The Hill's Headlines - July 23, 2025
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Boston Globe
24 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
A delicious irony: Why Trump prefers Mexican Cola-Cola
Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Why are Mexican Cokes sweetened with sugar and US Cokes sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup? Because in the United States, high-fructose corn syrup is cheaper than sugar thanks to a long history of corn subsidies and sugar tariffs. In my home state of Illinois, I live surrounded by fields growing corn not for eating but for processing — into ethanol, animal feed, and high-fructose corn syrup. Advertisement Outside this country, however, cane sugar is the default sweetener. That's why Mexican Coke tastes different — some say it's more authentically sweet. The soft drink has become a cult favorite, a symbol of nostalgia and purity in a market saturated with manufactured sweetness. It's also a reminder of how deeply our food systems are shaped by policy decisions, not just taste. Advertisement This isn't the first time Coca-Cola has been the subject of national discussion. In the early 20th century, the US government took Coca-Cola to court under the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 for 'misbranding' and 'adulteration.' At the time, the drink contained negligible amounts of both coca and kola (with their implied medicinal claims as stimulants) but significant amounts of caffeine. The case went all the way to the Fast forward to today and we're in a very different moment. The Trump administration is working to gut and undermine many of the very institutions that protect our health. The National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and yes, the FDA, have all faced budget cuts, staff reductions, and political interference. The American Public Health Association has warned that these rollbacks threaten the health and safety of all Americans. Advertisement At this moment we may want to import something else from Mexico: leadership in public health. There, health advocates and regulators have developed education campaigns and public policy about sugar-sweetened beverages, including those Mexican Cokes, the products of a business model exported from the US, and their links to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. They've As a historian, I won't weigh in on whether cane sugar is healthier than corn syrup. That's a question for nutritionists and scientists. But I do know this: a president's personal preferences are no substitute for robust public institutions. You can't regulate a food system by tweet. You can't protect consumers with nostalgia. You can't set policy by piecemeal targeting of products based on particularistic agendas and transactional politics. And you certainly can't build a healthier nation by dismantling the very agencies tasked with safeguarding it. If we're serious about health, we might take a page from Mexico. Because in the end, it's not about which Coke tastes better. It's about which country is doing more to protect its people from the consequences of unchecked sweetness and power.
Boston Globe
24 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Thailand and Cambodia reach Trump trade deals, US official says
Thailand and Cambodia were both facing a potential tariff rate of 36% on their goods to the United States, which is one of the largest export markets for both countries. They have been rushing to avert the steep tariffs before a deadline Friday, especially after neighboring Indonesia and the Philippines secured rates of 19% and Vietnam 20%. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The senior Cambodian official involved in the negotiations said Cambodia would be pleased if the rate was 15%. The official said that Prime Minister Hun Manet had asked Trump for 'a good tariff so we can rebuild our economy because Cambodia had been at war for decades and only obtained peace in 1998.' Advertisement Trump 'acknowledged and understood,' said the official, citing information from Hun Manet. As part of the deal, Cambodia has offered to improve market access to American goods and buy 10 Boeing planes, with the option to buy 10 more, according to the official. Advertisement On Saturday, Trump said he told the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia that he would stop negotiating with them on trade if they did not agree to a ceasefire. After a truce was reached in Malaysia on Monday, Trump called the leaders of both countries and told his trade team to restart talks. Pichai said negotiators had proposed to the Trump administration 'conditions acceptable to Thailand, with the goal of protecting the country's best interests.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
25 minutes ago
- New York Times
The Philanthropy Fighting Trump's Budget Cuts Without Blaming Trump
Every year, the New York City philanthropy Robin Hood tries to outdo itself with a party so good that New York's rich and famous will be moved to open their wallets and collectively give tens of millions of dollars to combat poverty in the city. The charity pulled in nearly $69 million last year at its annual gala, which is billed as one of the largest one-night fund-raisers on the planet. This year, the stakes were dramatically higher. Enormous federal budget cuts to social service programs threatened to plunge hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers into poverty, and Robin Hood's leaders hoped to persuade partygoers to dig deeper than ever in response to the emergency. At the same time, they knew they had to avoid making an overtly political pitch — blaming President Trump or the Republicans in Congress — or risk alienating their conservative donors and wealthiest benefactors, virtually all of whom would benefit from the tax cuts that were also included in the president's signature budget-cutting bill. It was a high-wire act that has eluded many other institutions in the Trump era. For Robin Hood, according to interviews with 20 board members and supporters, grantees and staff members, the moment was a critical test in a moment of entrenched polarization. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
