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In the news today: Trump says it's Biden's economy, but businesses and economists beg to differ; federal funding cuts could be coming to PBS and NPR; and Israel says military strikes near Syria's presidential palace are a message. Also, Vatican firefighters install a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel for the papal election.
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President Donald Trump at the University of Alabama, Thursday, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Trump says it's Biden's economy, but businesses and economists beg to differ
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When the stock market was climbing in January 2024, Donald Trump knew exactly who deserved credit: He did. When the stock market fell Wednesday on news that the American economy had gone backward during the first three months of 2025, Trump knew exactly who was to blame: Joe Biden. Read more. |
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- "This is Biden's Stock Market, not Trump's,'' Trump posted. "Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden 'Overhang.' This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS." Yet for economists puzzling out how prices and hiring will change in the coming months, or businesses struggling with a starkly uncertain future, Trump's massive and unpredictable import taxes on almost every country do in fact bear much of the blame.
Trump has blown up the existing world trade system by slapping 10% import taxes – tariffs – on friends and foes alike. He's plastered 145% tariffs on China, drawing retaliation from Beijing that threatens to end trade between the world's two largest economies. He's also hit foreign steel, aluminum and autos. The erratic way he's rolled out his protectionist policies – introducing, then suspending, tariffs, then announcing new ones – has left companies, consumers and investors bewildered.
- Trump's attempt to shift blame for bad economic news to his predecessor raises a question: At what point in a four-year term does a new president assume responsibility for the economy's performance? Georgia Tech University's Mark Zachary Taylor, who studies the economic policies of the American presidents, notes that for a typical president, "it might take six months to two years for us to accurately call the economy 'theirs.'"
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Trump signs executive order directing federal funding cuts to PBS and NPR
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President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR as he alleged "bias" in the broadcasters' reporting. The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies "to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS" and further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. Read more. |
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It's the latest move by Trump and his administration to utilize federal powers to control or hamstring institutions whose actions or viewpoints he disagrees with. The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets "receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'" The broadcasters get roughly half a billion dollars in public money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and have been preparing for the possibility of stiff cuts since Trump's election.
Since taking office, Trump has ousted leaders, placed staff on administrative leave and cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to artists, libraries, museums, theaters and others, through takeovers of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Trump has also pushed to withhold federal research and education funds from universities and punish law firms unless they agreed to eliminate diversity programs and other measures Trump has found objectionable.
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Israeli military strikes near Syria's presidential palace after warning over sectarian attacks
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Israel's air force struck near Syria's presidential palace early Friday, hours after warning Syrian authorities not to march toward villages inhabited by members of the Druze minority sect in southern Syria. The strike came after days of clashes between pro-Syrian government gunmen and fighters who belong to the sect near the capital, Damascus. Read more. |
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The Israeli army said that fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the Palace of President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus. Its statement gave no further details. Friday's strike was Israel's second on Syria this week, and attacking an area close to the presidential palace appears to send a strong warning to Syria's new leadership that is mostly made up of Islamist groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
The clashes broke out around midnight Monday after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man criticizing Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric. But cleric Marwan Kiwan said in a video posted on social media that he was not responsible for the audio, which angered many Sunni Muslims.
- The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria, while most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.
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(AP Illustration/Annie Ng)
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Some tips to reduce and tame workplace clutter
The chaos of modern life and the ease of accumulating cheap items through online shopping have contributed to an abundance of clutter that can drain our mental resources, distract us from work and drag down our productivity. But as workplaces begin spring cleaning, it is possible to reduce clutter and find more mental peace. |
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