Latest news with #PhillipM.Bailey
USA Today
08-08-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Why rising Black unemployment should worry us all
There's an old saying in the Black community: last hired, first fired. And the way the U.S. labor market is looking there might be reason to believe that is happening. Greetings, This Is America readers, Phillip M. Bailey here. There are plenty of reasons the job market is being called resilient, but a noticeable crack has emerged among Black Americans, who have reached their highest level of unemployment since the COVID-19 pandemic days. The jobless rate for hit 7.2% in July among Black workers, up from 6.3% a year ago and 6.8% the month before, according to the most recent jobs report. It's a troubling sign mainly because historically speaking Black people are often hit first economic downturns. "The Black unemployment rate is always the first to go up. That's always the canary in the coal mine, Gbenga Ajilore, chief economist at the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told USA TODAY. For more on what's happening in the U.S. economy, check out the USA TODAY Network's coverage: Trump's political war in Texas is escalating Don't take your eyes off Texas and their attempts to redraw congressional maps. This is a fight that could determine the future of Donald Trump's presidency, but also one that might open up a larger conflict among Democratic and Republican-controlled states. Prompted by the prospect of losing control of Congress, the president wants a rare mid-decade redistricting in Texas, where Republicans have come up with boundaries for U.S. House districts that could give the GOP five more seats. Now more than 50 Texas Democratic legislators have skipped town to break quorum, and Trump's allies want to send the FBI after them in order to bring them back to Austin, the Lone Star State's capitol. Both parties are portraying this as a battle for the future of the country that could expand to other states, as Trump administration officials -- namely Vice President JD Vance -- visited Indiana to urge Republicans there to do the same thing as Texas. Asked if any agreement had been reached on making new maps for the Hoosier State, Gov. Mike Braun said "we listened." Don't forget blue state governors in California, Illinois and New York are thinking about adopting this same strategy, which ultimately will make Congress even more divided. Thanks for reading! See you back next week with more stories of justice from across the country. You can find me on social @phillipmbailey.
USA Today
11-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Trump at odds with MAGA movement on multiple fronts
On Friday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Chief Political Correspondent Phillip M. Bailey discusses some of the latest friction between President Donald Trump and parts of the MAGA movement. Texas flood victims are being remembered by families and communities. The Secret Service has suspended six staff members after the Trump assassination attempt, amid policy changes. USA TODAY White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers breaks down the current relationship between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin after Trump ripped Putin this week. Former President Joe Biden's doctor wouldn't testify in a Congressional investigation into his mental fitness. Please let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@ Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson. And today is Friday, July 11th, 2025. This is USA TODAY's The Excerpt. Today, how Trump and MAGA are fighting on a number of fronts. Plus, what's the status of Trump and Putin's relations. And we remember some of those lost in Texas floods. ♦ President Donald Trump has found himself at odds with the MAGA movement on multiple fronts. I caught up with USA TODAY chief political correspondent Phillip M. Bailey to help us break it all down. Phillip, thanks for joining me, sir. Phillip M. Bailey: Taylor, how's it going? Taylor Wilson: Good, good. Thanks for wrapping on. So let's start with immigration in this context. This issue helped President Trump win the White House. And as you write, Phillip, he continues to receive his highest approval marks among conservatives on aspects of this issue. Is that still the case for the MAGA wing of the party? Phillip M. Bailey: The administration's approach, the controversial approach that they're waging against undocumented immigrants, and we're seeing the images across the country of ICE agents going into different parts of the country really trying to weed out as many undocumented migrants as possible, this is where Donald Trump is at his best. And depending on what poll you look at, most Americans I think are in support of the idea of removing undocumented immigrants. But even though he gets some negative reviews from independents and Democrats, it's really with Republicans where this is fueled the most. A Pew Research Center survey in June, for example, found that 78% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters give Donald Trump a thumbs up on immigration, what he's doing with that, compared to just 12% who give him a thumbs down. And that's why I think some of these more recent U-turns have disturbed folks in the MAGA movement. When the president says that folks who work in the farm and hospitality industry are "very good workers" but just they're not citizens, that raises alarm bells on the political right and in the MAGA universe as amnesty. And that's exactly the type of blowback you saw the president, his administration, receiving after those comments. Taylor Wilson: How about overseas, Phillip? We've seen some potentially, I would say, legacy-influencing decisions from Trump