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Despite Democratic tactics to delay the confirmation vote, the Senate confirmed Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Republicans backed Vought’s nomination, arguing he proved a qualified candidate for the role since he previously held the position during President Donald Trump’s first term. Democrats, however, raised multiple concerns about his nomination and said his views on the Impoundment Control Act, which reinforces that Congress holds the power of the purse, disqualified him from the role. 

Democrats held a 30-hour-long protest against Vought’s nomination, delivering speeches in the middle of the night on Wednesday in an attempt to delay the confirmation vote. 

The Senate, in a chaotic final floor vote on Thursday evening, voted to confirm Vought to lead the OMB, 53 to 47.

Democratic senators repeatedly injected themselves during the confirmation vote, protesting the nomination until the last second.

‘No debate is permitted during a vote,’ Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., told the lawmakers.

The OMB is responsible for developing and executing the president’s budget, as well as overseeing and coordinating legislative proposals and priorities aligned with the executive branch. 

Vought appeared before the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for confirmation hearings, where he defended statements asserting that the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional. 

The law, adopted in 1974, stipulates that Congress may oversee the executive branch’s withholdings of budget authority. But Vought encountered criticism from Democrats for freezing $214 million in military aid for Ukraine in 2019 — a decision that ultimately led to Trump’s first impeachment.  

‘You’re quite comfortable assuming that the law doesn’t matter and that you’ll just treat the money for a program as a ceiling … rather than a required amount,’ Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said Wednesday. ‘Well, the courts have found otherwise.’ 

In the 1975 Supreme Court ruling Train v. New York, the court determined the Environmental Protection Agency must use full funding included in the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, even though then-President Richard Nixon issued orders to not use all the funding. 

Even so, Vought told lawmakers that Trump campaigned on the position that the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional — and that he agrees with that. 

Vought’s statements on the issue left Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ‘astonished and aghast’ during one confirmation hearing. 

‘I think our colleagues should be equally aghast, because this issue goes beyond Republican or Democrat,’ Blumenthal said on Jan. 15. ‘It’s bigger than one administration or another. It’s whether the law of the land should prevail, or maybe it’s up for grabs, depending on what the president thinks.’

Vought also faced questioning from Democrats on his views regarding abortion as an author of Project 2025, a political initiative conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation released in 2023 that called for policy changes that would implement a national ban on medication abortion. 

Other proposals included in Project 2025 include eliminating the Department of Education; cutting diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and reducing funding for Medicare and Medicaid. 

‘You have said that you don’t believe in exceptions for rape, for incest, or the life of the mother,’ Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said during a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. ‘Is that your position?’

‘Senator, my views are not important,’ Vought said. ‘I’m here on behalf of the president.’ 

Trump repeatedly has stated that he backs abortion in certain instances, and stated that ‘powerful exceptions’ for abortion would remain in place under his administration.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Editor’s note: President Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911. The following essay is excerpted from ‘Making Reagan.’

Shooting a movie during a pandemic is truly a surreal experience like no other. Part of the fun of making a movie is the joy of being together—of going to restaurants and local haunts and generally hanging out with cast and crew. 

When I first landed in Guthrie, Oklahoma, I went straight to our COVID Coordinator, Emily O’Banion, and asked her what the rules were for my stay there. The conversation went like this:

‘Can I go to a restaurant?’

‘No.’

‘What about Walmart?’

‘That’s absolutely the most dangerous place of all.’

‘How am I supposed to eat?’ I asked.

She just stared at me.

Eventually, we made a plan, and Walmart groceries were delivered to my door daily. We were living in a rental—my 92- year-old mother, my wife, my kids, a caregiver, and an assistant. While I was off at work, the kids were doing Zoom school, and we were trying hard to make normal out of chaos. 

Dennis Quaid: It’s the ‘people’ that really love a movie

There were plenty of signs around describing the kind of town Guthrie once was: lots of pubs, references to it being a place of refuge during Prohibition. As I walked, I came upon our assassination scene. The Washington Hilton hotel wall near the spot where Reagan almost lost his life was perfectly re-created by our design team. The next day, Dennis Quaid, who was starring at the 40th president, was in front of the wall reenacting the amazing moment and we were off to the races.

