Trump Sticks With Trade Deadline, Pressures Japan
Donald Trump stuck with his July 9 deadline for higher tariffs to resume and deepened his criticism of Japan, saying 'I'm not sure we're going to make a deal.' Japanese shares dropped initially but pared losses as some brushed off the remarks as a negotiating tactic. Check our latest markets wrap here.
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Forbes
8 minutes ago
- Forbes
Trump Temporarily Keeps NJ Liquor Licenses—But Faces Special Rules
New Jersey granted temporary liquor permits to two of President Donald Trump's golf clubs Monday—but is requiring alcohol profits be held in separate accounts and barring their payout to Trump's companies—as the state's investigation into whether his convictions disqualify the businesses from pouring enters its second year. President Donald Trump sips a glass after making a toast at the United Nations during the 72nd ... More session of the General Assembly in 2017. (AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski) AFP via Getty Images A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records tied to hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign, crimes each punishable by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine. New Jersey law bars anyone convicted of crimes 'involving moral turpitude'—including 'dishonesty, fraud or depravity' severe enough to typically be punishable by more than a year in prison—from holding a liquor license, according to a state handbook, first reported by Forbes in June 2024. After Trump's conviction, New Jersey's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) declined to renew the liquor licenses at his Bedminster and Colts Neck clubs, instead issuing a series of temporary permits—first for 90 days pending a hearing, then extended. On Monday, with the latest temporary licenses set to expire, the ABC issued six-month permits, letting the clubs continue to serve alcohol but requiring liquor proceeds be kept in separate accounts, banning their payout to Trump's companies and demanding extra records on the clubs' ownership, according to copies of the permits obtained by Forbes. Losing the liquor licenses would be one of the few direct penalties Trump could face from his felony conviction. 'We are pleased with this latest extension of our licenses and look forward to working cooperatively with the ABC to ensure that our valued members and guests continue to enjoy the finest services and amenities at our world-renowned clubs,' a spokesperson for the Trump Organization told Forbes in a statement. The Trump Organization contends Trump's conviction shouldn't matter because he isn't listed as a holder, officer or director on any New Jersey liquor license, according to a statement provided after Forbes' initial report. Key Background New Jersey regulators determined in 2024 that Trump holds a 'direct beneficial interest' in the clubs' liquor licenses, because he receives profits from them, countering his argument that the conviction shouldn't matter. Court records and Trump's financial disclosures show he is the sole owner of the clubs through a series of LLCs held by a revocable trust, of which he is also the sole beneficiary and sole provider of assets. The Trump Organization confirmed in an April regulatory filing in the United Kingdom that, as president, Trump retains control over his businesses. Other states, however, reached different conclusions: A spokesperson for California's alcohol regulator, for example, previously told Forbes because Trump transferred the license for his Los Angeles-area club to Donald Trump Jr. in 2017, he is no longer part of the license—even though he remains the sole beneficiary of the underlying business. The ABC does not appear to have publicly explained why it's taken more than a year to decide if Trump's felony convictions should cost his clubs their liquor licenses. Crucial Quote 'Profiting from a liquor license is a privilege, not a right granted by law,' Allison Inserro, a spokesperson for the New Jersey attorney general, told Forbes. She added the special conditions were 'consistent with the division's obligation to ensure that all liquor licensees comply with the law.' Big Number $49.2 million: That's the income Trump reported from his Bedminster and Colts Neck golf clubs in his June 2025 financial disclosure, which appears to cover all of 2024. News Peg Trump's conviction in May 2024 made him the first former U.S. president to become a felon. Surprising Fact Golf markers featuring the presidential seal have appeared at five Trump courses, including Bedminster, a potential violation of federal law barring its use for commercial purposes. Trump's Bedminster club received a 32 out of 100 health inspection score in May, the lowest grade in Somerset County, and was issued a 'conditionally satisfactory' C grade after it was flagged for 18 violations, including all three requirements in the 'food protected from contamination' category. On a subsequent reinspection, the club earned a B grade with a score of 86—the lowest score possible to still receive that grade. Forbes Valuation Forbes estimates Donald Trump is worth about $5.3 billion, with crypto making up the bulk of his wealth. Further Viewing After Years Of Lying, Trump Organization Tries To Figure Out How Big Its Properties Actually Are (Forbes) Trump's Properties Charged Defense Department $1 Million, New Documents Reveal (Forbes) How Trump Built A Golf Empire With Secret Financing (Forbes) Here's How Much Trump Received For Hosting Saudi-Backed Golf Tournament (Forbes) How Donald Trump Shifted Kids-Cancer Charity Money Into His Business (Forbes)
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Three reasons why Republicans cut Medicaid
More Medicaid enrollees are voting Republican — a result of President Donald Trump's success in wooing lower-income voters. So, why did the GOP slash deeply into the health insurance program in its megabill? Three reasons: Republicans desperately needed money to avoid a big tax increase next year, they wanted to claw back Biden-era policies GOP lawmakers say led to lax eligibility checks and more fraudulent benefit claims and they wanted to curb the Medicaid expansion enacted by then-President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats in the Affordable Care Act. The bill targets unsustainable spending by adding work requirements and restricting tools states use to get more federal dollars, not the benefits of people who really need them, Republicans said. 'We secured Medicaid for those who need it most: mothers, children, seniors and people with disabilities,' said Kentucky's Brett Guthrie, who crafted the Medicaid provisions in the House. 