on foreign policy from Iran, to Ukraine recently. How have some of these moves landed with MAGA folks? Phillip M. Bailey: Its core, the MAGA movement. One of the key issues that they care about the most, and you get really MAGA people animated, was when they talk about foreign wars, a repudiation of both parties. Not just the Democratic Party, but the old Republican party led by George W. Bush, this skepticism of interventionist policies and even a skepticism of foreign alliances and allies. And you saw that with some of these Oval Office meetings with foreign leaders, the one with Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, who are really combative. And a lot of the reporting during the campaign in the early stages of Trump 2.0 is Trump sort of rejecting the old school alliances with Western Europe. And that's something that gets MAGA really energized. A lot of Democrats will point out that, "Hey, look, Donald Trump's a little too cozy with Russia." Well, despite the fact that all that isolationist ideals in the MAGA universe, Trump's contradictory moves also include foreign policy where he's now sending Ukraine more defensive weapons. And this is after Pentagon leaders and Chiefs declared that they were going to halt some of these shipments. And I think if you want to know the crossover of this, no one is probably a better example when you have Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican from Kentucky, the former senate leader, who came out and immediately praised Donald Trump for sending the weapons to Ukraine. And no one's a bigger sort of foreign policy hawk and who believes in those old alliances than Mitch McConnell. So his endorsement, I think, is a clear indication that MAGA people are not very happy with the president and its about face with Ukraine as many of them see it. And that includes also the support of Israel and its conflict in the Middle East, including with Iran. So on all of these things, Taylor, I think we're seeing perhaps the president wanting to carve out his own legacy, talking to different experts and Republican strategists, and they're like, "Look, the president's in charge of this agenda, not the MAGA movement." Taylor Wilson: Well, Phillip, we have to talk about Elon Musk for a second. Some of the big news this month in US political circles centers on his plans for a new political party. We know he and Trump had this big falling out. What do you take away from Musk's aims here and what does it tell us more broadly? Phillip M. Bailey: Just about every relationship, Donald Trump has collapses in some sort of very public way, right? Think of all the foreign administration officials may think of, his former Vice President Mike Pence. So now Elon Musk, who went on a tirade against the president a month ago, is now saying after the Big Beautiful Bill has passed, which Musk was actively lobbying on social media, tagging members of Congress to not vote for this debt ballooning bill, now he's saying, "You know what? Republicans are just as bad as Democrats when it comes to spending. I'm starting a new party, the American party." And Donald Trump, I think, in some ways has to kind of smirk at this because he himself for years was always flirting with running on a third party for president until he just said, "You know, I'm just going to take over the Republican Party." So Musk is already saying now that he's going to be pointing out and be laser-focused on two or three Senate races next year, maybe up to 10 house races. And he's going to have an impact if he's maybe not necessarily creating a national political party or rival the Democrats and the Republicans immediately, but he can cause some mischief for Republicans in the 2026 midterms. When we talk to Trump supporters about this, many of them look at some of these MAGA faces. And Musk came to the MAGA movement very late. Grassroots MAGA people who we talk to, many of them, while they might have misgivings and they see the contradictions, they still, like we reported earlier in the year, have a trust in Trump mantra. They really believe that the president has delivered on a lot of his promises. And I think some of them just don't understand what the beef is. So the question is, will the White House be able to smother this before the 2026 midterm narrative really takes hold because if Elon Musk and MAGA folks are depressed at these contradictions and Democrats finally get their act together even a little bit, Donald Trump could be a lame duck president before he knows it. Taylor Wilson: Phillip M. Bailey is USA TODAY's chief political correspondent. Thank you, Phillip. Phillip M. Bailey: Thank you, Taylor, as always. ♦ Taylor Wilson: With at least 120 people dead in Texas flooding, rescue teams continue the grueling task of recovering the remains of missing victims. More than 160 people remain missing as of this morning. We're learning more about some of the victims of the flood. Jane Ragsdale was the heart and soul of Heart of the Hills, the summer camp for girls in Kerr County according to the program's website. Two children, Blair and Brooke Harbor, were staying in Hill country over the 4th of July holiday. Blair was a rising 8th grader while Brooke was entering the 6th grade according to their school. And among the dozens killed at Camp Mystic, Sarah Marsh, an eight-year-old from suburban Birmingham, Alabama. These are just a few of those lost in last week's devastation. You can read more of their stories with a link in today's show notes. ♦ The Secret Service has disciplined six staffers with suspensions, ranging from 10 days to six weeks without pay according to the agency and a report issued for the first anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump. Among 46 Congressional recommendations