Economy

During World War 2 in 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreement made the U.S. dollar the world's reserve currency. And 82 years later, it still enjoys that status. But liberal economist Paul Krugman, in a late June Substack column, lays out some problems the U.S. dollar is facing during Donald Trump's second presidency.

"We are now four months into a war that was supposed to last a couple of weeks," Krugman argues. "There is no end in sight as strikes and counterstrikes continue despite Trump's farcical proclamations of American victory and Iranian surrender. Sixteen months into his presidency, Trump has squandered all of America's credibility with the rest of the world. So let me add one more item to the tally of destruction: the supremacy of the dollar, the pre-eminent tool in America's toolbox of global financial power, has been seriously damaged by the rise of alternative payment systems — a rise that was greatly hastened by the Iran war."

Krugman explains exactly what he means when he speaks of the U.S. dollar's "supremacy" being "seriously damaged." And he cites Trump's "stunning failure" with the Iran war as a key factor.

"Let me be clear that I don’t mean that the dollar is close to losing its dominant role in global business," Krugman writes. "And I am definitely not claiming that the dollar's weakened status will make the United States substantially poorer. Instead, what I am talking about is the loss of a non-military tool of coercion — the power to punish that the dominant role of the dollar in international financial transactions gave the United States. That power is now greatly diminished because Trump's Iran war demonstrated to other nations that they can bypass the dollar-centered world payments system — largely thanks to China."

Krugman notes that the U.S. dollar's "importance in international financial transactions far outweighs the U.S. economy's global importance."

"America is by no means a dominant force in world trade or world GDP," Krugman observes. "There are, in fact, three roughly comparable-sized economic superpowers in today’s world: China, the United States, and the European Union. However, the U.S. dollar does play a dominant role in world finance…. Why does everyone use dollars? Because so many other people and businesses use dollars, which makes markets in dollars far more liquid and efficient than markets in any other currency…. What dollar dominance does do…. is give America a powerful economic weapon against other nations."

Krugman continues, "Transactions that involve dollar payments normally require transferring money between U.S. banks — which means that they are visible to and can be blocked by U.S. authorities…. The Iran debacle has demonstrated that using dollars and retaining access to the U.S. banking system, while convenient, aren't necessary. Iran's ability to withstand American pressure has demonstrated that U.S. sanctions are a lot less effective than in the past given that rogue actors can use the yuan and CIPS as a work-around. And as the Gulf States' actions show, even countries that are U.S. allies are now considering signing onto the Chinese payment system."

As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, the global data we collect and analyze shows that the country is failing to “promote the general Welfare,” as the Constitution’s framers promised a little more than a decade later.

MAGA Republicans often hail Florida as a symbol of their movement's success, praising Ron DeSantis' two terms as governor and arguing that President Donald Trump chose wisely when he made Mar-a-Lago his primary residence. The Sunshine State is associated with a who's-who of MAGA, including Trump, DeSantis, former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, ex-U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, among many others.

But Florida, according to Bloomberg, is now facing higher-than-average unemployment.

"While the U.S. unemployment rate has been little changed over the past year, joblessness in Florida has surged," according to Bloomberg News reporter Augusta Saraiva. "It's climbed more than a percentage point to 4.8 percent — faster than nearly any other state — and is now among the highest nationwide. Job growth has slowed to a crawl amid a pullback in key industries like real estate, retail and tourism, all of which are highly sensitive to interest rates and consumer demand."

Saraiva continues, "That marks a reversal from Florida's run as a magnet for workers and retirees coming out of the pandemic, when its economy was one of the hottest in the U.S. It also raises questions about the viability of the state's growth model as a rising cost of living starts to send would-be Floridians elsewhere."

Interviewees offered some reasons why unemployment is rising in Florida.

Howard Frank, a public policy expert at Florida International University, told Bloomberg News, "We're highly dependent on tourism and retail. If people aren't going out to eat, if people aren't going to Disney, if people are cutting back on discretionary expenses, well, Florida will be hit quite hard."

Jesse Wheeler, who studies macroeconomics at Revelio Labs, told Bloomberg News,

"By the way its economy is set up, Florida just tends to be more cyclical than the U.S. economy as a whole. It shares the trends of the U.S., but it tends to exacerbate them."

Saraiva notes that Florida's "lack of job opportunities" is "likely to become front-and-center ahead of this year's midterm elections."

"The tide has turned amid worsening affordability problems, a surge in immigration enforcement and a slowdown in tourism," the Bloomberg News journalist reports. "Net domestic migration to Florida totaled just 22,517 people in the year through July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau figures — less than a tenth of the peak recorded in 2022. And Visit Florida, the state's official tourism bureau, says the number of visitors fell 1 percent in the first quarter of 2026 from a year earlier."

“Up and Up” writer Rachel Janfaza covers younger voter concerns and Gen Z issues — and Gen Z is definitely having issues with President Donald Trump’s economy this summer.

“It’s no secret that the job market for Gen Z is bleak,” wrote Janfaza. “That’s true for recent high school and college grads looking for entry-level work. But it’s also increasingly the case for students looking for summer opportunities to make some cash and stack their pre-professional resume.”

Janfaza pointed out that summer hiring for teens is expected to fall (from 801,000 teen jobs gained last summer to 790,000 this summer, according to reports after last year’s eight decade low.

