious for getting things WRONG,' he said in a Facebook post. In April 2018, CBO said that tax receipts would total $27 trillion from fiscal years 2018 to 2024. Receipts came in about $1.5 trillion higher than the CBO projected. Republicans have seized on that discrepancy. But the numbers don't tell the whole story. Some of the criticism of the CBO ignores the context of a global pandemic as the federal government rushed to prop the economy up with massive spending bills under both Trump and Biden. In a blog post last December, Swagel pointed out three reasons for the higher revenues: The primary reason was the burst of inflation that began in March 2021 as the country was recovering from COVID. That burst of inflation, he said, led to about $900 billion more in revenue. There was also an increase in economic activity in 'the later years of the period' adding $700 billion. Also, new tariffs added about $250 billion, with other legislation partially offsetting those three factors.
Fox News
12 minutes ago
- Fox News
There's a way to aid Gaza. I know, my foundation just helped deliver 7 million meals... without incident
It's time to be honest about humanitarian assistance in Gaza. The incumbent system is morally bankrupt. Grift is not a bug—it is a feature. The decades-long cycle of empty statements, inflated budgets, and institutionalized failure has created a self-sustaining machine that feeds off misery, undermines peace, and instinctively demonizes America and Israel. The current system fuels fate. Here's an example. Just days ago, the world should have celebrated the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's week of success. Over 7 million meals were delivered free to Gazans -- no trucks seized, no aid diverted, no violence at distribution sites. The system worked despite Gaza's volatility. Gazans spontaneously thanked America and President Donald Trump. Instead of celebrating GHF, the international press swallowed a Hamas disinformation campaign wholesale. Hamas falsely claimed 31 Gazans died at our distribution site. Global media printed headlines treating Hamas' claims as fact. When GHF's denials were questioned but Hamas' statements were believed, GHF released CCTV proving the truth. Yet fabricated headlines still deceive online, even fooling U.N. Secretary General Guterres, who spread them the next morning (and has yet to correct his mistake). Guterres' statement came just hours after someone incited by this fake news set Jewish Americans on fire at a Colorado hostage vigil. What the media should be doing is joining us in telling the truth about the systemic failure for years in Gaza and the United Nations should be working with us to fix the system. The current systems, built to serve the Palestinian people, have not just been ineffective—they have been actively complicit in perpetuating suffering. These organizations speak of "human rights," yet remain silent when terrorists steal international aid, embed rockets in schools, and use hospitals as human shields. What the media should be doing is joining us in telling the truth about the systemic failure for years in Gaza and the U.N. should be working with us to fix the system. The current systems, built to serve the Palestinian people, have not just been ineffective—they have been actively complicit in perpetuating suffering. From UNRWA to the Human Rights Council, bigotry has been wrapped in bureaucracy, funded by American and European tax dollars, and aimed squarely at helping terrorists wage a never-ending war with Israel. Activists disguised as humanitarians clutch their pearls and rush out press releases in support of these failed systems, exactly as terrorists hijack aid trucks or beat dissenting Palestinians in the street trying to get to humanitarian aid. The silence is deafening, but actually, it's worse. They keep spreading with no scrutiny the profane lies of Hamas. The fact is that there were Palestinians harmed last week, but not by GHF. They were harmed by Hamas when they tried to break into warehouses where Hamas had been hoarding piles and piles of humanitarian aid meant for Gazans. We're told by beneficiaries that Hamas was selling aid or using it for coercive purposes. One beneficiary asked our aid workers five times if our aid was truly free, and we observed the decline in the price of sugar in the rudimentary markets of Gaza. Yet, this behavior is excused, explained away, or flat-out ignored while organizations like the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation are attacked constantly for trying to feed Gazans with no strings attached. What GHF is guilty of is exposing the whole charade for what it is. Unfortunately, instead of just focusing on feeding Gazans, GHF humanitarians must fight a profane information war naively parroted by those who should know better. We will press on. Our vision is that failure will no longer be rewarded. Instead, we demand results with Silicon Valley precision. The good-hearted taxpayers of rich countries should no longer be content to line the pockets of institutional elites with cushy jobs propping up failing systems. It's time to do it differently. We understand this is a threat to the system. Because if even a sliver of hope is delivered through a model based on transparency, accountability, and realism, the entire cottage industry of perpetual process collapses. The lavish conferences, the donor summits, the panel discussions where nothing gets done—gone. But, no longer can we let the weaponization of humanitarian aid, or its mismanagement, prolong this and other conflicts. There can be no peace process without peace, and there is no humanitarian aid without human dignity. There's also no time for nostalgia over broken systems. It is time to stop rewarding failure and start building the future. Not in Geneva or New York, but in Ashkelon, Khan Younis, and Ramallah—where outcomes matter more than press Gaza Humanitarian Foundation isn't perfect. But it is honest. And for those who have grown rich, powerful, and respected by keeping Palestinians poor, hopeless, and angry—that's the real threat. We say: good. Let them be afraid. To those in the humanitarian community who truly care and have witnessed press and U.N. attacks on our relief efforts: we choose the high road. You're good people who, like Gazans, recognize authentic work. It's time to deliver food—not for politics, not for process, but for people. Join us or get out of our way. But, for God's sake, tell the truth.