to avoid a repeat tragedy, the agency reported yesterday it had implemented 21, that 16 are in progress, and another nine were addressed to Congress. Changes include improving communications with local law enforcement officials, creating an aviation division dedicated to monitoring locations and officials visiting and ensuring that resources are better deployed. ♦ President Trump criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin during a cabinet meeting this week. Donald Trump: We're not happy with Putin. I'm not happy with Putin, I can tell you that much right now because he's killing a lot of people. And a lot of them are his soldiers, his soldiers and their soldiers mostly. Taylor Wilson: The comments came after his frustrations during a phone call with the Russian leader last week. I spoke with USA TODAY White House correspondent Francesca Chambers for more. Thanks as always for joining me, Francesca. Francesca Chambers: Thanks so much. Taylor Wilson: All right, so let's go back about a week to President Trump's call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. What happened during that phone call? Francesca Chambers: Taylor, so you'll remember that they also spoke in June on President Trump's birthday as well. So this was the second call that they'd had in recent weeks, and it came after President Donald Trump returned from a NATO summit where he had met with Ukrainian president. So he comes out of this call, he says that there was basically no progress that was made in the war between Russia and Ukraine. And he suddenly was disappointed and actually that he was upset with Vladimir Putin. Then his rhetoric continued to escalate after that, Taylor, and then that cabinet meeting where he was very upset with Putin. Taylor Wilson: Well, let's talk through that. I mean, he clearly has amped up these criticisms of the Russian leader. What did we hear from him in that cabinet meeting, and I guess what other comments has he made this week? Francesca Chambers: In that cabinet meeting, he used his most forceful and colorful language about Vladimir Putin to date. He said that he's nice to him, but oftentimes the conversations end up being meaningless. The evening before, I will note, Taylor, I was with the president in his meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. And while reporters were asking the president questions, he started talking about weapons to Ukraine. You may recall that the Defense Department during a review had paused some weapons shipments to Ukraine. The president in that meeting with Netanyahu says that he wanted to restart those weapons. So the next day when he used this language with Putin, it was seen as an amp up in his frustration with the Russians but maybe also a softening of his stance towards the Ukrainians. Taylor Wilson: The Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Asia this week and he told reporters yesterday about a new concept out of Moscow that it might chart a course toward peace. What can we tell listeners about this, Francesca? Francesca Chambers: We don't know much about that yet so far. That was basically what the Secretary of State said. He said that he would then take that information back to President Trump. You correctly know, Taylor, that it's not a peace plan. It was just a process or this new idea that could lead to peace, he said. So we're still waiting for more details on what that looks like and if it's something the president would accept. He also noted though that the president had been making these comments all week about Russia, about the progress that the president wanted to see in the war. And he seemed to suggest that he didn't know how President Trump would react to what the Russians proposed in this meeting. Taylor Wilson: Well, Francesca, as for Putin, is he reciprocating remarks like these from Trump? Francesca Chambers: Taylor, the most recent comments we've seen from the Russian government were after the Marco Rubio meeting, in which they said that both sides agreed that they needed to continue to talk about negotiating an end to the war and bringing peace. But they also talked about resuming flights between the United States and Russia. Another thing that the Russians brought up was that they wanted to have bilateral relations resume between the United States and Russia. But I will note that when the Secretary of State was asked about a potential summit between Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, he said that nothing is on the book so far. Taylor Wilson: As for how this is all landing stateside, how are lawmakers meeting this moment? I know some are preparing new sanctions. Is that correct, Francesca? Francesca Chambers: There's a sanctions package that's bipartisan that now has 84 co-sponsors attached to it that senators have been looking to bring to the floor for some time now. But it's been a negotiation between senators and the White House. Another thing that we heard changed this week, Taylor, was that you heard Senate Majority Leader John Thune say that they could bring this to the floor by the end of this month. That matters because Congress goes into recess in August and they're often gone for four to six weeks. So it could be a long time if they don't get it done before then, before the Senate would take a look at this again. Taylor Wilson: Yeah, absolutely. Well, what does all this mean, Francesca, for Trump's relationship with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy? We've seen them have this tense relationship. Francesca Chambers: In more recent weeks, Taylor, they've had more positive interactions. We didn't see what happened in the meeting between President Trump and Zelenskyy at the NATO summit. That took place entirely behind closed doors. But