Therapy, not transition: Trump administration shifts trans youth health policy
Despite pledges of radical transparency from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the administration has not disclosed the report's authors. It also excluded input from major medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Medical Association (AMA). AAP President Dr. Susan Kressly condemned the report, stating it misrepresented medical consensus and cited the AAP's policies in misleading ways.As reported by the Associated Press, Medical professionals and advocacy groups expressed alarm at the report's implications. Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, called the report 'Orwellian' and warned it could instill fear in families and care providers. Dr. Scott Leibowitz, a co-author of the WPATH standards, criticized the report's bias towards aligning sex and gender, ignoring neutral treatment approaches.advertisementThe report emphasizes psychotherapy, claiming it is often sidelined. However, experts argue that talk therapy is already a core part of treatment plans. Studies indicate that only a small fraction of US adolescents undergo gender-affirming surgeries or hormone treatments. Many youths opt for social transitions or talk therapy without medical intervention.Since taking office, Trump has enacted multiple policies targeting transgender rights, including cutting $477 million in grants supporting gender-affirming care. Several hospitals have ceased treatments, and a Supreme Court decision is pending on state-level bans. Critics view the latest report as a politicized attempt to undermine established medical practices.Also Read: Canada files 200 charges against ArcelorMittal for Fisheries Act violationsMust Watch
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Business Standard
9 minutes ago
- Business Standard
US examines equity stake in chip makers for CHIPS Act cash grants: Report
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is looking into the government taking equity stakes in Intel and other chipmakers in exchange for grants under the CHIPS Act, which aims to spur factory-building in the US, two sources said. As part of a plan to revive US manufacturing - a key Trump agenda - Lutnick said earlier on Tuesday the US government wants an equity stake in Intel in exchange for cash grants approved by the administration of former President Joe Biden. Now Lutnick wants to expand that plan to other companies, according to a White House official and a person familiar with the situation. The Trump administration has recently made unusual deals with US companies, including allowing AI chip giant Nvidia to sell its H20 chips to China in exchange for the US government receiving 15 per cent of those sales. The Pentagon is slated to become the largest shareholder in a small mining company to boost output of rare earth magnets. The government's intervention in corporate matters has worried critics who say President Donald Trump's actions create new categories of corporate risk and that a bad bet could mean a hit to taxpayer funds. Much of the funding under the CHIPS Act has not yet been dispersed for companies such as Micron, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Samsung and Intel. TSMC and Intel declined to comment. Micron, Samsung and the White House did not respond to requests for comment on whether Lutnick is considering more stakes. The two sources told Reuters on Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is also involved in the CHIPS Act discussions, but that Lutnick is driving the process. The Commerce Department oversees the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act money. Lutnick has been pushing the equity idea, the sources said, adding that Trump likes the idea. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed earlier that Lutnick was working on a deal with Intel to take a 10 per cent government stake. "The president wants to put America's needs first, both from a national security and economic perspective, and it's a creative idea that has never been done before," she told reporters. Speaking on CNBC, Lutnick said the US wants a return on its "investment". "We'll get equity in return for that ... instead of just giving grants away," he said. Trump has previously said he wanted to kill the CHIPS Act program. Lutnick's comments suggested any stake would be non-voting, meaning it would not enable the US government to tell the company how to run its business. His comments came a day after SoftBank Group agreed to invest $2 billion in Intel, which has struggled to compete after years of management blunders. "The Biden administration literally was giving Intel money for free and giving TSMC money for free, and all these companies just giving the money for free, and Donald Trump turned it into saying, 'Hey, we want equity for the money. If we're going to give you the money, we want a piece of the action for the American taxpayer'," Lutnick said. South Korean presidential advisor Kim Yong-beom said neither the government nor the potentially affected companies have heard about such a plan. He added that foreign companies like Samsung needed "predictability" for their US investments. A Korean chip industry official, meanwhile, said it would be hard for chipmakers to accept US government equity stakes, and some may either decide not to invest or delay investments unless Washington provides incentives like increasing funding. Taking lawmaker questions in Taipei on Wednesday and asked whether the US government could take a stake in TSMC, Taiwan Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei said his ministry would consult with the company, which he pointed out was private and not a state-owned enterprise. "We will also discuss with the National Development Council, as it is a shareholder of TSMC. We will thoroughly understand the underlying meaning of the US Commerce Secretary's remarks, but this will require some time for discussion and assessment," Kuo said.
