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FED Holds Interest Rates Steady as Calls for Powell’s Firing Get Louder

pgnewser July 31, 2025 0

In the face of economic signals that might justify lowering interest rates, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell doubled down on his commitment to not lower interest rates despite rising dissent within the Fed itself against Powell’s “leadership. After this decision, calls for his firing and resignation have only increased, though President Trump has not yet responded (though he might by print time).

Powell’s justification for actions that his detractors equate to outright overt sabotage of the U.S. economy was to blame the uncertainty of the effect of Trump’s tariffs. He claimed “Higher tariffs have begun to show through more clearly to prices of some goods, but their overall effects on economic activity and inflation remain to be seen. A reasonable base case is that the effects on inflation could be short-lived—reflecting a one-time shift in the price level. But it is also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent, and that is a risk to be assessed and managed.”

Jerome Powell holds interest rate steady—and is looking through tariffs by not raising rates– fortune.com
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In a move that everyone was expecting, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell disappointed Donald Trump again yesterday by refusing to cut the base interest rate.

Indeed, a hawkish Powell even used the dreaded r-word (“raise”)—having suggested he is responsive enough to calls to “look through” tariff-induced inflation by not increasing interest rates, a notion which likely would have sent the Oval Office into a fury.

While rates held steady at 4.25% to 4.5%, a split among the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is growing, with two members dissenting. This represents the highest level of friction within the FOMC for more than 30 years.

But despite the pressure—both from within the Fed and externally—Powell struck a cautious tone on cutting. For some time analysts have pencilled in a cut in September, the next meeting of the FOMC.

Harvard Offers to Pay $500 Million to Settle With Trump Administration– gellerreport.com

pgnewser July 30, 2025 0

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In the wake of Columbia’s settlement for $220 million, Harvard has indicated a willingness to settle as well: Harvard University has signaled a willingness to meet the Trump administration’s demand to spend as much as $500 million to end its dispute with the White House as talks between the two sides intensify, four people familiar with the negotiations said. According to one of the people, Harvard is reluctant to directly pay the federal government, but negotiators are still discussing the exact financial terms. The sum sought by the government, which recently accused Harvard of civil rights violations, is more than twice as much as the $200 million fine that Columbia University said it would pay when it settled antisemitism claims with the White House last week. Neither Harvard nor the government has publicly detailed potential terms for a settlement and what allegations the money would be intended to resolve (New York Times).

It’s not enough, Not nearly. Harvard must be purged of the poison that has infected the institution, faculty in every department, every policy decision ……

Trump Admin Halts a String of Antitrust Cases, Approving Corporate Mergers– readsludge.com

pgnewser July 30, 2025 0

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The Trump administration has dropped federal scrutiny of several corporate mergers in recent months, according to an analysis by Public Citizen—waving through multibillion-dollar deals for companies, including many that made large donations to the Trump-Vance inauguration.

The watchdog Public Citizen examines the Trump administration’s blessing of the mergers in its updated tracker of 165 corporate enforcement actions that have been halted, dropped, or withdrawn as of July 25. The tally includes cases that were dismissed by federal agencies instead of being brought to trial, as well as investigations that were closed favorably for corporations.

Since the start of April, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have advanced the mergers of T-Mobile and UScellular, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and rival Juniper Networks, and others that faced charges of being anti-competitive. Under President Trump, the agencies have also intervened in antitrust cases on the completed mergers of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, Capital One and Discover, and others.

“Trump’s unshackling of a rogues gallery of corporate villains and lawbreakers shows how little this president cares about the victims of corporate crime,” said Rick Claypool, research director for Public Citizen. “This is no ‘law and order’ administration—this is an administration that views cheated consumers with contempt, and workers’ hard-earned wages as fair game for corporate con artists.”

 

Elon Musk is ‘working on’ UK age verification for X — and Xbox should steal his idea – Windows Central

pgnewser July 30, 2025 0

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I didn’t expect myself to suggest emulating Elon Musk this week, but X has a possible solution for age verification that Xbox should copy. One of the ways X verifies age is checking the age of an account. If an account was created before 2012, the site assumes you’re an adult now.

It’s not a perfect solution, since someone could have lied about their age back in 2012 and still be under 18 today. But I doubt any reasonable verification method will be perfect.

X has run into some issues with age verification, which Musk says are being addressed. “We are working on this,” said Musk in a post replying to a UK user who cannot verify their age on X. The Xbox team may want to copy Musk’s general idea but execute it better.

Where Microsoft and the Xbox team draw their line could be different than what X decided. Since a five-year-old is more likely to have played Xbox in the past, it’s probably worth having different rules.