we did hear from the President immediately afterwards in a news conference in which he said that he would think about allowing Ukraine to buy air defenses from the United States. We then heard after the Pentagon paused some weapons shipments, in their review, the president say that he wanted to send weapons to Ukraine. He has said multiple times over the last couple of weeks that he's upset with the fact that Russia has been hammering Ukraine right now with drone assaults. So that, Taylor, plus the language that he's used about Vladimir Putin in recent days are seen as a shift in tone, at the very least, from President Donald Trump towards Ukraine. And Democratic senators were telling me on Capitol Hill this week that they're hopeful that this means that the United States will arm Ukraine at a higher rate moving forward. Taylor Wilson: All right, lots to keep an eye on in the coming days. Francesca Chambers covers the White House for USA TODAY. Thanks, Francesca. Francesca Chambers: Thanks, Taylor. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Former President Joe Biden's White House physician has invoked his Fifth Amendment right as he refused to answer questions during a closed-door deposition in the Republican-led House Oversight Committee's investigation into the former president's mental acuity. Appearing on Capitol Hill this week, Dr. Kevin O'Connor told the committee in response to its questions, "I must respectfully decline to answer based on physician-patient privilege and the reliance of my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution." Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential election last July after he struggled to articulate coherent thoughts during a debate with Trump that accelerated concerns about his mental fitness. Six months after Biden left the White House, his mental acuity has been revisited in books about his presidency and various Republican investigations. Biden, now 82, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in May. ♦ Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and Kaely Monahan, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And as always, you can email us at podcasts@ I'm Taylor Wilson and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.
USA Today
02-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Senate passes Trump's big bill; House battle is next
On Wednesday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Chief Political Correspondent Phillip M. Bailey gives some of his biggest takeaways after the Senate's passage of President Donald Trump's bill of legislative priorities. Paramount settles with Trump over a '60 Minutes' interview. The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's sports and strip the record of former swimmer Lia Thomas. A big summer of soccer rolls on. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025. This is USA Today's The Excerpt. Today, we take a closer look at some of the political ramifications around the bills centered on Trump's legislative priorities. Plus, Paramount settles with the president over a 60 minutes interview, and Penn has agreed to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's sports and to strip the record of a former swimmer. After a weekend of debate, the Senate yesterday passed President Donald Trump's sweeping bill of priorities by a vote of 51 to 50. It preserves 2017 tax cuts, invests billions into the military and border security, and fulfills a major 2024 campaign promise by extending federal tax breaks for low wage tipped workers. Still, the Senate made a slew of changes, meaning it now heads back to the house where it could face some more hurdles. I caught up with USA Today, chief political correspondent, Phillip M. Bailey, for some of the major takeaways. Phillip, always a treat. How are you, sir? Phillip M. Bailey: Taylor, how's it going? Taylor Wilson: Good. Big news here this week. So the biggest point of contention was around Medicaid, clearly. How did this shake out, Phillip? What were some of the specific provisions under the microscope? Phillip M. Bailey: There are different things in it that I think he and his supporters will be happy about. Extending the 2017 tax cuts that he did in his first term, boosting military and border security, fulfilling that campaign promise to extend federal tax breaks to low income or low wage tipped workers such as waiters, hairstylists, and others. But what was interesting, Taylor, was that there was bipartisan agreement in opposition to the legislation, and that focused on the cuts to Medicaid, the program set up for low income Americans to provide health insurance. CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency, estimates this bill as written will cut about $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade. And what's interesting, Taylor, is the focus really was on 71 million people are on Medicaid presently, but there are estimates wildly from 11.8 million all the way up to 20 million depending on what study you look at that say people could be dumped off of the Medicaid rolls as a result of this. Because of that, you saw a bipartisan group of senators, all Democrats and a handful of Republicans, particularly Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, object to that and pointing out that, "Hey, look, this is going to hurt folks back in my home state." And you saw that from a lot of Republicans leading up to this, even some who voted for it, like Josh Hawley, Republican from Missouri. Even Steve Bannon, one of Donald Trump's former advisors warned in the early onset of this legislation coming to Congress that, "Hey, a lot of MAGA folks are on Medicaid." So expect Democrats to really lean into this. They're already doing it now on social media