Economic Times
11 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Trump thinks owning piece of Intel would be good deal for US: Here's what to know
AP President Donald Trump wants the US government to own a piece of Intel, less than two weeks after demanding the Silicon Valley pioneer dump the CEO that was hired to turn around the slumping chipmaker. If the goal is realised, the investment would deepen the Trump administration's involvement in the computer industry as the president ramps up the pressure for more US companies to manufacture products domestically instead of relying on overseas suppliers. What's happening? The Trump administration is in talks to secure a 10 per cent stake in Intel in exchange for converting government grants that were pledged to Intel under President Joe Biden. If the deal is completed, the US government would become one of Intel's largest shareholders and blur the traditional lines separating the public sector and private sector in a country that remains the world's largest economy. Why would Trump do this? In his second term, Trump has been leveraging his power to reprogramme the operations of major computer chip companies. The administration is requiring Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, two companies whose chips are helping to power the craze around artificial intelligence, to pay a 15 per cent commission on their sales of chips in China in exchange for export licenses. Trump's interest in Intel is also being driven by his desire to boost chip production in the US, which has been a focal point of the trade war that he has been waging throughout the world. By lessening the country's dependence on chips manufactured overseas, the president believes the US will be better positioned to maintain its technological lead on China in the race to create artificial intelligence. Didn't Trump want Intel's CEO to quit? That's what the president said August 7 in an unequivocal post calling for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign less than five months after the Santa Clara, California, company hired him. The demand was triggered by reports raising national security concerns about Tan's past investments in Chinese tech companies while he was a venture capitalist. But Trump backed off after Tan professed his allegiance to the US in a public letter to Intel employees and went to the White House to meet with the president, who applauded the Intel CEO for having an "amazing story." Why would Intel do a deal? The company isn't commenting about the possibility of the US government becoming a major shareholder, but Intel may have little choice because it is currently dealing from a position of weakness. After enjoying decades of growth while its processors powered the personal computer boom, the company fell into a slump after missing the shift to the mobile computing era unleashed by the iPhone's 2007 debut. Intel has fallen even farther behind in recent years during an artificial intelligence craze that has been a boon for Nvidia and AMD. The company lost nearly USD 19 billion last year and another $3.7 billion in the first six months of this year, prompting Tan to undertake a cost-cutting spree. By the end of this year, Tan expects Intel to have about 75,000 workers, a 25% reduction from the end of last year. Would this deal be unusual? Although rare, it's not unprecedented for the US government to become a significant shareholder in a prominent company. One of the most notable instances occurred during the Great Recession in 2008 when the government injected nearly $50 billion into General Motors in return for a roughly 60% stake in the automaker at a time it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The government ended up with a roughly $10 billion loss after it sold its stock in GM. Would the government run Intel? US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC during a Tuesday interview that the government has no intention of meddling in Intel's business, and will have its hands tied by holding non-voting shares in the company. But some analysts wonder if the Trump administration's financial ties to Intel might prod more companies looking to curry favour with the president to increase their orders for the company's chips. What government grants does Intel receive? Intel was among the biggest beneficiaries of the Biden administration's CHIPS and Science Act, but it hasn't been able to revive its fortunes while falling behind on construction projects spawned by the programme. The company has received about $2.2 billion of the $7.8 billion pledged under the incentives programme - money that Lutnick derided as a "giveaway" that would better serve US taxpayers if it's turned into Intel stock. "We think America should get the benefit of the bargain," Lutnick told CNBC. 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Economic Times
12 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Trump slaps sanctions on Canadian ICC judge in clash over US and Israel investigations
Synopsis The Trump administration has escalated its conflict with the International Criminal Court (ICC) by imposing sanctions on four officials, including a Canadian judge, due to their involvement in investigations targeting US personnel and Israeli leaders. These measures, which freeze assets and restrict financial transactions, are a response to the ICC's probes into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and Gaza. Reuters Kimberly Prost, a veteran Canadian jurist serving on the ICC, was sanctioned by Washington over rulings tied to US and Israeli war crimes investigations The Trump administration escalated its campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday(August 20), imposing sanctions on four officials, including a Canadian judge, over their roles in investigations targeting US personnel and Israeli leaders. The State Department said the measures freeze assets held in US jurisdictions and restrict financial transactions, the latest step under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February that authorizes penalties against ICC officials deemed to threaten American sovereignty. Among the sanctioned officials is Kimberly Prost, a Canadian national who has served on the ICC's Trial Division since 2018. According to the State Department, she was targeted for her ruling authorizing the court's investigation into alleged war crimes committed by US personnel in a veteran jurist, previously worked as the United Nations Security Council's first Ombudsperson for its Al Qaida Sanctions Committee and spent nearly two decades with Canada's Department of Justice. Also sanctioned were French judge Nicolas Yann Guillou, who was part of the panel that issued arrest warrants last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Deputy Prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, who upheld the Gaza-related warrants. The decision reflects the administration's intensifying pushback against the ICC. Neither the US nor Israel is a member of the tribunal, and Washington argues the court has no authority over its nationals.'The United States has been clear and steadfast in our opposition to the ICC's politicization, abuse of power, disregard for our national sovereignty, and illegitimate judicial overreach,' the State Department said in a administration has framed the sanctions as necessary to protect American service members and diplomats, as well as Israel, from what it considers politically motivated prosecutions. The move mirrors the Trump administration's first-term clash with the court, when sanctions were imposed on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and another senior official during probes into Afghanistan and Israel. Those measures were lifted by President Joe Biden in 2021, though his administration maintained opposition to ICC jurisdiction over non-member Trump, who returned to office this year, has revived the hardline approach. The latest designations follow earlier sanctions in June against four other ICC ICC condemned the decision, calling it a direct assault on judicial independence. Israel welcomed the US decision. Netanyahu, facing the court's arrest warrant, praised the rights groups warned that the measures could hinder global accountability efforts. The administration's aggressive stance is also facing domestic challenges. A federal judge in Washington blocked parts of Trump's executive order on constitutional grounds, ruling that restrictions on providing services to ICC officials infringed on free speech protections.