“That would be the worst summer hiring total for teens since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping track in 1948,” said Janfaza, which mixes horribly with the rise in young people looking for extra work in the gig economy by taking shifts on apps like Uber.

When asking young adults in the Gen Z community about their summer plans in Trump’s awful job market, they had little good to say about the prospects of retail, waitressing, and corporate internships.

“I do not have a job this summer,” said a 20-year-old student from Pennsylvania, who also said the most recent situation she felt least confident was when is “applying for jobs that I may not have the proper experience for and feeling like I am behind in life.”

“No,” said an 18-year-old in Arizona, who also said his biggest financial pinch is tuition.

“I don’t have a job this summer,” said a 19-year-old student in Miami, Florida, who also complained that gas and food prices are a financial concern.

“The through line was that those without a job weren’t in that situation from a lack of trying. But the reality of a summer without work is affecting their finances and their own sense of self-confidence,” wrote Jafanza, who added that beyond the obvious financial strain and emotional toll, the job market is increasingly becoming a political issue for potential young voters.

“Asked the biggest political issue leading up to the midterms, the 20-year-old from Pennsylvania who’s waitressing at two separate restaurants said: “The cost of everything, people can’t find jobs, can’t afford housing, and can’t afford to put food on the table.”

“Summer jobs are a right of passage — one that boosts confidence, cultivates independence, and builds resiliency,” said Janfaza. “They also, of course, help students save up for college or pay their way through it. In arming fewer young adults with these opportunities, we’re not only bleeding that professional experience, but cultivating frustration from members of a generation desperately searching for it.”

In addition to turning on the Trump administration over the president’s unilateral war in Iran, Genz Z is whacking the administration over inflation and the increasingly shrinking and unfriendly job market.

Joshua Byers, 26, told the Post: "I feel betrayed. I don't know why we are fighting (in Iran) if we have never been attacked.”

On Wednesday, June 17, U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian remotely signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the U.S./Iran war — an agreement that, many critics argue, gives Iran way too much power. Liberal economist Paul Krugman, in his Substack column, describes the deal as a "surrender" on Trump's part that is unlikely to save Republicans from a blue wave in the 2026 midterms.

"There is no mystery about Trump's surrender: He's desperate to end the war because he is paying a steep political price for high gasoline prices, and the midterms are only four and one-half months away," Krugman argues. "But can Trump rehabilitate his standing with American voters by throwing in the towel? Probably not, for both economic and political reasons. I would argue that there are four points of slippage between Trump's political goals and what is likely to happen."

Those "points of slippage," according to Krugman, are: (1) "the state of" the Strait of Hormuz, (2) "rockets and feathers," (3) "prices beyond gasoline," and (4) "the cost of broken promises."

With "rockets and feathers," Krugman is referring to a "well-documented pattern" in which "the price of gasoline responds to changes in the price of crude oil."

"When there is a global shock that causes the price of crude oil to soar," the former New York Times columnist explains, "gasoline prices rise like a rocket. But when the crisis is over and crude prices plunge, the price of gas declines only gradually ­— it drifts down like feathers. Will that happen this time? Gasoline and, to a lesser extent, diesel, have fallen considerably in price from their peak…. Crude oil prices are $10-$15 a barrel higher than they were pre-war, which would point to gasoline prices $0.25-$0.37 higher per gallon. Yet gasoline is currently almost $1 a gallon higher than it was before the war. So, if the 'rockets and feathers' pattern continues to apply, gasoline prices will be elevated for months to come, thwarting Trumpist hopes of quick political relief from capitulating to Iran."

Krugman emphasizes that "soaring prices" go way beyond the cost of gas itself, affecting the cost of a variety of goods and products. And voters, according to the economist, will be thinking about those prices as the 2026 midterms draw closer.

"I would add that it may be especially hard for the Trumpists to make the case that things have turned around when they were never willing to admit that anything was wrong in the first place, insisting, even as prices soared, that we were living in a 'golden age,'" Krugman writes. "So, will Trump's surrender to Iran rescue him and his party from a blue wave in November? It's very unlikely. I suggest they find themselves some lifejackets."

President Donald Trump remains fixated on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, angrily berating "stupid" GOP senators for not passing the voting bill. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) and other Republican lawmakers are saying that the votes to pass it simply aren't there — and that Trump should be focusing on the economy instead. But conservative David M. Drucker, in a Bloomberg News column, stresses that Republicans who hope Trump will change course and "pivot" to the economy are dreaming.

"For Republicans in Congress who've been clinging to hope that President Donald Trump might finally focus on the economy ahead of the midterm elections," Drucker argues, "their time might be better spent searching for proof that the tooth fairy is real. The same day Trump reaffirmed support for an agreement with Iran to end the war, he turned his attention to Capitol Hill. Did he demand or introduce legislation addressing voters' No. 1 priority, what they believe is an unacceptably high cost of living? No. Rather, the president revived his push to strongarm how the 50 states and Washington, DC administer elections — an issue that barely registers on voters' radar, outside of MAGA social media circles."

Trump, according to Drucker, is so obsessed with the SAVE America Act that he is "holding hostage renewal of crucial government spying tools, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" — much to the frustration of GOP senators.

"Of course, the president could be focused on more than one issue at a time; that goes with the job," Drucker writes. "But he still refuses to acknowledge that any aspect of the economy is underperforming on matters related to affordability or otherwise."