and in their multitude of platforms. And I think you're going to see a lot of folks, particularly in red states, are going to be disproportionately impacted. Taylor Wilson: Well, Phillip, we should talk about Republican senate majority leader John Thune for a moment. How does he come out of this and what was the impression around him in the GOP before and after getting this legislation through the Senate? Phillip M. Bailey: Well, look, if there's anyone who's probably breathing a sigh of relief, it's Senator John Thune, the new Senate majority leader out of South Dakota. After the 2024 election when Mitch McConnell announced that he was leaving his post a Senate Republican leader, there were a lot of hand-wringing between the Trump folks and MAGA folks and more traditional Republicans. And the MAGA folks were not very happy with the idea of John Thune. They looked at him as sort of a rhino, looked at him as too much of a centrist. So there was a lot of misgivings about him initially. And even during this process, these marathon of debates, marathon of amendments, marathon of votes, right? The vote-a-rama as it's called. Thune really tried to keep that Republican herd of 53 caucus members together as best as possible. He knew he was going to have certain defections. So I think what we'll see in these behind the scenes reporting from our folks up on Capitol Hill is that Thune really played the behind the scenes game very well, particularly when it came to Republican holdout Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who was the critical vote. There were three Republicans who ultimately voted against Trump's agenda in the Senate. Susan Collins of Maine, Senator Tillis obviously of North Carolina, and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Well, many thought that Lisa Murkowski was on the fence as well, and she was. But when you see the concessions and negotiations that were being made behind the scenes by Thune's team, it focused pretty much on Alaska. Alaska got every exemption from some of this more Draconian pieces of the bill. So she has ultimate leverage here, and she used it quite effectively. But even she said after the vote how excruciating this process was. But I think, look, for Senate majority leader Thune, this I think buys him a little bit of grace. I will say this though, I wonder, will there be any pushback? Because now this is going to be, particularly when it comes to the Medicaid cuts, it's going to be a big issue in 2026. And Senator Thune was a very critical voice against Donald Trump when it came to the January 6th, 2021 riots. He opposed Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He supported Senator Tim Scott to be the Republican nominee instead of Donald Trump. So he's been someone who has been very critical, and the MAGA folks kept their eye on Thune. So I don't know how long this grace period will last, but Senator Thune for his first major test as majority leader, I think passed. Taylor Wilson: Well, Elon Musk was back in the headlines this week, Phillip. He and President Trump continue to trade jabs, especially in the context of this legislation. Just what did we hear this week and did any of this have an actual impact on the Trump legislative goals? Phillip M. Bailey: Yeah. Elon returns, right? I mean, we saw from last month that Elon Musk, the world's richest person, was having an on-again off-again, frenemy relationship with the president, was very critical. Lobbed a lot of personal attacks against Donald Trump last month that he basically pulled back from and said, "My bad. I shouldn't have taken it that far." Basically eluding to or suggesting that President Trump was in the Epstein files. There is no evidence of that at this point. But Musk returned over the weekend to really speak out against the Big Beautiful Bill, mainly on grounds of how much it adds trillions of dollars to the national debt. He called out Republican lawmakers, often by name, saying, "How could you vote for this when you campaigned for cutting government spending?" And he pledged that he was going to use his billions to fund and to support Republican primary challengers against those incumbents in next year's midterms. That isn't surprising, I guess, considering Musk and his fiscal Hawk position previously. I think what folks didn't anticipate maybe is how much Donald Trump has turned up the heat as well on Musk, saying that, "Hey, all those subsidies you're getting, Elon, we're going to examine those as well." But then the President escalated, right? He didn't just mock Musk for receiving those government subsidies. He then indicated that maybe it's time for Elon Musk to return to his birthplace of South Africa, basically threatening deportation of the tech entrepreneur. When he was asked by reporters, "Are you saying that he should be deported?" He said, "Maybe we need to look into that." So I think, look, this on and off relationship with Musk and Trump I think has now turned for the worst. I don't see it mending anytime soon. However, both men are known to have a lot of bravado on social media at one point, and then in person things are all good. So there's a potential for this relationship to be mended. A lot of Republican lawmakers would like for it to be. It's not great to have the President and the biggest financial supporter of the Republican Party at odds, but I don't know where the off-ramp is for the two. And we'll have to keep watching Truth Social and X because that seems to be the only place these two men know how to speak to one another. Taylor Wilson: Yeah, I doubt that'll be the last we hear of that, Phillip. Anyway, the bill moves to the House now. What are you keeping an eye on as the House approaches this? Phillip M. Bailey: House Republicans, who are far more conservative, I think, than their Senate Republican counterparts, this bill passed barely back in May out of the House. 