UK to urge Trump administration to implement zero-tariff steel accord
Jonathan Reynolds, UK business and trade secretary, will next week urge Donald Trump's administration to quickly put in place a deal to cut
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
9 minutes ago
- CNN
What makes Trump's new portrait different from his predecessors'
When President Donald Trump's new official portrait was unveiled Monday, it lacked two elements his predecessors had featured in their photographs dating back more than 50 years: a happy expression and an American flag in the background. The picture, which replaced an earlier portrait released around Trump's inauguration in January, shows the president against a dark backdrop with part of his face obscured by shadow. The portrait is being hung in federal buildings, and it now appears on the White House website. A White House official said Trump's initial portrait was taken during the transition period and was always intended as a placeholder. The new image was captured more recently. 'The President is the most well-known person on the planet and this new portrait taken during his second term reflects the optimism and resolve of America, especially after a disastrous four years of the Biden administration,' the official said. In the portrait, Trump wears a red tie and an unsmiling expression. While he is wearing a prominent American flag pin on his lapel, there is nothing visible behind him. The visual makes for a stark difference from other presidents over the past 60 years. The last president to opt for a neutral background was Richard Nixon, who appeared against a plain backdrop in 1969, as did most of the men who preceded him. A string of presidents after him — Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden — all featured an American flag over their right shoulders. Some also included a flag with the presidential seal. All smiled for the camera, most with teeth, save for Obama, who appeared to smile with lips closed. Trump's portrait from his first term kept with that practice. He stood in front of a flag, wearing a broad smile. In January, Trump released a new portrait, with a glowering expression that bore some resemblance to the mug shot he took in Georgia in 2023 after being indicted on racketeering and related charges. The background of that earlier portrait featured a corner of an American flag. The new portrait eliminates any background, making for a dramatic contrast with Trump's face. He is lit from the left, casting his right cheek, ear and shoulder into shadow. While his face and hair are in sharp focus, his shirt and tie are blurry. While there is no flag in the background, his flag pin is made prominent by glinting light.
Fox News
12 minutes ago
- Fox News
CNN polling expert marvels at collapse of Democratic advantage with middle class in Trump era
CNN senior political data reporter Harry Enten Monday marveled at how Democrats continue to face a stark lack of confidence from voters on the economy and middle class issues. Voter dissatisfaction with former President Biden's management of the economy was one of the major issues that led to President Donald Trump's return to the White House. While Trump may have stirred controversy with his tariff and immigration policy shakeups since then, the economy appears to be one key area where he retains voters' trust. CNN host Kate Bolduan observed as she spoke to Enten that, according to CNN's own polling, Republicans are actually gaining ground in terms of being trusted to help America's struggling middle class. "Yeah, you know, historically speaking, 'Which is the party of the middle class?' has been a huge advantage for Democrats," Enten said, referring to one question from the polling. He said Democrats had a 23-point advantage on this question in 1989 and a 17-point advantage in 2016, "But by this decade, we already started seeing declines back in 2022, where you saw that Democrats led, but only by four points, well within the margin of error." Now it's tied. "This, I think, speaks to Democratic ills more than anything else," he argued. "They have traditionally been the party of the middle class. No more! Donald Trump and the Republican Party have taken that mantle away, and now a key advantage for Democrats historically has gone 'adios, amigos,' and now there is no party that is the party of the middle class. Republicans have completely closed the gap, Kate." Enten also said while one might think Trump's rocky experimentation with tariffs might shake voters' faith in Republicans and make them consider the opposition, but, "It ain't so. It ain't so!" The data reporter noted that in November 2023, Republicans had an 11-point advantage as "the party that is closest to your economic views." He noted, "Now it's still within that range, still within that margin of error, plus eight point advantage for the Republican Party. How is that possible, Democrats?" Enten continued to break down the numbers, wondering, "How is it possible after all the recession fears? After the stock market's been doing all of this, after all the tariffs that Americans are against, and Republicans still hold an eight-point lead on the economy? Are you kidding me?" He argued that CNN's poll was echoed by similar findings from Reuters/Ipsos, showing that confidence in Republicans to handle the economy has risen. "And again, this is after months of supposed economic uncertainty in which the stock market's been going bonkers, in which tariff wars that Americans are against have been going on. And yet, despite all of that, the Democrats are down by 12 points on the economy," he said. "This speaks to Democratic problems on the economy better than basically anything that you could possibly look at," Enten continued, arguing that even if approval ratings are slightly lower than they once were, Republicans maintain a clear advantage with public opinion on their management of the economy.