In a June 21 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, "Our Country is doing GREAT. Record Jobs Numbers and Stock Market. BEST ECONOMY EVER! We are WINNING on all fronts. WINNING LIKE NEVER BEFORE." And he recently told reporters, "The word 'affordability' is a fake word, made up by the Democrats."

Such messaging, Drucker notes, is frustrating GOP lawmakers and is "just not reality."

"Inflation has spiked since Trump launched the Iran war on February 28, with the Consumer Price Index climbing 0.5 percent from April to May — and a whopping 4.2 percent since the same period in 2025, according to the Labor Department," Drucker observes. "That was the highest rate of inflation since the 4.9 percent during the year that ended April 2023, as Bloomberg reported this month. Theoretically, there's still time for Trump to address the economy to improve his party's prospects in the midterms, still more than five months away…. If Trump's ratings go up, so, too will the GOP's chances of preserving its roughly 10-seat House majority and defending its three-seat Senate advantage. Absent that, Democrats are poised to have quite a bit to celebrate on the evening of November 3."

President Donald Trump has touted his Trump Accounts as a great investment vehicle to help young people build up savings, but one financial reporter argues that they are not living up to his promise.

“My 1-year-old son qualifies for a Trump Account, and I’ve opened it to claim the $1,000 government deposit,” reported The Wall Street Journal's Adam Michel on Monday. “But I won’t be putting any of my personal after-tax wages in it, and neither should most parents. That is a shame. Trump Accounts are a good idea, poorly executed. A simple reform could make them worthwhile.”

Michel argued that Trump Accounts are flawed because they tax the money going into them and tax the money coming out of them.

“The accounts accept after-tax dollars from parents and other authorized individuals, but when the child turns 18, they convert to traditional IRAs for retirement,” Michel wrote. “That means the gains (along with the original $1,000) are taxed at withdrawal as ordinary income rather than at the lower capital-gains tax rate, which would have applied if the investment weren’t in a Trump Account. You pay taxes on the front end and the high rate on the back end. No deduction, no capital-gains rate, no flexibility.”

Describing a 529 as a better investment in terms of education savings than Trump Accounts, Michel concluded that Trump could easily fix this, and if he does not the Trump Accounts will amount to little more than a one-time gift to their recipients.

“The fix is easy: Lawmakers should pick a lane,” Michel said. “Make contributions tax-free and then tax the withdrawals. That is how a traditional IRA works. Alternatively, keep the after-tax contributions and make the withdrawals tax-free, like a Roth. Either path would give parents an incentive to add their own money. While they are at it, lawmakers should drop the lock-up rules and penalties, and instead let the savings roll into a more flexible account at age 18.”

Michel concluded that without those changes, "the $1,000 handout is where it stops. The rest I’ll save elsewhere."

In May, a financial journalist for TheStreet pointed out a different problem with Trump Accounts.

“The federal government is less than two months away from opening Trump Accounts for private contributions on July 4, 2026, and a debate over what should go in them has begun,” TheStreet's Damilola Esebame wrote at the time. “White House and Treasury officials have discussed allowing wealthy donors to contribute shares of stock directly into the children's savings accounts, a shift that could reshape the program.”

Yet as Esebame observed, Trump Accounts upon being launched only accepted cash and invested it into low-cost S&P 500 index funds that cap the expense ratios at 0.1 percent. Even at the time, the White House and Department of Treasury began discussing altering the rules about how the accounts were managed so that stock shares could go directly into children’s savings accounts.

“If the rules change, millions of children already enrolled may end up with a completely different type of account,” Esebame said. “What you need to understand is how this fight over stock donations could affect the money designated for your child.”

Ohio will lose 51,000 jobs and $5.3 billion from the state economy in 2029, according to a new analysis.

That’s the effect that cuts to Medicaid and food assistance under a massive 2025 spending law will have when they’re fully phased in. It’s also the consequence of Republicans allowing Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire at the end of the last year, according to a Commonwealth Fund analysis which was published last week.

Those losses come despite $200 million in rural health money Ohio will get from a fund that Republicans built into the spending bill. The measure was meant to quell concerns that Medicaid cuts could close rural hospitals, the analysis said.

“While the infusion of $10 billion into state economies for rural health contributes to some economic growth, it is overshadowed by the $31 billion in federal funding cuts to ACA marketplaces,” the analysis said.

That’s a reference to pandemic-era subsidies to buy insurance in Affordable Care Act Marketplaces.

When Congress allowed them to expire, most of the 600,000 Ohioans who bought insurance on the exchanges saw premiums for their plans double. That prompted many to drop down to cheaper, lower-quality plans and many more to leave the marketplace altogether. KFF reports that Ohio enrollment was down 20% this year.

Even bigger losses to the state loom when the provisions of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” take full effect, the Commonwealth Fund report said.

The legislation cut more than $900 billion over 10 years from Medicaid. It also cut $187 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps or EBT.

Along with deep cuts to the safety net, Trump’s signature law gave huge tax cuts to the richest Americans. The Commonwealth Fund analysis said it amounted to yet another upward redistribution of wealth.

“Under (the Trump spending law), cuts to health and nutrition programs largely harm Americans with lower incomes, while tax cuts primarily benefit those with higher incomes,” it said.