215 to 214 votes. The closest vote it could possibly be. Speaker Mike Johnson has said that it will pass. But any changes that are made, Taylor, means it would have to go back to the Senate and the process would start all over again. And President Trump has imposed this July 4th deadline. And you already have some House Republicans who have said, "I really don't like what the Senate did. I think they were a little too liberal on some of these things." And for fiscal hawks who promised in their districts to rein in spending, this bill does not necessarily do that. Now, Vice President Vance has tried to calm those waters by saying that, "Hey, look, these things are immaterial compared to the changes that we're making to border security. The economy's going to improve, and that's what we're going to make up the difference." But during the 2024 Republican primary, there were a lot of hits against President Trump's first term for adding so much to the deficit. President Trump's not really taking the carrot approach the vice president's taking. He's offering nothing but the stick. He said down in Florida, when asked about hold outs to the Republican party, he said it'd be very wise for them to get on board, and if they don't, quote, "They'll suffer the consequences," unquote. And ask Senator Tillis what that looks like. So we're going to pay attention over these next few days how this bill comes out on the House side, but it looks like the odds are in President Trump's favor. He certainly has reasserted his dominance of Washington, but these razor-thin margins that he has both in the House and Senate add a lot of drama and I think gives certain individual members a lot of leverage to get maybe specific concessions that may make them vote for the bill after all their chest-thumping in public. Taylor Wilson: I always love picking your brain, Phillip. Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY's chief political correspondent, thank you, siPhillip M. Bailey: See you, man. Taylor Wilson: You can stay with for all the latest through House deliberations and President Trump has set a self-imposed deadline for Friday, July 4th. ♦ CBS Parent Company, Paramount has settled a lawsuit filed by President Trump over an interview broadcast in October. Paramount said it would pay $16 million to settle the suit with the money allocated to Trump's future Presidential Library and not paid to Trump directly or indirectly. The company added that the settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret. Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS in October, alleging the network deceptively edited an interview that aired on its 60 Minutes news program with then vice president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris, to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party in the election. In an amended complaint filed in February, Trump bumped his claim for damages to 20 billion. According to the suit, CBS aired two versions of the Harris interview where she appears to give different answers to the same question about the Israel Hamas war. CBS previously said the lawsuit was completely without merit. ♦ The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's sports, and to strip the record of former swimmer, Leah Thomas, as part of an agreement with the Department of Education. Penn entered the resolution agreement yesterday to comply with Title IX, the DOE announced, as the university has been under investigation surrounding the case of Thomas, who became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division 1 title. Under the agreement, Penn will restore the swimming records and titles of its female athletes that were broken by Thomas. The University will also not allow transgender athletes to compete in female athletic programs, and it has to send personal apology letters to impacted swimmers. ♦ The quarterfinals are now set in the FIFA Club World Cup, the soccer tournament hosted by the US saw Real Madrid beat Juventus yesterday, followed by Borussia Dortmund over Monterrey, and the quarterfinal matchups are set for Friday and Saturday in Orlando, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and New Jersey. Meanwhile, also in soccer, the U.S men's national team will take on Guatemala tonight in the Gold Cup. They'll play the winner of Mexico and Honduras if they advance. You can stay with USA Today Sports for more. ♦ And later today, we all navigate them, whether they be the walls throughout our homes, neighborhoods, and the places we choose to frequent, or the internal walls that allow us to maintain our distance from others. But what do the walls we erect represent when we look at how they shape our society as a whole? Anand Pandian: In fact, it was the border wall in particular, and the slogan, "Build the Wall." That was such a powerful image and idea in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election that motivated me to pursue the research for this book. Taylor Wilson: That was Anand Pandian, professor of anthropology at Johns Hopkins University and author of a new book, Something Between Us, on shelves now. Anand joins my colleague Dana Taylor, to discuss his experiences seeking out people whose views he disagrees with, to explore whether our disconnection is a choice or a consequence of living within a world of physical, political, and psychological walls. You can hear that conversation right here today, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. ♦ Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And as always, you can email us at podcasts@ I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.