But any account old enough to legally drink in the UK should be verified automatically.

India Gets Russian Tariff Penalty of 25%

pgnewser July 30, 2025 1

Trump announces 25% tariffs on India over ties to Russia– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday morning that he is authorizing 25% tariffs on India, which will take effect Aug. 1, due to the country’s import of Russian energy and military equipment.

“Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” the president said in a post on Truth Social.

“Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST,” he continued.

The Trump Economy Is Booming, and the Panicans Are Shattered– townhall.com

pgnewser July 30, 2025 0

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The inability to get Trump, for lack of a better term, reared its head again, as the legacy media and the panicans were left shattered and bloody over the latest economic report. They were lusting for a recession. They were hoping the tariffs would increase prices—neither of those things happened. Instead, what we got was a robust report of three percent economic growth in the second quarter. The experts were wrong again. They were off about inflation, tariffs—when will they hide away in a cave in abject shame? You don’t get it. You never will, and it’s time to admit you’ll never beat Trump, ever. Also, Powell, cut the rates, a sentiment echoed in White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s statement on today’s robust economic news:

 

Today, GDP growth came in above market expectations, and yesterday, consumer confidence rose. Americans trust in President Trump’s America First economic agenda that continues to prove the so-called ‘experts’ wrong. President Trump has reduced America’s reliance on foreign products, boosted investment in the US, and created thousands of jobs — delivering on his promise to Make America Wealthy Again. The data is clear, and there are no more excuses — now is the time for ‘too late’ Powell to cut the rates!”

Emergency Application Filed To Supreme Court Over Red State’s Age Verification Digital ID Law– wltreport.com

pgnewser July 30, 2025 0

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An internet trade group that represents social media giants, including Meta, TikTok, and X, filed an emergency application to the U.S. Supreme Court to block a Mississippi law that requires age verification for social media users.

NetChoice urged the high court to reinstate a preliminary injunction against Mississippi’s I.D.-for-Speech law, HB 1126.

“This law violates First Amendment rights while manufacturing a cybersecurity nightmare for families that want to use social media. It will force every Mississippian—adults and minors alike—to surrender their personal information to access fully protected online speech and expose families to unprecedented risks,” NetChoice said in a release.

“Indeed, Americans are increasingly using social media to find basic information and news, but this law would burden that access and violate our rights,” it continued.

“Free speech is under attack, and NetChoice is fighting back. Social media is the modern printing press—it allows all Americans to share their thoughts and perspectives. And, until now, Mississippians could do the same free from government interference. But Mississippi’s censorship regime would upend the status quo by forcing people to provide their sensitive, personal information just to access fully protected speech online. That is a massive First Amendment violation,” said Paul Taske, Co-Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center.

US Treasury Plans to Borrow $1 Trillion in Just the Next 3 Months– conservativeroof.com

pgnewser July 30, 2025 0

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The U.S. government will borrow more than $1 trillion over the next three months, the Treasury Department projects.

According to the latest marketable borrowing estimates, released on July 28, the Treasury expects to borrow $1.007 trillion during the July-to-September quarter.

This is nearly double the previous estimate of $554 billion in April, “primarily due to the lower beginning-of-quarter cash balance and projected lower net cash flows,” the Treasury said in a statement announcing the estimates.

During the October-to-December period, the Treasury anticipates that it will borrow $590 billion, assuming a cash balance of $850 billion at the end of December.

New data confirmed that the Treasury borrowed $65 billion during the April-to-June quarter and finished the quarter with a cash balance of $457 billion.

U.S. consumer confidence up – American Thinker– www.americanthinker.com

pgnewser July 30, 2025 0

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To the great disappointment of Trump haters, many Europeans, and too many others of that ilk not worth contaminating this site by mentioning their names, the nonpartisan and factual Conference Board calmly announced early this morning: US Consumer Confidence Inched Up in July

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® improved by 2.0 points in July to 97.2 (1985=100), from 95.2 in June (revised up by 2.2 points). The Present Situation Index — based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions — fell 1.5 points to 131.5. The Expectations Index — based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions — rose 4.5 points to 74.4. But expectations remained below the threshold of 80 that typically signals a recession ahead for the sixth consecutive month. The cutoff date for preliminary results was July 20, 2025.

“Consumer confidence has stabilized since May, rebounding from April’s plunge, but remains below last year’s heady levels,” said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at the Conference Board. “In July, pessimism about the future receded somewhat, leading to a slight improvement in overall confidence. All three components of the Expectation Index improved, with consumers feeling less pessimistic about future business conditions and employment, and more optimistic about future income.”