“The (Congressional Budget Office) estimates that Americans in with lowest 10% of incomes will lose about $1,200 per year (3.1% of their incomes), while those with the top 10% of incomes will gain $13,600 per year (2.7% of their incomes). Other analyses reached similar conclusions.”

The cuts won’t just harm low-income Americans, the analysis said, they’ll damage entire state economies. It’s a consequence of taking away huge streams of funding for healthcare and food.

“In 2029, federal Medicaid funding will drop by $90.9 billion, causing state GDPs to fall by $118.5 billion,” it said.

“Medicaid cuts also mean 996,000 fewer jobs nationwide in 2029, half of which will be health-related, including in hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, or nursing homes. States with the largest job losses include California, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, and Michigan, which lose between 150,200 and 36,600 jobs.”

It projected that Ohio will lose the eighth-most jobs — 51,200.

It also said the state will lose $4.4 billion in federal funding, thereby reducing state GDP by $5.4 billion and state and local revenue collection by $368 million.

The largest single measure to produce Medicaid savings in the Trump spending law is a broader, stricter work requirement.

But the Commonwealth Fund report predicted that it will end up making it even harder for recipients to find jobs.

“Proponents of the law explained that the budget cuts were intended to exclude ‘undeserving’ populations from accessing benefits, such as able-bodied people who choose to not work, claiming these changes would ultimately help them gain jobs and incomes,” it said.

“But evidence indicates that work requirement programs do little to increase employment because they fail to address underlying reasons for unemployment. Moreover, by reducing the number of jobs in low-income communities, the new law could make it even harder for people to find jobs.”

A report published Friday reveals how President Donald Trump’s policies have jacked up prices for a host of potential Father’s Day gifts this year.

Overall, the analysis by Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive economic think tank and advocacy group, finds that prices for popular Father’s Day gifts have risen by nearly 19% on average over the last year, highlighted by a 30% increase in the price of Remington electric shavers, a 16% jump for Blackstone electric griddles, and a barbecue tools up by 11%.

The analysis traces price increases of popular personal care products to Trump’s global trade war, which he began last year with his “Liberation Day” tariffs levied on practically every nation in the world.

“Many shavers and trimmers are imported from China, which has faced multiple layers of tariffs,” notes the report, “in addition to containing steel and aluminum components, which are also subject to additional tariffs.”

The report also points out that electric shaver manufacturer Braun “increased the price of its Series 9 All-in-One Beard Trimmer by $50” last year after Trump’s big tariff announcement, and that the price has since gone up by another $10.

Examining the increase in grilling product prices, the report pins the blame not only on Trump’s tariffs, but also his illegal war of choice with Iran.

“The Middle East is a major producer of the petrochemical used to make plastics and synthetic fibers,” the report explains. “Trump’s reckless war on Iran has increased the price of these petroleum-derived products, helping drive up the cost of items like grilling tools, which cost nearly 22% more this year.”

Elizabeth Pancotti, managing director of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, summarized the report’s findings by warning that “Dads are in for disappointment this Father’s Day” thanks to Trump’s economic policies.

“While dads across the country should be able to relax and enjoy the day with loved ones,” Pancotti added, “they’re instead forced to worry about how they’ll make ends meet in Trump’s economy.”

Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war have sent inflation in the US to its highest levels in three years. As data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last week showed, overall prices in May posted a yearly increase of 4.2%, highlighted by a 23.5% yearly increase in energy prices.

Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said last week that inflation has now grown “so high that it’s erasing all wage gains” being made by American workers.

Michael Scott, the hapless regional manager at the center of the American version of “The Office” played by Steve Carell, believed he was the world’s best boss. He even had the mug to prove it.

During Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, his supporters repeatedly praised him as "pro-business" and argued that he understood the challenges small businesses face. But almost 18 months into Trump's second presidency, according to New York Times reporter Sydney Ember, small business owners are feeling increasingly frustrated and pessimistic.

"The months-long war with Iran pushed up the cost of fuel and other materials," Ember reports in the Times. "Inflation has accelerated. The prospect of further interest rate cuts before the end of the year is dimming. Even as large corporations are posting solid earnings and the stock market is booming, small-business sentiment has plummeted in recent months. Lacking the funds to withstand an onslaught of financial gyrations, many smaller companies are instead rethinking their hiring and pausing any plans to expand — again."

The Times reporter continues, "The National Federation of Independent Business reported, in May, its lowest measure of economic expectations since Mr. Trump was elected to his second term. The Bank of America Institute reported that small-business profitability in April grew at its slowest pace in two years. Job openings at small companies have flatlined. On Sunday, Mr. Trump and Iranian officials announced a preliminary deal to end the war, though the economic consequences will probably linger for some time."

Small business owners interviewed by the Times detailed the reason for their frustration.

Bruce Jovaag, who owns a home remodeling company in Missouri, told the Times, "It has been an incredible challenge for a small mom-and-pop operation to just simply keep the doors open. It has been a fight like has never existed before."

According to Jovaag, a series of economic challenges since the COVID-10 pandemic have "taken the enjoyment out of what I do for a living."

Trump's policies, Ember notes, are creating a variety of headaches for small business owners —from tariffs to "soaring gas prices" to interruptions with immigrant labor.

Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Georgia), a Trump ally who now heads the Small Business Association, claimed that "America First policies are restoring the American dream on Main Street to new heights." But according to Ember, "That hasn't been the reality for the small-business owners who are still reeling from years of challenges."

"The persistent pressure has pushed some small businesses to the brink," Ember reports. "Businesses with fewer than 10 workers have broadly been shedding employees for much of the past five years, according to data from QuickBooks, the accounting software company."

Edith Hotchkiss, a finance professor at Boston College, told the Times that the number of small businesses declaring bankruptcy increased after the Trump administration imposed new import duties.

According to Hotchkiss, "Prices are higher, and these small businesses don't have the flexibility that larger firms do. They don't have the existing inventories that larger firms might have. It's only natural that these would be maybe the most vulnerable."

Francesca Costa, who co-owns the Houston, Texas café Cranky Carrot Juice, told the Times that increasing overhead has forced her to raise her prices. But is reluctant to do so again, as consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending.

Costa lamented, "We are very worried. It is a very real possibility that we could also have to close."

When Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” took its chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy last year, it created bottlenecks that may have hampered the fight against the screwworm infestation currently menacing the southwest while making it much more expensive.

The annual US Department of Agriculture (USDA) spending to combat the flesh-eating insects only amounted to about $15 million per year. But along with about $382 million aimed at combating animal-borne illnesses around the globe, it was terminated in March 2025 as part of DOGE’s effort to root out what it described as government “waste.”

But now, with the pests bearing down on Texas and New Mexico, and at least 12 infections already identified in the US as of Tuesday, the Trump administration is spending at least $1 billion to fight the outbreak.

Last week, during a Senate hearing, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins attempted to shift blame for the screwworm outbreak onto the Biden administration, while portraying herself and President Donald Trump as proactive in response to reports last spring that the insects were rapidly climbing through Central America.

Rollins said she asked Trump for “$1 billion to build a significant facility” in Texas that would breed hundreds of millions of sterilized male screwworm flies, a method that had been used to keep them contained in South America for decades. “Without hesitation, a couple questions, he said, ‘go.’”

That facility is expected to release around 300 million sterile flies per week. But it is not expected to be fully operational until the end of 2027.

In addition to the $15 million cut to monitoring the spread of the bugs from Panama, the Houston Chronicle reported that DOGE paused plans for a facility in Mexico that the Biden administration had authorized in 2024 as part of a $165 million emergency package to fight screwworm.

Amid mass layoffs at the USDA, it reported that funding for the facility—which was supposed to produce between 60-100 million sterile flies per week—was not announced until May 2025.

While the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) still says fly production at the facility is expected to begin “as early as summer 2026,” it is still listed as “under construction.”

Kevin Shea, who served as administrator of APHIS under the Obama administration and retired from the agency in January 2025, told the Chronicle that efforts to contain the screwworm were put on hold at the start of Trump’s second term.

“This administration came in so skeptical of the career people, they didn’t really want to listen,” he said. “The hold up in the money going to Mexico for the sterile fly facility was most likely caught up in the whole DOGE thing. It probably looked like some sort of foreign aid.”

Journalist Christopher Collins wrote in the Texas Observer on Tuesday that, additionally, “deep staffing cuts” to APHIS, which lost nearly 1,900 employees during Trump’s first year back in office, eliminated “the first line of defense against incoming parasites,” who are responsible for “inspecting the cattle awaiting import from Mexico to ensure no screwworms are hitching a ride.”

As the spread of screwworm across cattle country threatens to further drive up beef prices that have already increased by over 20% since Trump returned to office, critics of the administration are seizing on it to highlight the failure of the president’s so-called “efficiency” initiative, which—despite the grandeur of Musk’s cost-cutting claims—ended up costing taxpayers an estimated $165 billion, according to an April 2026 report from the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) called the screwworm saga a prime example of DOGE’s “peak incompetence.”

“Trump and Musk’s DOGE ‘saved’ $15 million by cutting a program dedicated to preventing the spread of screwworm,” she said. “Now, there’s an outbreak infecting our beef and the administration is spending $1 billion.”

Reacting to the news that the government was spending at least $1 billion to confront the screwworm crisis, Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim wrote on social media, “Not joking but Elon Musk should have to pay for this right?”

“You broke it,” he said, tagging the man who recently became the world’s first trillionaire. “Why do we all have to pay for it?”

A group of Democratic US senators warned Monday that congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump could be gearing up for a push for raise the retirement age as part of a broader—and deeply unpopular—effort to slash Social Security benefits after the 2026 midterm elections.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote in a letter to Trump that they have “renewed concerns” that his administration is “considering raising the retirement age, cutting the earned benefits of millions of Americans,” despite the president’s repeated vows to shield the program.“Republicans have a history of attempting to increase the retirement age, privatize Social Security, or otherwise cut Social Security benefits, and some congressional Republicans have called to raise the retirement age or means-test benefits,” the lawmakers wrote, emphasizing that GOP lawmakers “are not alone.”

“In an interview this past fall, [Social Security Administration] Commissioner Frank Bisignano said—and later attempted to retract after public outcry—that your administration was considering this idea,” the Democratic senators wrote of raising the retirement age, which would cut Social Security benefits across the board.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of a 2024 Republican proposal to raise Social Security’s full retirement age found that doing so would cut benefits by an average of 13% for people born after 1971.