Dennis had a long day that began with that scene and then moved to a variety of pickups, including a talk with his aging mother Nelle, who was played by an old friend of mine, Jennifer O’Neill. The scene was a beautiful one that found 40-year-old Reagan telling his mom he was washed up, divorced, and feeling lost.

Dennis Quaid respected Ronald Reagan for letting his faith be a

As Dennis and I discussed this scene, he said he wanted to change some of the lines. I asked him if he had a similar conversation with his mom and he quickly said yes, around the time he and Meg Ryan were getting a divorce. ‘Let’s just riff off that,’ I told him, and he did so brilliantly, telling Jennifer’s character Nelle that he hasn’t lived a perfect life in Hollywood and that maybe he can’t do the great things she told him he was going to do someday. 

After we were shut down by COVID for a second time the previous fall and we had finished our shoot and returned to L.A., I felt sometimes as though I had PTSD. But now I was looking forward to finishing strong.

We moved on to the final scene of the night and Dennis’s last of our shoot, when Reagan was in Las Vegas. This was the moment when Reagan was at the end of his rope, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer, as voices from his promising past swirled around in his head. The scene culminated with him throwing the beer bottle against a wall backstage at the show he was forced to perform to pay his mortgage. It was a scene we had crafted carefully.

I had called up his old friend Pat Boone and asked him: If Reagan was down and out in Vegas, how low could he go? Would he have reached for the bottle? Would he have thrown it in anger? 

I had posed the same question to a Reagan biographer who had assured me that Reagan would have done no such thing and that Reagan had specifically said of the Vegas show that it was difficult but still part of God’s plan for him. 

Pat would have none of it, and we went with his note. Even if Reagan later saw it as part of the Divine Plan, in the moment it would have been a huge disappointment, and yes, he might have taken a drink and lost his cool. 

So that’s how we played it. 

It was near midnight when we finished, and as Dennis walked down the stairs, we hugged one last time. We had been on a long, arduous journey, through countless peaks and valleys, and now we were nearly finished.

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American voters overwhelmingly elected President Donald Trump to carry out his ‘Make America Great Again’ agenda despite Democrats calling him a ‘threat to democracy.’ Now that Trump is back in the White House, Dems are delaying key cabinet appointments and vowing to ‘blow this place up’ in the name of democracy.

Several Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are calling for a halt to all of Trump’s cabinet nominations. Protests hosted by lawmakers have erupted in Washington, D.C., this week as Democrats rally against Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

‘God d—it shut down the Senate!’ Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., said during an anti-DOGE protest in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. ‘We are at war!’

While Democrats spent 2024 promising Americans they were the party who would protect democracy and uphold the rule of law in a post-Jan. 6 world, they are dancing to the beat of a new drum in 2025 by practicing civil disobedience. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told the crowd Tuesday, ‘We are here to fight back.’ 

‘We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a–es and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain’t it,’ Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, added. 

Democrats have doubled down on their call to action this week after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Americans to ‘fight’ Trump’s agenda ‘in the streets’ last week. 

‘We have to stand up and protest,’ Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, said at another rally in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. ‘When we come back here the next time, there should be hundreds of thousands and millions of people descending on Washington, D.C.’

‘We will fight their violation of civil service laws. We will fight their violation of civil rights laws. We will fight their violations of separation of powers. We will fight their violations of our Constitution of the United States of America. We will not shut up. We will stick up. We will rise up,’ Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., added. 

Democrats held an all-night session Wednesday protesting Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 

Russell Vought, who served as OMB director during Trump’s first term, was a key architect of Project 2025. Democratic candidates and surrogates during the 2024 campaign cycle pointed to Project 2025 as proof of Trump’s ‘threat to democracy.’ Trump maintained he had nothing to do with it. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Vought is a ‘horrible, dangerous man’ at the rally Tuesday.

Democratic leaders and their constituents have spent all week protesting in major cities across the country. From Texas to California, protesters are speaking out against Trump’s ICE raids and federal government layoffs and the administration’s stance that there are two genders. 

Despite the Democrats’ protests, the Trump administration said it is following through on the agenda the American people voted for, and those who ‘incite violence’ should be held accountable. 