'Democrats continue to fearmonger and misrepresent what is in this bill.' The Republican base now includes more working-class and low-income people, many of whom receive their health insurance through Medicaid. But the traditional sentiment of many Republican lawmakers toward the social safety-net program — that it provides handouts on taxpayers' dime — has largely remained the same. That's become increasingly clear over the past few days and months as Republican lawmakers have crafted their One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The sweeping legislation — which passed Thursday and is now headed to Trump's desk — includes more than $1 trillion in health care cuts, the vast majority of which come from the federal-state health insurance program that serves more than 70 million low-income Americans. That helped create the budget savings needed to extend trillions in tax cuts a previous Republican Congress and Trump enacted in 2017. They otherwise would have expired at year's end. As Republicans began to consider their bill in January, Trump promised to 'love and cherish' Medicaid. But he ultimately embraced the cuts as necessary to get the bill passed and lobbied reluctant GOP representatives and senators to go along. 'A lot of the policy agenda of the party is still kind of rooted in a libertarian, Ronald Reagan, Paul Ryan, kind of [viewpoint]' said Jake Haselswerdt, an associate professor at the University of Missouri's Truman School of Government and Public Affairs. 'The economic populism has not been fully embraced yet.' Only next year's election will show whether Republicans face a reckoning from their new Medicaid-dependent constituents. Republicans have argued that the cuts — expected to cost millions of people their insurance — were not cuts at all, but instead aim to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. Conservatives have pointed to rapid spending growth and the ability of states to work the system to extract more federal dollars. 'Medicaid expenses have risen uncontrollably,' the Manhattan Institute think tank said last year in urging an overhaul. The institute's report urged reforms that would protect 'the program's mandatory acute-care spending' while going after 'expansions of eligibility and benefits made at the discretion of states.' That's what Republicans aimed to do, said Georgia's Buddy Carter, who worked closely with Guthrie on the Medicaid provisions in the House. The bill 'saves and sustains Medicaid and is there for those who truly need it,' he said during the floor debate Thursday. Republicans of yesteryear might have pursued a more direct approach, proposing to cap federal spending with a block grant or to eliminate the Obamacare expansion. Republican lawmakers did consider those options, but opted instead to include work requirements for some people on the program and to crack down on loopholes they say states and hospitals abuse to enrich themselves through more federal money. 'They have this justification of going after waste, fraud and abuse, so you could argue that the shifting politics of Medicaid did affect them,' said Haselswerdt. 'It did kind of shift the window of what was possible. But obviously the window of what was possible still includes what amounts to very sizable cuts.' Republicans say the changes are sorely needed to reverse problems that erupted in the Biden administration. They point to lax eligibility controls that saw coverage explode during President Joe Biden's tenure. 'Biden-era policies led to enormous enrollment of people not eligible and corporate welfare through Medicaid payments well in excess of Medicare rates,' said Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute, a conservative think tank. The megabill's tax provisions are costly, and Republicans needed to find some way to offset them — to both appease deficit hawks in their ranks and comply with Senate rules that require budget bills to be deficit-neutral within a 10-year window. Other entitlements like Medicare and Social Security, which both serve elderly people, were deemed too politically risky to touch. Trump has been even more adamant about not reducing benefits in Medicare and Social Security, a cornerstone of his first campaign in 2016, than he was about Medicaid. Cutting programs for the elderly is a third rail that Republicans have learned to steer clear of after getting burned when then-President George W. Bush and then-Speaker Paul Ryan tried. Republicans also largely see the two programs as earned entitlements because they are funded with payroll taxes, whereas Medicaid is still viewed by many in the party as a handout, even though most recipients work, policy experts said. 'Social Security and Medicare also clearly have a beneficiary group of elderly who are politically active, but Medicaid is politically easier to go after because you're talking about kids and poor people and people with disabilities,' said Chris Howard, a professor of government and public policy at William & Mary in Virginia. With Social Security and Medicare off the table, Medicaid became one of the only targets for Republicans to find cuts of the size they needed to pay for Trump's policy priorities. 'When you have to pay for stuff in the federal budget, there are only a couple of programs they can look at,' said GOP health strategist Joel White, president and CEO of the consulting firm Horizon Government Affairs. 'The money lined up.' Trump's remaking of the Republican Party aside, the rhetoric around the Medicaid debate was familiar to anyone who's paid attention to politics over the last several decades. Republicans said the Medicaid expansion had exploded the welfare state by allowing 'video-game-playing young men' too lazy to work to enjoy taxpayer-funded health care. Democrats said Republicans were shredding the social safety net to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated an earlier version of the bill would lead to a $1.1 trillion cut to health spending over the next decade and 11.8 million people tossed off coverage. The CBO does not have an updated score yet on the version of the bill that narrowly passed the House on Thursday after several health provisions were dropped, such as a penalty on states for coverage of undocumented immigrants. Recent polling shows that Democrats appear to be winning the messaging war. A poll released June 26 from Quinnipiac University found 55 percent of U.S. voters were opposed to the bill compared with 29 percent in support and 16 percent didn't have an opinion. Another poll from health research group KFF found 64 percent of U.S. adults opposed the bill and 35 percent were in favor. 'The combination of these deep cuts to food and health care, which most people strongly believe are important kinds of benefits, and the tax cuts for the rich — it's going to be very easy for Democrats to portray Republicans as the sort of heartless friends of the rich,' said Howard. White said Republicans have long had problems talking about health care, and lawmakers must keep to their message that the policy changes go after abuses. 'There are simple things they can say: 'If you are an able-bodied adult, you need to work or volunteer in your community and get educated,'' he said. White added that Republicans need to explain more clearly why the cuts are necessary to shore up the program for those truly in need and that those kicked off can obtain insurance through an employer or an Obamacare exchange. 'All members of Congress need to say what is at stake, which is the integrity and long-term stability of the Medicaid program,' he said.