The Democratic senators sent their letter to Trump days after Social Security’s trustees said in their annual report that the program will be unable to pay out full benefits by the end of 2032—a quarter earlier than projected last year—unless Congress takes action. The finding was seen as evidence of the damage inflicted by Trump’s policies, including his tariffs and tax cuts for the rich.

Ahead of the trustees report’s release, House Speaker Mike Johnson declared that Social Security needs to be “adjusted and fixed” and said Republicans would release their plan “next year,” without specifying what the proposal would entail.

In their letter to Trump on Monday, the trio of Democratic senators demanded to know if the president is aware of “Republican plans to cut Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits” and whether he would veto GOP legislation that slashes those programs.

“Raising the retirement age—or otherwise cutting benefits—only worsens the looming retirement income crisis,” the lawmakers wrote. “Doing so hurts older Americans, cutting monthly benefits and forcing millions into poverty.”

One of the right's most famous economists, the late Milton Friedman, was a scathing critic of something President Donald Trump passionately supports: tariffs. Many of Friedman's arguments, long after his death, are being used by right-wing tariffs opponents — including the Liberty Justice Center, which prevailed in a legal battle against Trump. But according to the Wall Street Journal, the conservative group has been the target of retaliation from MAGA.

WSJ's Lidia Wheeler notes that Liberty Justice Center, led by CEO Sara Albrecht, "spent $3.5 million challenging the legality of President Trump's global tariffs."

"Large companies stood to receive a windfall if the tariffs were struck down as a result of Liberty Justice Center's work," Wheeler reports in WSJ. "Albrecht reached out to some of the companies that had filed for refunds, including Costco, hoping they would pitch in on the legal fight by making a donation to her organization — to no avail. The reply from Costco came quickly. 'Our company's nonprofit donations are focused on education and health efforts, which would not include litigation matters of the type you are pursuing,' the company's general counsel wrote…. The Supreme Court ruled for Albrecht's organization three months later, striking a blow against unbridled presidential power and paving the way for businesses to seek the return of billions of dollars collected by the government."

Wheeler continues, "It was the biggest win in the Liberty Justice Center's 15-year history. The group also paid a price for it, highlighting the perils of taking on the Trump administration."

Although the Liberty Justice Center, according to Wheeler, "has a sterling conservative pedigree," that didn't save the group from MAGA's wrath.

"Until last year," the WSJ reporter observes, "it was best known for challenging public-sector unions, which largely support Democratic candidates. It won a landmark 2018 Supreme Court ruling that found it unconstitutional to force nonunion government employees to pay union fees…. But when it came to challenging Trump's tariffs, the group's most conservative donors started fleeing before the Supreme Court even got involved."

Albrecht told the Journal, "I couldn't convince them that this was the right thing to do."

According to Wheeler, the Liberty Justice Center "spent its typical annual budget on the tariff litigation and says it lost a little over 30 percent of its donors because of the case."

"In the short term," Wheeler reports, "it was able to make up what it lost in donations thanks to a boost in funding from existing benefactors and contributions from new donors, but Albrecht said some of those new donors only gave because of the tariffs case and 'probably won't come back.'"

President Trump has repeatedly pressured the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, claiming in a recent NBC interview that "there's no reason to raise interest rates." However, according to a recent report from financial site The Motley Fool, economic data and market indicators suggest his seven-word assertion requires a reality check.

Since Trump's inauguration in January 2025, he has publicly criticized former Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the Federal Open Market Committee for not aggressively slashing rates. The FOMC has lowered the federal funds rate six times between September 2024 and December 2025, but the current range of 3.5% to 3.75% remains well above Trump's stated target of 1% or below.

Trump's push for lower rates has multiple motivations. Rate cuts would encourage business borrowing, potentially fueling AI data center investments and job growth. Lower rates would also reduce mortgage costs and make homeownership more affordable. Most significantly, lower borrowing costs would ease the burden of servicing the nation's ballooning federal debt, which has exceeded $1.38 trillion annually since the decade began.

Yet inflation tells a different story, The Motley Fool reports. In February, trailing 12-month inflation stood at a modest 2.4%, aligned with the Fed's 2% target. However, Trump's February military action against Iran disrupted approximately 20 million barrels of daily petroleum production—representing 20% of global supply. This energy crisis has dramatically reshaped the inflation landscape.

Energy prices have soared in response, lifting trailing 12-month inflation from 2.4% in February to an estimated 4.18% in May. Multiple inflation measures reached their highest levels since 2023: Consumer Price Index inflation at 3.8%, Personal Consumption Expenditures at 3.8%, and Producer Price Index inflation at 6%. Services inflation and shelter costs have also climbed to their highest levels since mid-2025.

The effects extend beyond gas pumps. According to The Motley Fool's analysis, energy supply shocks typically unfold in stages, with delayed inflationary impacts on businesses proving particularly problematic. As higher transportation and production costs filter through the economy, inflation can intensify and persist longer than initial price spikes suggest.

These economic realities point toward interest rate hikes, not cuts, The Motley Fool argues. Core Personal Consumption Expenditures—the Fed's preferred inflation measure—continue edging higher despite expectations for modest overall inflation declines. FOMC meeting minutes from April indicate a majority of members favored removing the easing bias statement, a preliminary step toward rate increases.