‘President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American people to make this government more efficient,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. ‘For Democratic officials to incite violence and encourage Americans to take to the streets is incredibly alarming, and they should be held accountable for that rhetoric.

‘If you heard that type of violent, enticing rhetoric from our side of the aisle, from Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, I think there would be a lot more outrage in this room today. It’s unacceptable.’

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday, in response to its May 2024 arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The order unveils financial sanctions and visa restrictions against ICC officials and their family members who support ICC investigations against U.S. citizens and allies. 

The White House also signed executive orders on Thursday instructing the Justice Department to establish a task force dedicated to weeding out ‘anti-Christian bias,’ and a review of all nongovernmental organizations that accept federal funds. 

The ICC is an independent, international organization based in The Hague and established under the Rome Statute, an international treaty that took effect in 2002. The court oversees global issues including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. 

The Trump White House claims that the U.S. and Israel are not subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC because the court poses threats to U.S. sovereignty and constitutional protections. Additionally, the White House has accused the ICC of politicization and said it has targeted Israel without holding regimes like Iran to the same standards.  

In September 2018, Trump said that ‘as far as America is concerned, the ICC has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, and no authority.’

In May 2024, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, from the U.K., asked for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, whom Netanyahu fired in November 2024. The warrant paved the way for their arrest, should they visit any of the 124 countries that are party to the Rome Statute, including the U.K., France and Austria. 

Khan also issued arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif, who have all since been killed by Israeli forces. 

Khan said he issued these warrants against Hamas leaders for war crimes including murder, taking hostages as a war crime, torture and other inhumane acts, following the Palestinian militant group’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Khan also said he issued the warrants against the Israeli leaders due to war crimes including starvation of civilians, directing attacks against a civilian population, persecution and other inhumane acts. 

In January, after Trump’s inauguration, the House also passed legislation that would sanction the ICC, but the measure failed to advance in the Senate.

Trump welcomed Netanyahu for a visit at the White House on Tuesday, where Trump signed an executive order reinstating his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran. Trump also unveiled plans to rebuild Gaza, and described Netanyahu as the ‘right leader’ for Israel. 

‘He’s done a great job and we’ve been friends for a long time,’ Trump told reporters. ‘We do a great job also, and I think we have a combination that’s very unbeatable, actually.’

Netanyahu also voiced appreciation for his friendship with Trump and his support for Israel and the Jewish people.

‘I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again,’ Netanyahu said Tuesday. ‘You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. And that’s why the people of Israel have such enormous respect for you.’

Trump previously issued sanctions against ICC officials in 2020, signing off on an asset freeze and family entry ban against them stemming from an ICC investigation into alleged U.S. actions in Afghanistan. 

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

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The fight for control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections will be fought on a limited battlefield, a leading nonpartisan political handicapper predicts.

The Cook Political Report, as it unveiled its first rankings for the next midterm elections on Thursday, listed 10 Democrat-held seats and eight Republican-controlled seats as toss-ups. 

The GOP, when at full strength, will hold a razor-thin 220-215 majority in the House, which means the Democrats only need a three-seat gain in 2026 to win back the chamber for the first time in four years.

‘Another Knife Fight for the Majority’ is the headline the Cook Report used to describe the House showdown ahead.

2026 midterms: House Republican campaign committee chair predicts

And Cook Report publisher and editor-in-chief Amy Walter spotlighted in a social media post that a ‘Small playing field + volatile political climate = epic battle for House control.’

The 10 House Democrats whose re-elections are listed as toss-ups are: Reps. Adam Gray of California (CA-13); Derek Tran of California (CA-45); Jared Golden of Maine (ME-02); Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico (NM-02); Laura Gillen of New York (NY-04); Don Davis of North Carolina (NC-01); Marcy Kaptur of Ohio (OH-09); Emilia Sykes of Ohio (OH-13); Vicente Gonzalez of Texas (TX-34); and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington State (WA-03).