Oh.

Trump’s EU Trade Deal Was So Tremendous, American Media Outlets Are Criticizing It for Being Too Good– www.westernjournal.com

pgnewser July 30, 2025 0

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The mainstream media’s reaction to President Donald Trump’s trade agreement with the European Union was priceless, as multiple outlets had to admit he got the better end of the deal and achieved a huge victory.

Axios led the way with an article titled “Trump trade deals prove access to the U.S. still matters above all else,” stating that “in the Trump-dominated global economy, the U.S. gets plenty but gives nothing in return.”

They also highlighted “how far foreign leaders will go to safeguard access to the U.S. market,” and called the massive investments from the EU “eye-popping.”

The deal imposes a 15 percent tariff on almost all goods entering the U.S. from the E.U. and requires them to make massive investments in American energy.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the E.U.’s European Commission, said Europe will purchase $750 billion worth of U.S. energy as part of the deal, in addition to making $600 billion of investments in other U.S. endeavors.

The New York Times seemed dumbfounded with their Tuesday headline: “Europe Made Major Trade Concessions to Trump. How Did That Happen?”

NBC Implies EU Deal Was Done as a Distraction from Epstein– www.newsbusters.org

pgnewser July 28, 2025 0

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A weird A-block report on NBC’s Sunday Nightly News makes crystal clear the urgency of narrative for the legacy media. In this instance, a dirty frame sets up a palette cleanser following the lead story- the consequential trade agreement between the United States and Europe announced at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland.

Watch as Sunday anchor Hallie Jackson repurposes the “distraction from Epstein” narrative in order to reclaim viewer focus:

HALLIE JACKSON: Even overseas, the president

China buys banned NVIDIA AI chips on black market: Report– www.theblaze.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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Less than a day after the Trump administration announced its ambitious plan to lead the world in the AI industry, news broke that China has accessed high-tech AI chips on the black market despite U.S. industry protections, threatening America’s competitive advantage in the cutthroat industry.

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that China has been selling and receiving cutting-edge AI chips on the black market despite Trump’s export controls and tariffs to curb Chinese access to leading technologies.

‘Trying to cobble together data centers from smuggled products is a losing proposition, both technically and economically.’

The report went on to say that more than $1 billion worth of NVIDIA B200 chips has been sold on the black market in China. Lawyers familiar with the trade rules told FT that while it is legal to sell and receive restricted chips within China, on the condition that the proper tariffs are paid, entities selling and sending them to China would be violating U.S. regulations.

The report indicated that NVIDIA was not aware of these illegal sales by third parties.

Trump Says He’s ‘Thinking About’ Sending Tariff-Funded Rebate Checks To Americans– dailycaller.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was contemplating sending rebate checks to Americans using tariff revenue.

The U.S. government ran a $27 billion budget surplus in June, fueled partly by record tariff revenue, which exceeded $100 billion for the first time in a fiscal year, Reuters reported. When a reporter asked Trump at the White House if there was a chance of a rebate for Americans due to the revenue, the president said his administration was prioritizing paying off debt, but that a small rebate for some Americans was possible. (RELATED: Trump Locks In China Trade Deal, Keeps Pressure On Beijing)

WATCH:

“We’re thinking about that, actually. We have so much money coming in,” Trump said. “We’re thinking about a little rebate, but the big thing we want to do is pay down debt. But we’re thinking about a rebate.”

“That’s a very good question. You just made a lot of news,” he continued. “We’re thinking about a rebate because we have so much money coming in from tariffs that a little rebate for people of a certain income level might be very nice.”

Several Banks, Biz Groups Sue Disgraced Fed Chair Jerome Powell Accused of Purposefully Keeping Interest Rates High to Undermine President Trump’s Agenda.– gellerreport.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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Fed Chair Jerome Powell has just been sued, accused of purposefully keeping interest rates high to undermine President Trump’s agenda.

Bear in mind that interest rates for the EU’s main refinancing operations and the top-level refinancing facility are 2.0 percent.

Trump Says He May Send Rebate Checks to ‘People of a Certain Income Level’– www.westernjournal.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration is considering issuing rebate checks to some Americans due to the massive revenue surge from tariffs.

“We have so much money coming in,” Trump told reporters from the White House. “We’re thinking about a little rebate.”

He emphasized that his primary goal remains putting the country on a course toward fiscal responsibility.

“But the big thing we want to do is pay down debt,” he said. “But we’re thinking about a rebate.”

As reporters pressed for further details, Trump praised one in particular for starting what he categorized as an important discussion Americans might hear more of.