Futures markets are betting against Trump's position. According to The Motley Fool, the CME Group's FedWatch Tool shows a 71.3% probability of at least one rate hike by December 2026, based on June 8 data. Trump's handpicked Fed successor, Kevin Warsh, has demonstrated hawkish voting tendencies during his previous FOMC tenure.

While Wall Street would prefer Trump's assessment to prevail, The Motley Fool concludes that economic precedent and current data suggest interest rate hikes loom ahead.

Outside a voting center in Downtown Summerlin in Las Vegas Tuesday, Democratic voter Lenny Lither said he sees problems with both Democrats and Republicans when it comes to solving economic issues.

“The economy’s not great right now,” Lither said. “I don’t want us to go more into war with Iran than we already [are]. I want us to focus on the economy here at home, and I don’t feel we are. I don’t feel like either side has really shown me a plan…”

Lither isn’t alone. The Nevada Current spoke to voters as they cast their ballots in Tuesday’s primary election. Many said the state of the national economy is at the forefront of their minds. The rising cost of food, housing, and gas are causing anxiety among voters, and they are looking for candidates who are willing to find solutions.

As the U.S. enters four months into the ongoing war with Iran, Donald Trump has seemingly no plan to end the conflict anytime soon. After repeated promises of peace treaties, followed by continuous attacks even as a cease fire has been declared, Trump has failed to pinpoint the end of the war.

“You know, even with gas prices, [Nevada’s] governor was like ‘oh yeah gas prices are bad here ‘cause of Governor Newsom’,” Lither said in reference to comments Joe Lombardo has made. “Like, no, this is Nevada, gas prices were up when we interfered with Iran, it’s kind of related to that. We need solutions to the problems now…I want to see either side show me something.”

Lither, a Clark County School District parent who unsuccessfully ran for the school board in 2024, said he is also worried about education. While Lither did mention voting for Susie Lee in the primaries, he said he’s “not a big fan of her” and wishes Democrats had better messaging.

Another Nevadan voter who showed up at Downtown Summerlin’s polling center, Jose Rivera, had similar apprehensions towards both parties and has been “extremely frustrated” with Trump’s administration.

“Nothing is tangible for us working-class Americans,” Rivera said. “Whether you’re trying to pursue education, whether you’re trying to buy a home, there’s no realistic, tangible dream anymore. I would say that’s what I’m most frustrated about.”

Rivera feels Democrats will have a good year if they play their cards right.

“I think it’s pretty much their game if they do the right thing,” he said. “But… Democrats also haven’t been transparent about what they’re doing… I think somebody refreshing, that’s not left or right, needs to come out, because I feel like that’s where we all are, in between.”

Down at Desert Breeze Community Center voting center, Leslie Quinn was campaigning for her husband, Kelly Quinn, a Republican running in Nevada State Assembly District 5. (Kelly Quinn won the Republican primary and will advance to the general election against a Democratic incumbent, Assemblywoman Britteny Miller.)

“Public safety is very important, family, making sure parents have rights, making sure women stay in women’s sports,” Leslie Quinn responded when asked about the most important issues concerning her. “I mean, there’s a lot [about] the economy, just having balance, and really stopping Trump derangement syndrome because he’s our president, and people are going insane without supporting him.”

Leslie Quinn also said she’s looking for candidates who are freethinkers and align with her values.

“Let’s make America first,” she added. “Let’s make America healthy again, and let’s stop hating each other.”

While most voters the Current talked to were concerned about the economy, others were more concerned about finding candidates who support Trump and will stand behind him. Some voters also said the nation needs to be patient for things to turn around and put faith in the current administration.

One voter at Desert Breeze, Sompi Harmetz, who moved from Florida to Las Vegas, says she’s more focused on local issues going into the midterm elections.

“One of the biggest things for me right now is expansion of AI data centers,” Harmetz said. “[I] do not want them in Vegas, it’s like really upsetting seeing them popping up, and especially seeing the amount of stuff popping up in Reno right now. Just environmentally, I think it’s gross.”

Public alarm over the proliferation of data centers — the Reno City Council recently extended a moratorium on them — has become a political issue throughout the country.

Harmetz also shared how she would like to see the midterm results affect the nation’s political trajectory.

“I really hope that we swing more blue, but even more than just blue, just more progressive in general,” Harmetz said. “I hope we just swing more and more towards progressive candidates. We’ve seen how much change (Mayor Zohran) Mamdani has done in New York, and it totally has shown a model that it’s possible to not just constantly vote for the establishment Democrats every single time.”

Inflation is primed to become catastrophically worse in one of the most important sectors, and according to The Washington Post, executives are still "doing everything they can" to get that fact across to President Donald Trump before it is too late.

As the Post laid out in a Thursday report, executives in the oil industry are sounding the alarm about prices at the pump shooting up to a degree even higher than they already have, and are working to make sure Trump hears those warnings as he attempts to negotiate a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"Oil and gas executives have warned the White House that gasoline prices could surge in the coming months as fuel inventories fall to critical lows, complicating the Trump administration’s efforts to contain inflation that has already rattled American consumers," the report detailed.

It continued: "Industry officials say they are doing everything they can to sound an alarm that prices are about to soar as the commercial and government inventories that have mitigated price rises so far are rapidly depleting, according to multiple people familiar with the conversations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the administration. Some inventories could be wiped out within weeks, the executives have warned, coinciding with the peak summer travel season."