The eight Republicans spotlighted by the Cook Report as vulnerable are: Reps. David Schweikert of Arizona (AZ-01); Juan Ciscomani of Arizona (AZ-06); Gabe Evans of Colorado (CO-08); Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa (IA-01); Tom Barrett of Michigan (MI-07); Don Bacon of Nebraska (NE-02); Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania (PA-07); and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania (PA-10).

President Donald Trump recaptured the White House, the Republicans flipped control of the Senate, and the GOP held on to its fragile House majority in November’s elections.

That means Republicans will not only defend a razor-thin majority – when all 435 House seats are once again up for grabs in 2026 – but are also facing plenty of history, as the party in power traditionally faces electoral headwinds in the midterms.

But the Cook Report’s Erin Covedy and Matthew Klein noted that ‘though their majority is dangerously thin, in some ways, Republicans are starting out in a stronger position than they were in 2018. Trump’s latest victory was broad; he clawed back ground in suburbs that had lurched to the left since 2016 and made massive inroads in urban areas.’

They added that ‘almost all of the most competitive House districts moved to the right between 2020 and 2024 (Washington’s 3rd District was the lone exception).’

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella touted in a statement that ‘the math is in our favor, and it’s clear House Republicans are on offense for 2026.’

He also asserted that ‘House Democrats are in shambles — they don’t have a clear message and they’re incapable of selling voters on their failed agenda. We will work tirelessly to hold the Democrat Party accountable and grow our Republican majority.’

Courtney Rice, communications director for the rival Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, emphasized that ‘voters will hold House Republicans accountable for failing to lower costs while fostering a culture of corruption that benefits their billionaire backers.’

‘The political environment is in Democrats’ favor heading into 2026 — and with stellar candidates who are focused on delivering for their districts, House Democrats are poised to take back the majority in 2026,’ Rice predicted.

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Two dozen House Republicans from across the political spectrum are backing a resolution to formally recognize Taiwan – a break from current U.S. policy that would rankle leaders in Beijing.

The resolution, put forth by Reps. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., and Scott Perry, R-Pa., would encourage President Donald Trump to abandon the U.S.’s long-standing ‘One China’ policy and formally recognize Taiwan as autonomous. 

‘Taiwan has never been under the control of the People’s Republic of China – not even for a single day. It is a free, democratic, and independent nation, and it is past time for U.S. policy to reflect this undeniable objective truth,’ Tiffany said in a statement

The resolution implores Trump to support Taiwan’s entry into international trade organizations and negotiate a bilateral U.S.-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement.

The U.S. had established diplomatic relations with Taiwan until 1979, when President Jimmy Carter cut off formal ties with Taipei and recognized the Communist regime in Beijing.

Congress then passed the Taiwan Relations Act, which created legal authority for unofficial relations with Taiwan and continued military aid. 

Currently, only 12 independent countries recognize the Taipei government. A change in U.S. policy would likely be viewed as a threat by Beijing. When the U.S. sent a military aid package to Taiwan in December, China’s foreign ministry warned Washington was ‘playing with fire’ and called for a stop to ‘dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.’

U.S. military analysts have projected 2027 as the year by which China would be fully equipped for a military invasion of Taiwan. And the U.S. has long followed a policy of refusing to say whether it would come to the island’s defense under such a scenario. 

Trump slapped an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese goods last week, and China responded in kind with its own export levies. At the same time, Trump has demanded the U.S. take over the Panama Canal to counter Chinese influence. 

READ THE HOUSE RESOLUTION BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

But Trump’s comments on the campaign trail suggest that he would not be willing to put boots on the ground to face another global superpower in defense of the island democracy. 

‘I think Taiwan should pay us for defense,’ Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek in June. 

‘You know, we’re no different than an insurance company. Taiwan doesn’t give us anything,’ he added.

Taiwan and China separated amid civil war in 1949 and China says it is determined to bring the island under its control by force if necessary. China is increasingly encroaching in the region in recent days with military activity in the Taiwan Strait. 

The legislation has both interventionist and America First cosponsors, including Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Carlos Gimenez of Florida, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, and Kat Cammack of Florida.

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President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump will host a weekend show on Fox News, the news channel announced Wednesday.