“That’s a very good question,” he said. “You just made a lot of news.”

More internet users in the US are ditching Google search for ChatGPT – Computerworld– www.computerworld.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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Using OpenAI’s ChatGPT instead of Google’s search engine is becoming more common in the US, according to a new survey of 1,000 people by Adobe Express. More than three-quarters (77%) of respondents say they use ChatGPT for searches — and 25% have it as their first choice.

Not surprisingly, children and young people in particular prefer ChatGPT to Google. What attracts them most: getting answers to everyday questions or getting creative inspiration. Users said they also appreciate the ability to get summaries of complicated topics and to avoid having to click on a lot of links.

Three in 10 people surveyed said they trust ChatGPT over other search engines, and 47% of marketers and business owners use ChatGPT to promote their business.

Anthropic unveils ‘auditing agents’ to test for AI misalignment– venturebeat.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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When models attempt to get their way or become overly accommodating to the user, it can mean trouble for enterprises. That is why it’s essential that, in addition to performance evaluations, organizations conduct alignment testing.

However, alignment audits often present two major challenges: scalability and validation. Alignment testing requires a significant amount of time for human researchers, and it’s challenging to ensure that the audit has caught everything. 

In a paper, Anthropic researchers said they developed auditing agents that achieved “impressive performance at auditing tasks, while also shedding light on their limitations.” The researchers stated that these agents, created during the pre-deployment testing of Claude Opus 4, enhanced alignment validation tests and enabled researchers to conduct multiple parallel audits at scale. Anthropic also released a replication of its audit agents on GitHub. 

“We introduce three agents that autonomously complete alignment auditing tasks. We also introduce three environments that formalize alignment auditing workflows as auditing games, and use them to evaluate our agents,” the researcher said in the paper. 

China sees surge in Nvidia AI chip repair businesses despite export bans– www.techspot.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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In brief: There’s a strange situation occurring in China: despite Nvidia’s high-end AI chips being restricted from export to the country, businesses that repair these GPUs are experiencing a boom in demand. One company now handles up to 500 AI chip repairs every month.

The US has restricted the export of Nvidia’s most powerful AI chips to China since 2022 over fears that they could be used for military purposes.

Although these chips aren’t officially available in the Asian nation, a booming repair business has emerged. Reuters reports that one firm in the country, which began fixing gaming GPUs 15 years ago and started including AI chips in 2024, created a new company to handle all accelerator-related customer repairs, which now account for 500 repairs per month.

The company has been advertising its extensive facilities on social media. It even boasts a room that can pack 256 servers to simulate customers’ data center environments.

It’s a lucrative business, with the firm charging between 10,000 yuan and 20,000 yuan ($1,400 to $2,800) to fix one of these GPUs depending on the complexity of the repair.

Volkswagen posts 29% drop in second-quarter profit as tariffs hit hard– www.cnbc.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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A worker performs a final check on new Volkswagen ID.3 electric cars at the Volkswagen plant on May 14, 2025 in Dresden, Germany.

Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Germany’s Volkswagen on Friday lowered its full-year guidance and reported a sharp drop in second-quarter profit, as the auto giant navigates the disruptive impact of U.S. tariffs.

Europe’s biggest carmaker posted operating profit of 3.83 billion euros ($4.49 billion) for the three months through June, down 29% from 5.4 billion euros a year ago.

Analysts had expected second-quarter profit to come in at 3.94 billion euros, according to a Factset-compiled consensus.

Philippines hopes to further lower tariff rate to around 15%, says ambassador to US– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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Romualdez told CNA’s Asia First: “Obviously, the special relations that we have with the United States on our defence alliance is an important part of this whole equation.

“However, like I said, it is still not a completely done deal as pointed out, because we still have time to be able to look into possibilities of bringing it lower.”

In terms of how Manila’s security cooperation with Washington influenced the economic terms of the deal, as well as the meeting between Trump and Marcos, Romualdez noted that both countries have inked several security agreements with commercial components.

“The US Congress had just approved that an ammunition manufacturing facility will be established in the Philippines. That … will create jobs,” he said.

Mexico doing ‘everything’ to avoid 30% US tariffs: Thursday’s mañanera recapped– mexiconewsdaily.com

pgnewser July 25, 2025 0

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At her Thursday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about her government’s efforts to stave off new U.S. tariffs that are due to take effect next week.

She also spoke about two significant reductions: one in the amount of fentanyl seized by U.S. authorities at the Mexico-U.S. border and another in the prevailing inflation rate in Mexico.

Here is a recap of the president’s July 24 mañanera.