Chicago Tribune
15 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Hakeem Jeffries took his ‘sweet time' holding the floor to delay President Trump's tax bill
WASHINGTON — There's no filibuster in the House, but Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries essentially conducted one anyway. Jeffries held the House floor for more than eight hours Thursday, taking his 'sweet time' with a marathon floor speech that delayed passage of Republicans' massive tax and spending cuts legislation and gave his minority party a lengthy spotlight to excoriate what he called an 'immoral' bill. As Democratic leader, Jeffries can speak for as long as he wants during debate on legislation — hence its nickname on Capitol Hill, the 'magic minute,' that lasts as long as leaders are speaking. He began the speech at 4:53 a.m. EDT and finished at 1:37 p.m. EDT, 8 hours, 44 minutes later, breaking the record set by then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California in 2021, when he was the GOP leader. McCarthy spoke for 8 hours, 32 minutes when he angrily criticized Democrats' 'Build Back Better' legislation, breaking a record set by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., when she spoke about immigration for 8 hours, 7 minutes in 2018. 'I feel an obligation, Mr. Speaker, to stand on this House floor and take my sweet time,' Jeffries said as he opened. The speech pushed a final vote on Republican President Donald Trump's tax bill, initially expected in the early morning, into the daylight hours. The New York Democrat used the time to criticize the bill's health care and food aid cuts, tax breaks for the wealthy and rollbacks to renewable energy programs, among other parts of the bill that Democrats decry. He also killed time by riffing on hip-hop, King George III and his own life story, among other diversions. He called out Republicans who have voiced concerns about the bill, read stories from people concerned about their health care from those GOP lawmakers' districts and praised his own members, some of whom sat behind him and cheered, clapped, laughed and joined hands. 'This reckless Republican budget is an immoral document, and that is why I stand here on the floor of the House of Representatives with my colleagues in the House Democratic caucus to stand up and push back against it with everything we have,' Jeffries said. He ended the speech in the cadence of a Sunday sermon, with most of the Democratic caucus in a tight huddle around him. One colleague called out, 'Bring it home, Hakeem!' 'We don't work for President Donald Trump,' Jeffries said, as a handful of Republicans across the aisle sat silent and occasionally snickered at the leader as he kept talking. He invoked the late John Lewis, a civil rights activist in the 1960s and longtime Democratic congressman from Georgia. 'Get into good trouble, necessary trouble,' Jeffries said. 'We're going to press on until victory is won.' Jeffries sneaked small bites of food and drank liquids to boost his energy, but did not leave the chamber or his podium. The speech would be over if he did. Democrats were powerless to stop the huge bill, which Republicans are passing by using an obscure budget procedure that bypasses the Senate filibuster. So they were using the powers they do have, mostly to delay. In the Senate, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York forced Senate clerks to read the bill for almost 16 hours over the weekend. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., similarly gained attention in April when he spoke for more than 25 hours on the Senate floor about the first months of Trump's presidency and broke the record for the longest continuous Senate floor speech in the chamber's history. Booker was assisted by fellow Democrats who gave him a break from speaking by asking him questions on the Senate floor, but Jeffries' 'magic minute' did not allow for any interaction with other members. Republicans who were sitting on the floor when Jeffries started trickled out, leaving half the chamber empty. When the speech was over, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., called it 'a bunch of hogwash.' The speech 'will not change the outcome that you will see very shortly,' Smith said. After the bill passed, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that Democrats 'wanted to speak for hours and hours and break records because they wanted to stand in the way of history.'