Fox News
18 minutes ago
- Fox News
DNC trolls Trump on tariffs with free 'TACO' truck parked outside RNC headquarters
FIRST ON FOX – The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Tuesday parked a custom-wrapped food truck in front of the Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters in Washington, D.C. The rented truck, decked out with images of President Donald Trump, served up a free mouth-watering lunch option to passers-by. However, in Washington, there is no such thing as a free lunch – and this stunt was no exception. The food truck was a taco truck, and the tacos came with a side of trolling: a policy-themed jab at Trump's tariff record, one the DNC sees as a major vulnerability heading into 2026. The DNC's renting and customization of the taco truck, as well as its plans to hand out free Trump-branded tacos to passers-by, was previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital. It looks to seize on the acronym TACO, or "Trump Always Chickens Out," to provoke Trump's ire. The phrase was coined by Wall Street analysts when referring to Trump's tariff policies – and more specifically, espousing the view among some that Trump will walk back the steep reciprocal tariffs he announced in April, which are currently playing out in federal courts. Beyond simply presenting a moral quagmire to hungry RNC employees and other Hill staffers, DNC officials told Fox News that they see the truck as an effective way to draw attention to Trump's tariff policies, which they described as "playing games with working families' livelihoods." "Trump always chickens out – we're just bringing the tacos to match," DNC Chair Ken Martin told Fox News Digital of the effort. "Instead of realizing his tariff chaos is wrecking the economy, Trump continues to drag America towards more economic pain, and the rest of the world sees Trump for exactly what he is: a chicken," he added. They also previewed the customized wrap of the truck, seen below: The food truck comes as Trump's power to enact sweeping tariffs has come under legal scrutiny. There's also an open question of whether the administration would actually move forward with the harsh import fees. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously acknowledged that the threat of tariffs could be used as more of a negotiating tactic or opening salvo for future trade talks, including between the U.S. and China, and described Trump's uncertainty in the process to reporters last week as a means of "strategic uncertainty in the negotiations." As of this writing, three separate federal courts are weighing Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to stand up the harsh import fees. The plan, which Trump announced on April 2, invokes IEEPA for both his 10% baseline tariff on most U.S. trading partners and a so-called "reciprocal tariff" against other countries. The administration has appealed two lower court decisions that blocked his use of the law to either enact or threaten to enact the harsh tariffs. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed a lower court order from the U.S. Court of International Trade, allowing Trump's tariff policy to continue, for now, while the court continues to investigate the merits of the case. Two other lower court challenges remain in flux. In the meantime, however, the moniker TACO has gotten under the president's skin. Last week, Trump blasted a reporter who asked him about the phrase, describing it as a "nasty question." "Don't ever say what you said," Trump told the reporter. "To me, that's the nastiest question," he said. "I chicken out, oh, I have never heard that," Trump said, noting that lowering the tariffs was part of an ongoing "negotiation" with China. He continued: "You mean because I reduced China from 145% that I set down to 100 and then down to another number? I said, 'You have to open your whole country.'" Democrats are using the truck to seize on what they see as a clear sore spot for the president, and a way of tying Trump more directly to any market uncertainty and turmoil that has come as a result of the tariffs. It comes as the party has struggled to coalesce around a unifying message in the aftermath of the 2024 elections. The party has been criticized for failing to seize on Elon Musk's departure from his official role in the Trump administration at the end of May, and for focusing its energy on attacking intraparty strategies and DNC board members, rather than going after the RNC more broadly. The taco truck stunt signals a shift in strategy, as Democrats adopt a more Trump-style approach to political attacks ahead of the 2026 midterms. But some of their efforts have missed the mark. Earlier this week, conservative commentators took aim at a TikTok posted by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), in which he is filmed eating a taco in an attempt to mock Trump's tariff strategy, with some declaring it "cringeworthy." DNC officials did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions on whether the party plans to pursue the tariff strategy beyond the taco truck, or if it sees these issues as a way to counter Trump and his allies with red state voters in the midterms and beyond.