The Herald Scotland
15-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Massive Army 250 parade takes over DC on Trump birthday
Critics say the $40 million parade represents an alarming politicization of the military and bears eerie resemblance to military parades held by North Korea or Russia. Thousands of "No Kings" protests against Trump, the parade, and his ongoing immigration crackdown are also scheduled across the country. Although weather forecasts predict possible thunderstorms on the evening of June 14 in the nation's capital, the Trump administration has not announced any contingency plan for a rained-out parade. Whatever you might think of Saturday's parade, there's no question D.C. streets will feel the weight. The Army has made special preparations to minimize damage to the roadways as tons of vehicles and artillery will be coming through the nation's capitol, such as: The M1A2/Abrams tank : Arguably, the most impressive and fearsome weapon in the parade, or pretty much anywhere at 70 tons, the tank entered Army service 45 years ago and first saw combat in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. It carries a 120mm cannon, robust armor and has a top speed of 45 mph. : Arguably, the most impressive and fearsome weapon in the parade, or pretty much anywhere at 70 tons, the tank entered Army service 45 years ago and first saw combat in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. It carries a 120mm cannon, robust armor and has a top speed of 45 mph. Stryker vehicle : Variants of these eight-wheeled, armored vehicles can carry infantry soldiers, mortars, command posts and act as ambulances. Strykers can carry up to 11 soldiers and reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. : Variants of these eight-wheeled, armored vehicles can carry infantry soldiers, mortars, command posts and act as ambulances. Strykers can carry up to 11 soldiers and reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. The AH-64 Apache: This attack helicopter cuts a menacing silhouette. It destroyed radar installations in Iraq during Desert Storm and provided air cover for convoys and troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. -- Phillip M. Bailey Saturday's parade might may also draw attention to Trump being the oldest commander-in-chief in U.S. history. Born June 14, 1946, when Harry Truman was president, he set the record for oldest person to take office at 78 years and 7 months, ahead of Joe Biden, who was 78 years and 2 months when he took office in January 2021. The age of American elected officials has been a topic of concern lately, mostly due to questions raised around Biden's acuity that hounded him for most of his term. Democrats have tried to do the same to Trump, such as when he mixed up the Japanese car company Nissan and the Japanese steel company Nippon last month. "He is not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago, and he's incapable of even a train of thought," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said of Trump in a recent interview. But that narrative hasn't stuck to Trump, who is known to ramble in public speeches but comes off as more vigorous to the public than Biden did. -- Phillip M. Bailey Washington's weather forecast for the day of the parade shows a high of 83 degrees, with showers beginning in the late morning and possible thunderstorms after 2 p.m. local time. After 6 p.m., when the parade will kick off, forecasters predict a 75% chance of precipitation and some chance of thunder. The Army said on June 13 that the weather is "being closely monitored and taken into consideration, but at this point nothing has changed." More than 1,800 "No Kings" protests against the parade, Trump, and what protesters call his authoritarian policies, are scheduled in cities and towns throughout the world - but not Washington. Trump first said on June 10 that protests would be met with "very big force." The White House backtracked days later, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump "of course" supports peaceful protests. Other demonstrators have kept their plans in Washington on the day of the parade, with some fearing a crackdown like the response to protests against widescale deportations in Los Angeles.