‘My View with Lara Trump’ is expected to premiere Feb. 22 and air at 9 p.m. ET Saturdays, taking the spot of ‘One Nation with Brian Kilmeade.’ Kilmeade’s show will move to 10 p.m. ET Sundays, Fox News Channel said in a news release.

‘I’m thrilled to bring my voice back to FOX News, talk directly with the American people and highlight what makes this country so great,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘As I cover the success of The Golden Age of America, I look forward to where this time will lead our country and where this opportunity will lead me in the future.’

Fox News said the hourlong show will ‘focus on the return of common sense to all corners of American life as the country ushers in a new era of practicality’ and shed light ‘on the headlines driving the national conversation and affecting families around the country.’

Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott called Trump ‘a gifted communicator who knows how to connect to the viewers.’

Trump, who is married to the president’s son Eric Trump, worked for Fox News as an on-air contributor from March 2021 through 2022. She was also a co-chair of the Republican National Committee and a senior adviser during Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, and she hosts a web series called ‘The Right View.’

The announcement follows former Fox News hosts Sean Duffy’s confirmation as transportation secretary and Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as defense secretary.

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President Donald Trump and his supporters have heralded his use of tariff threats to extract concessions on drug trafficking and border security from Canada and Mexico. 

Yet, experts say, some of the measures agreed to by America’s two largest trading partners and close allies are less substantial than what has been trumpeted. 

Trump announced the 25% tariffs on the two countries Saturday, with the expectation they would take effect Tuesday. By Monday, he said that he had reached an agreement with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to deploy 10,000 of her country’s national guard officers to the U.S. border to stem the flow of migrants and drugs into the U.S. Sheinbaum said she had agreed to establish a bilateral “working group” with the Trump administration that would tackle security, migration and trade.

The same day, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had agreed to beef up border and drug enforcement, as well as appoint a new “fentanyl czar” and designate cartels as terrorist organizations.  

In return, Trump promised to suspend the tariffs on both countries for 30 days. 

“As President, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of ALL Americans, and I am doing just that. I am very pleased with this initial outcome,” Trump said on social media. According to The Associated Press, the White House sent out an email that saw 68 Republican lawmakers praising the confrontation.

For Mexico, it was not clear whether the 10,000 troops represented a fresh call-up. The Associated Press reported it appeared the soldiers were merely being shifted from other parts of the country. 

While Trump has praised Sheinbaum on social media, if he decides he is not seeing results from an additional troop deployment, “get ready for a trade war,” said John Feeley, a career diplomat and former U.S. deputy chief of mission in Mexico.

Crossings at the southern border had already begun to plummet in the final months of the Biden administration, reaching fewer than 100,000 per month for the first time since at least 2022. Interdictions of fentanyl have also fallen sharply in recent months.

Although deaths attributed to fentanyl overdoses declined for the first time in five years in 2023, they still totaled more than 100,000 that year, the most recent for which data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is available.

But Trump is looking for headlines, Feeley said, and is unlikely to be persuaded by data showing reductions in migrant and drug flows that were already trending down before he took office.

“You’re mistaken if you think there’s a metric of success for Trump,” Feeley said, referring to quantitative sources of data. “He’s not reading spreadsheets or DEA reports. He’s looking at headlines and social media retweets.”

The Trump administration has faced a blitz of calls from U.S. manufacturers that rely on Mexican imports, especially automakers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Kevin Hassett, Trump’s National Economic Council director, appeared on CNBC on Monday to issue an assurance that the negotiations with Mexico and Canada were about a “drug war” and not a “trade war.” 

A similar situation may be playing out with some of the concessions announced from America’s northern neighbor. While Trump said Canada had agreed to take a more aggressive posture on its U.S. border in exchange for a suspension of tariffs, Canada’s parliament had already passed a new border security and drug interdiction bill in December. Trudeau also agreed to appoint a border czar and designate drug cartels as terrorist groups.    

“This whole thing is strange to me,” said Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University. While there is drug activity on the Canadian border, it is much more limited in scope compared with Mexico, she said — with fentanyl comprising a smaller percentage of drug flows (43 pounds was seized there last year, according to Drug Enforcement Administration data, compared with 21,100 pounds at the southern border). 

According to the DEA, 1 kilogram (roughly 2.2 pounds) of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people.