While the dwindling shipments out of the Gulf States has so far caused gas prices to increase well over $1 on average across the U.S., if the key shipping route remains closed or unsafe for much longer, it will quickly reach the point where stockpiles begin to reach critical levels. At that point, prices will potentially increase to astronomical levels, and gas rationing might also have to be implemented.

For the time being, some of the sources that the Post spoke to are trying to remain optimistic.

“I have absolutely no doubt the White House — from the president on down — is fully aware of the nearly universal alarm among oil companies and analysts about the direction of travel for oil prices this summer,” Bob McNally, a former energy adviser under George W. Bush and founder of the research firm, Rapidan Energy Group, said in a statement to the outlet.

“We’re sounding the alarm on these inventories going to record lows,” American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers said during an appearance on a Fox Business show that Trump is known to watch. “We should be concerned about what prices we’re going to see over the next few weeks. We have to solve this problem in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Every year, the panel overseeing the trust fund for Social Security and Medicare publishes its annual financial report. And every year, its members make clear that the programs’ reserves will be exhausted by the time Gen X retires – meaning they will no longer be able to pay full scheduled benefits by the mid-2030s.

In 2024, one of Donald Trump's campaign promises was "no tax on tips." And the promise generated a lot of discussion in Nevada, one of the swing states that Trump flipped after having lost it to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. But according to Bloomberg News' Caitlin Reilly, the promise isn't getting a lot of enthusiasm in 2026 in Las Vegas — a city where tipped workers are plentiful but tips are down.

"When a Las Vegas cocktail waitress pitched President Donald Trump on eliminating taxes on tips," Reilly explains in Bloomberg News, "it seemed like a surefire bet: an easily digestible policy that could break Democrats' longtime hold on Nevada's political machine by wooing culinary workers. At first, it seemed to work, with Trump becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to capture the state in two decades. But like many schemes cooked up on the Las Vegas Strip, Trump's luck may be running out."

Trump's "no tax on tips" promise, according to Reilly, is running into problems with tipped workers in Las Vegas because "the city took a hit in the first year of Trump’s term with a sharp drop in tourism, blunting the financial impact of the president’s tax relief."

"Many said new deductions for tips, overtime and seniors boosted tax refunds, but higher costs for groceries, healthcare, housing and gas gobbled up those extra savings," Reilly reports. "And with voters headed to the polls on Tuesday in the state's primary elections, some Republicans are expressing concern that the no-tax-on-tips policy intended to be the cornerstone of their midterm campaign risks being drowned out."

Tourism, according to Reilly, is down in Las Vegas — and many of the tips that service workers rely on there come from tourists.

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nevada), who isn't seeking reelection in the 2026 midterms, told Bloomberg News, "I get more money, but then, when you put it in the context of the economy isn't exactly kicking tail at the moment. I just think in overall context, you're like, hey, that's great, but $6 a gallon gas isn't good."

Eric Lobatos, a tipped worker in Las Vegas, told Bloomberg News that although Trump's "no tax on tips" policy gave him some modest relief, the city's decline in tourism is creating a drop in tips.

Lobatos lamented, "It wasn't, like, life-changing amounts of money. It's not making up for what we're taking a loss in."

President Donald Trump keeps insisting that gas prices aren’t especially high. What many Americans see at the pump tells a different story, and CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale has the numbers to prove it.

As recently as Tuesday, Trump claimed that the price of gas is “not very high, relatively speaking. I mean, it’s lower than during the Biden administration.”

Trump was not especially specific, but Dale is.

According to AAA, today’s average gas price is $4.16. That is lower than the peak number during the Biden administration, $5.02, which occurred after Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022.

“But the current $4.16 per gallon national average is significantly higher than the national average when Biden left office in January 2025, which was $3.12 per gallon,” Dale explains. “And it’s higher than the national average was on 1,334 of Biden’s 1,460 full days as president, figures provided by AAA show.”

Dale reports that today’s price is higher than the price during 91 percent of the Biden presidency, and higher than any day during his final 29 months.

Today’s price is also “much higher” than it was one year ago: $3.12. It’s higher than on the day Trump launched his attack against Iran: $2.98.

The good news is today’s price is lower than the price from one month ago ($4.53) and lower than last week ($4.29).

Trump has repeatedly promised lower prices once the Iran war ends.

Just last week he told reporters, “when it’s all straightened out, you’re going to have oil prices drop down to maybe even lower than they were.”

During his explosive “Meet the Press” interview on Sunday, Trump claimed that as soon as the Iran war is settled, “gasoline prices are going to drop like a rock.”

In May, he claimed the price of gas was “peanuts.” And in mid-April, Trump declared that the price of gas “hasn’t gone up as much as I thought.”

Just weeks after the Iran war started, in March, Trump said that gas prices “are gonna come tumbling down along with everything else” once the war is over.

Dale also found Trump frequently claims he saw the price of gas in Iowa hit $1.85.

“I was in Iowa, another place I like a lot, and it was just before we started the excursion to Iran. And we passed gas stations; it was $1.85 a gallon. And we’re going to get them down to those numbers again very quickly,” Trump said.

That trip to Iowa was in January, Dale notes, when the average price in the state was $2.57. Only a niche blend that is not for use in all cars hit $1.85.