Newsweek (November 17)
U.S. families “are struggling to keep up with rising utility costs” amid “persistent high prices for many groceries and other items.” Rising utility debt “has developed into a significant economic and political issue, which may affect the White House administration’s credibility on affordability, especially as voters have cited cost-of-living as their top concern in recent elections.” Monthly energy bills have risen 12% between April and June of 2025, with “nearly one in 20 U.S. households now facing utility debt severe enough for collection agencies to become involved.”
Tags: Affordability, Cost of living, Credibility, Debt, Elections, Energy bills, Families, Groceries, High prices, Household, Struggling, U.S., Utility costs, Voters, White House
Wall Street Journal (April 21)
“If the White House wanted a test of how firing Jerome Powell would go over in the markets, it succeeded on Monday. U.S. stocks and the dollar plunged while yields on long-term Treasurys climbed after President Trump renewed his attacks on the Federal Reserve Chairman.” The President “thinks he can bully everyone into submission, but he can’t bully Adam Smith, who deals in reality. Markets know tariffs are taxes, and taxes are anti-growth.” It is clear that the “Trump tariffs are the biggest economic policy mistake in decades.” What remains unclear is the President’s ability to see reality. “Markets are spooked because they don’t know if Mr. Trump listens to anyone but his own impulses.”
Tags: Adam Smith, Anti-growth, Attacks, Bully, Dollar, Fed, Firing, Markets, Mistake, Plunged, Powell, Reality, Spooked, Stocks, Submission, Tariffs, Taxes, Treasurys, Trump, U.S., White House, Yields
The Economist (January 2)
“Already things have turned nasty. Donald Trump has not even got to the White House, and his raucous court of advisers have rounded on each other.” This marks only the beginning of “a clash of cultures” as tech invades Washington. Tech’s “worldview is strikingly at odds with the maga movement.” Yet, it is possible that “out of Trumpian chaos and contradiction, something good might just emerge.“
Tags: Advisers, Chaos, Clash of cultures, Contradiction, Maga, Nasty, Raucous, Tech, Trump, Washington, White House, Worldview
South China Morning Post (November 7)
“China’s export growth hit a 27-month high in October, as exporters rushed to front-load orders in anticipation of potential heavy tariffs to be imposed by president-elect Donald Trump after his return to the White House…. Exports rose by 12.7 per cent year on year to US$309 billion in October, according to customs data released on Thursday.”
Tags: Anticipation, China, Customs data, Export growth, Exporters, Exports, Front-load orders, Heavy tariffs, October, Trump, White House
Washington Post (September 13)
The White House may not immediately “move to block Nippon Steel’s bid to acquire U.S. Steel amid mounting concerns over the political and economic consequences of nixing the deal.” In recent weeks, “investors, Pennsylvania Democrats and some members of the steelworkers’ union warned that the deal’s collapse could spark an economic calamity for Pennsylvania’s beleaguered steel belt.” Optimism again appears to be growing that the deal might go through with shares of U.S. Steel rising “by more than 12 percent over the past two days of trading.”
Tags: Block, Calamity, Concerns, Consequences, Economic, Investors, Nippon Steel, Nixing, Optimism, Pennsylvania, Political, Shares, Steelworkers’ union, U.S. Steel, White House
Reuters (July 12)
“For Wall Street, the coming White House race, which currently pits Biden against former President Donald Trump, offers a singularly unappetizing menu. November’s election will present voters with a choice between two possible administrations, neither of which looks much like the moderate, business-friendly centrism under which the financial sector tends to thrive. It’s an unenviable choice.”
Tags: Biden, Business-friendly, Centrism, Election, Financial sector, Moderate, Thrive, Trump, Unappetizing, Voters, Wall Street, White House
New Yorker (June 10)
Now that a New York jury has convicted former President Trump of thirty-four felony counts, “the American people will decide to what extent they care.” But the verdict is hardly the only key to understanding the impact of a second Trump term. “Even the most summary assessment of Trump’s rhetoric, actions, and intentions makes clear that the election in November is a matter of emergency. To return an unstable and malevolent authoritarian to the White House risks wounding American democracy in ways that would likely take decades to repair.”
Tags: Actions, Authoritarian, Convicted, Election, Emergency, Felony counts, Intentions, Jury, Malevolent, New York, President, Rhetoric, Trump, U.S., Verdict, White House
New York Times (November 7)
“Having peered into the abyss of autocratic nationalism, the American people have chosen to step back from the brink. The ballot counting will continue for a few days yet, but… Joe Biden will have the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, and likely many more. President Trump’s four-year assault on our democratic institutions and values will soon end.”
Tags: Abyss, Assault, Ballot counting, Biden, Democratic institutions, Electoral votes, Nationalism, Trump, U.S. Autocratic, Values, White House
Washington Post (August 11)
“If the economy is in a rut, the party in power usually tries to maximize the power of incumbency to improve conditions before an election,” but these are strange times. “This White House and the current Senate Republican majority… are doing everything in their power to minimize or even prevent a stimulus deal.” Perhaps “Trump still does not understand he has wrecked the economy.” Come November, it looks like “he and a whole lot of Republicans are going to join the list of the unemployed.”
Tags: Economy, Election, Incumbency, Majority, Power, Prevent, Republican, Rut, Senate, Stimulus deal, White House, Wrecked
Wall Street Journal (October 8)
Trump is deserting the Kurds who helped defeat ISIS. “On Sunday, the White House announced that American forces will cede the area to Turkish troops. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now free to wage war on Syria’s Kurds, who were America’s most important allies against ISIS.” The retreat from Syria “will also signal to U.S. allies that the White House can’t be trusted.”