“It’s not as if we don’t have issues — there are illicit flows,” she said, “but comparing between the two borders is an exercise in futility.”

On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been “astoundingly clear” about his rationale for the tariffs.

“The illegal surge of deadly drugs and of human beings that we have seen trafficked over the southern border and northern border,” Leavitt said. “The president is making it very clear to both Canada and Mexico that the United States is no longer going to be a dumping ground for illegal deadly drugs and illegal human beings.”

Trump has also cited drug flows as a reason to impose additional 10% tariffs on China, despite that country posing a host of other security threats to the U.S. On Tuesday, China announced a set of retaliatory measures on U.S. goods and interests, including levies of up to 15% and an antitrust probe into Google — though, for now, analysts have noted many of these measures appear to be largely symbolic, citing the marginal levels of the specific U.S. goods so far singled out by the Chinese levies, as well as Google’s insubstantial presence there.  

Trump has signaled that his approach to negotiations is to keep friends and foes alike off balance. While markets became used to dismissing his threats during his first administration, this time may be different, according to Goldman Sachs analysts.  

“The outlook feels more uncertain and, even with the [tariffs] delay, we think the risks have tilted toward higher tariffs than we had previously assumed,” they wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. “The challenge is that creating uncertainty is likely part of President Trump’s strategy.

In an October interview with the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, the then-candidate was asked whether he would use military force if China invaded Taiwan.

“I wouldn’t have to, because [Chinese President Xi Jinping] respects me and he knows I’m f—–g crazy,” Trump responded. 

Yet, the paper’s right-leaning editorial board said this week that the president “blink[ed]” as he brokered truces with Canada and Mexico that were “much less … than meets the eye.” 

Whatever concessions Trump may have won, the board said, have likely come at the cost of greater uncertainty — one of investors’ and economists’ least-favorite trends. 

“Mr. Trump’s weekend tariff broadside against a pair of neighbors has opened a new era of economic policy uncertainty that won’t calm down until the President does,” the board said. “As we warned many times before Election Day, this is the biggest economic risk of Donald Trump’s second term.”

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A bipartisan congressional bill is being introduced to ban China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence software from government devices.

U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., are introducing the legislation on national security grounds, saying the company’s technology presents an espionage risk.

“The technology race with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not one the United States can afford to lose,” LaHood said in a statement. “The national security threat that DeepSeek — a CCP-affiliated company — poses to the United States is alarming.’

He said DeepSeek’s generative AI program can acquire the data of U.S. users and store the information for unidentified use by Chinese authorities.

The chatbot app, however, has intentionally hidden code that could send user login information to China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company that has been banned from operating in the U.S., according to an analysis by Ivan Tsarynny, CEO of Feroot Security, which specializes in data protection and cybersecurity. His analysis was published earlier by The Associated Press. 

“Under no circumstances can we allow a CCP company to obtain sensitive government or personal data,” Gottheimer said.

A representative for DeepSeek could not be reached for comment. The bill was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which said DeepSeek did not respond to a request for comment.

Founded in 2023, DeepSeek entered the mainstream U.S. consciousness late last month amid reports it was able to produce better AI results at a fraction of the cost of what American tech firms have so far been able to achieve. Those fears caused U.S. tech stocks to briefly tumble last week.

There remains debate about the veracity of those reports, with some technologists saying there has not been a full accounting of DeepSeek’s development costs.

“It’s mindboggling that we are unknowingly allowing China to survey Americans and we’re doing nothing about it,” Tsarynny told the AP. “It’s hard to believe that something like this was accidental. There are so many unusual things to this. You know that saying ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire’? In this instance, there’s a lot of smoke,” he said.

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China has blacklisted the owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, which could force the company to shut down stores and manufacturing in an early repercussion of President Donald Trump’s trade war. 

China added PVH Corp. to its “unreliable entities” list on Tuesday, which allows the Chinese government to fine the retailer, prohibit import and export activities, revoke work permits, and deny employees the ability to enter the country, among other deliberately vague powers. 

