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Trump's Social Security proclamation: POTUS makes massive announcement; ‘kicked 275K aliens out'

Trump's Social Security proclamation: POTUS makes massive announcement; ‘kicked 275K aliens out'

Hindustan Times13 hours ago
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday, celebrating the 90th anniversary of Social Security and revealing several changes during his second term. Among other things, the 79-year-old announced that his administration has 'kicked out' as many as 275,000 illegal immigrants out of the program. He further added that about 2.4 million names, over 120 years old, were removed from the database. President Donald Trump signs a proclamation in the Oval Office of the White House(Bloomberg)
However, the biggest announcement of Thursday was about no tax on Social Security for seniors.
'As Social Security celebrates its 90th anniversary, the Trump Administration's bold improvements to customer service, technology, and efficiency have positioned the agency to provide quicker access and greater value for the beneficiaries it serves,' the White House said in a press release.
'That includes President Trump making good on his No Tax on Social Security campaign promise. Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill — now the law of the land — the vast majority of seniors receiving Social Security will no longer pay taxes on that income.'
Under President Trump, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has rolled out sweeping reforms (per the press release):
Customer Service Overhaul
The agency is managing 70% more calls than last year while slashing the average wait time by 80%, from half an hour to just six minutes.
Enhanced automation now handles 90% of calls to the national helpline through self-service tools or callbacks, sharply reducing hold times.
Wait times at field offices have dropped by 23%, and scheduled appointments are up fivefold compared to last year.
For the first time in years, all field offices are fully staffed, with employees back in the office five days a week to better assist the public.
Major Technology Upgrades
Americans now have uninterrupted, round-the-clock access to their SSA online accounts, eliminating the previous 29-hour weekly downtime. This change alone allowed more than 280,000 additional customers to log in within the first two weeks.
A modern recording and transcription system, replacing outdated hardware, is nearly complete — improving accuracy and saving millions annually.
Updated phone systems have been deployed to 92% of field offices, improving call quality and efficiency.
Backlog Reduction and Faster Service
Initial disability claim backlogs have been reduced by 26% from last year's peak, with processing times cut by five days. Disability hearing wait times have also dropped by 60 days.
More than 3.1 million payments, totaling over $17 billion, were issued under the Social Security Fairness Act, five months ahead of schedule.
Tighter Oversight and Cost Savings
The SSA has identified over $1 billion in savings and efficiencies this fiscal year.
Efforts to curb improper payments have recovered and prevented billions in losses.
A long-delayed payroll information exchange is finally launching, enabling direct data transfers from payroll providers and projected to save billions over the next decade.
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Trump, China, and the future of the rules-based international order
Trump, China, and the future of the rules-based international order

Hindustan Times

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  • Hindustan Times

Trump, China, and the future of the rules-based international order

The United Nations (UN) was formed in 1945, to avoid wars of the scale of the two World Wars, which caused widespread, death, destruction and miseries. However, neither were the two World Wars the first wars, nor have they been the last ones. The Thirty Years War, and the Eighty Years Wars in Europe were previous wars and were more protracted in nature, running over decades, causing more destruction. The queer part is that all these wars were in Europe, albeit Asia witnessed its own share of miseries, as an imperial Japan unleashed death and destruction in its hunger for power and territories, in the years leading up to World War II. China became one of the first to bear the onslaught. Donald Trump (Bloomberg) The odd part about the 21st century is that there again is an ongoing war in Europe, economies are again feeling the heat, people are again dying, and there is an unfolding conflict in Asia as well just like it was preceding World War II. The only difference this time is that China is not at the receiving end, but others ranging from India to Taiwan, to the Philippines are at the receiving end of China's hunger for power and territories! The UN continues to exist, even though the numbers of conflicts and wars has only increased since 1945, in addition to the formats they are fought in having undergone severe changes. The UN also was not the only such organisation that was created to prevent wars; it was preceded by the League of Nations, which failed to prevent World War II. The US was not a member of the League of Nations, as it chose not to be part of it. Similar to the bygone era, today, another important country is not a part of the UN or of other important international organisations- namely Taiwan. While the US had chosen to stay out of the League of Nations, Taiwan is not part of the UN because China claims it as part of its territory. 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Trump's policies signal an intent to form a G-2 with China, and examples included Trump's rollback of the previous US policies to restrict chips export to China, Trump's withholding the imminent ban of TikTok, his pause of the tariffs that were to take effect against China, his targeting of India as the second largest importer of Russian oil, while staying silent on China, while the US continues its humungous purchases of fertilisers from Russia- all signal the US intent to destroy the rules-based world order. However, a cursory glance at history also shows that paradigm shifts take place only in times of duress. The extreme strain that the international order now faces will either lead it to crumble and newer and worse wars will emerge, or a third actor, which has the credibility which both the US and China now lack, will emerge, or a new type of multipolarity and power configuration will emerge. 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Trump tariffs: Small businesses in America need to pay an extra $202 billion a year
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Time of India

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Trump tariffs: Small businesses in America need to pay an extra $202 billion a year

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Fast fashion retailer Shein's UK sales surged to $2.8 billion in 2024
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Fast fashion retailer Shein's UK sales surged to $2.8 billion in 2024

Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Shein's British business made 2.05 billion pounds ($2.77 billion) in sales in 2024, a 32.3% increase from the previous year, a filing by the online fast-fashion retailer showed early on does not report global results publicly, but the filing sheds light on its growth in Britain, its third-biggest market after the United States and Germany, as the company works toward an initial public offering in Hong in China and headquartered in Singapore, Shein has spent years attempting to list, first in New York and then in London, but faced criticism from US and UK politicians and failed to get approval from China's securities regulator for the offshore IPO at a time of increasing tensions between China and the global retailer's UK business, Shein Distribution UK Ltd, reported a pretax profit of 38.25 million pounds in 2024, up 56.6% from 24.4 million pounds in the filing, Shein highlighted 2024 milestones, such as a pop-up shop in Liverpool, a Christmas bus tour across 12 UK cities and the opening of two new offices in Kings Cross and for deeply discounted prices, Shein runs constant promotions and offers coupons or rewards that encourage shoppers to keep buying. Shein has taken market share from retailers like ASOS and H&M as surging inflation dented consumers' spending power, driving them to hunt for has also broadened its offering beyond fashion - the UK site sells 7.99-pound ($10.84) dresses and 15-pound ($20.36) jeans, as well as everything from toys and craft supplies to storage business has benefited from customs duty exemptions on low-value e-commerce packages that allow it to send goods directly from factories in China to shoppers' doorsteps largely that perk is on its way out, driving Shein's costs - and prices - up, particularly in the US, where imports from China are now subject to steep President Donald Trump's administration has scrapped its "de minimis" exemption for parcels under $800, and the European Union plans to remove its equivalent duty waiver on e-commerce parcels worth less than 150 is also reviewing its policy on low-value imports after retailers said it was giving online players like Shein and Temu an unfair advantage.

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