While China’s Ministry of Commerce began investigating PVH in September for allegedly refusing to source cotton from the Xinjiang region, which has become notorious for its Uyghur detention camps, Beijing officially placed the company on its blacklist on Tuesday. The announcement came just days after Trump slapped a 10% tariff on imports from China, and came along with a slew of other retaliatory measures against the U.S., including new duties on energy imports and farm gear. 

“There’s this tit-for-tat trade war going on, and [China] wants to show the United States that it’s going to take action to hurt either big U.S. companies or companies with significant interests in the U.S.,” said Michael Kaye, a partner at Squire Patton Boggs, who has been practicing international trade law for more than 30 years. “They’re being made an example. … My guess is, [China] wanted to pick somebody and they wanted it to be somebody that was high visibility.”

Now that PVH is on the unreliable entities list, China could force the company to shut down the dozens of stores that it operates in the region and forbid it from selling its wares to Chinese consumers online, said Kaye. Its staff — including those who’ve built lives in China — could be effectively deported and sent home, Kaye added.

It is unclear if China would try to enforce actions against PVH in the autonomous region of Hong Kong, where the company’s Asia-Pacific headquarters are. In 2020, China passed a law that gave it more power to enforce national laws in Hong Kong, and that is “particularly the case with laws applicable to national security,” which could include the unreliable entities list, said Kaye.

As of Thursday morning Eastern time, the company appeared to be operating its business as usual in China.

China could even prohibit PVH from manufacturing in the region altogether, which could force it to move production to other countries and struggle to meet customer orders. 

It’s unclear which steps exactly China will take, or if the Trump administration will try to convince China not to punish the company.

In a statement, PVH said that it was “surprised and deeply disappointed to learn of the decision from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.”

“In our 20 years of operating in China and proudly serving our consumers, as a matter of policy, PVH maintains strict compliance with all relevant laws and regulations and operates in line with established industry standards and practices. We will continue our engagement with relevant authorities and look forward to a positive resolution,” the company said.

China represented 6% of PVH’s sales and 16% of its earnings before interest and taxes in 2023, but it relies more heavily on the country for manufacturing, which is the bigger risk to its business. PVH has more factories and suppliers in China than in any other region, representing about 18% of production, according to a disclosure it issued in December. 

“This has the potential to be very, very disruptive for PVH,” said GlobalData managing director and retail analyst Neil Saunders. “They would certainly have to scramble to find new capacity. They’d be able to do that in time, of course, but the two things that are at issue are that, because a lot of supply chains are just in time, they would probably find that they did get short on inventory whilst they made the transition. The other issue, of course, is quality.” 

PVH has operated in China for more than 20 years, and while it works with suppliers and factories in more than 30 other countries, the higher-end goods that it makes can be difficult to manufacture elsewhere because of the skill level needed, said Saunders. 

“While you can shift manufacturing capacity reasonably easily, it’s not so easy to guarantee the quality, guarantee the production processes. Those things take time to upskill,” said Saunders. “China has that capacity and has those skills, because PVH has been operating there for ages. Another country, another manufacturing facility, may not have those skills immediately.” 

Plus, PVH has viewed China as a growth market and it will now have to look for new strategies to increase sales and profitability as demand falls for its high-end dresses, intimate apparel and sweaters. 

China’s unreliable entities list is a relatively new law in the country, and experts say it’s deliberately opaque. The government has wide latitude to take action against PVH, but it remains unclear what exactly it will do. Typically, guidance comes within a few days of a company’s placement on the blacklist, said Kaye. 

China could add PVH to the list and do nothing to the company, but Kaye said the chances of that are “very slim” because the government will want to avoid the perception that it’s backing down. China will more likely use PVH as a bargaining chip at the negotiating table with Trump, and use it as an example to show the power it has to inflict pain on other U.S. businesses with major operations and customer bases in China, such as Nike, Apple, General Motors, Starbucks and others. 

“There’s a sort of sword of Damocles hanging over [PVH’s] head, and that is exactly what this is, because this isn’t really about PVH at all. This is about PVH being caught in the spat between China and the U.S.,” said Saunders. “China is using PVH as an example to say, look, if tariffs go ahead, if other restrictions are put in place on China, we can make life difficult for U.S. companies in the country. That’s really what this is about.”

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