America's Talking

(The Center Square) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that U.S. talks with China in London resulted in a tentative deal that still needs China's President Xi Jinping's final approval. The president announced the deal in an all-caps post on Truth Social. "FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA. LIKEWISE, WE WILL PROVIDE TO CHINA WHAT WAS AGREED TO, I...

(The Center Square) – The House barely passed a controversial rescissions package Thursday, pulling billions in already allocated federal funding from multiple foreign aid and public broadcasting programs. The Rescissions Act of 2025, compiled by the Office of Management and Budget, cancels $9.4 billion, including $8.3 billion for non-life saving foreign assistance and $1.1 billion for public broa...

(The Center Square) – Despite the White House’s assertions that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will not add to the federal debt or deficit, four independent budget watchdogs agree that debt growth will accelerate and reach over $50 trillion by 2034, if the policy megabill becomes law. As emphasized Friday by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Budget Lab at Yale predicts $52.3 trillion, the Cong...

(The Center Square) – The man charged in Sunday’s terrorist attack in Boulder told law enforcement that he had no regrets for his actions and would “do it again” if released. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian national illegally in the country, is being held in the Boulder County Jail on a $10 million bond. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the attack at Tuesday's W...

(The Center Square) – In another blow to Harvard University, the Trump administration has moved to cancel federal contracts with the Ivy League school. The General Services Administration announced that it is working with various federal agencies to “review” government contracts with the university in preparation to “terminate” or “transition” the contracts. The move by the independent federal gov...

(The Center Square) – Republicans’ behemoth budget reconciliation bill still faces major hurdles after passing the U.S. House last week, with multiple senators raising concerns about the legislation’s cost. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act in its current form hikes the debt ceiling by $4 trillion and funds large swaths of Trump’s tax, border, energy, and defense agenda, including codifying President...

(The Center Square) – The Trump administration is moving forward with his Golden Dome missile defense system that is similar to Israel's. The administration has selected an architecture firm for the advanced missile-defense system, and Trump’s "big, beautiful" budget bill before Congress  has allotted $25 billion for its initial construction. President Donald Trump said Tuesday the dome would cost...

(The Center Square) – The budget bill containing many of President Donald Trump’s fiscal priorities and campaign promises narrowly passed the House of Representatives early Thursday morning in a 215-214 vote, and now the White House is “suiting up” to get the bill through the Senate. The president has been vocal about the passage of the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" for months, calling on Republicans...

(The Center Square) – Leaders in both political parties are showing former President Joe Biden their support after Biden announced he is dealing with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Biden’s personal office released a statement Sunday saying he had prostate cancer “characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone." “Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote on X Mo...

(The Center Square) – U.S. stocks soared Monday after the world's two largest economies reached a temporary trade deal to significantly lower tariffs while talks continue. The Dow gained 2.8% to close at 42,410, above where it closed on April 2 before President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs drove markets down. The S&P 500 gained 3.26% on the day while the Nasdaq was up 4.3%, entering a n...

(The Center Square) – Federal authorities are investigating whether a message posted on social media by former FBI Director James Comey was meant to be a threat against President Donald Trump. Comey, who was fired by Trump in his first term, posted an image on Instagram Thursday of seashells in the sand spelling the numbers "8647." The number "86" often is used to refer to getting rid of something...

(The Center Square) — Legislators rejected seven bills on Tuesday that would have greatly hindered the development of carbon capture and sequestration, a major blow to Louisiana constituents concerned about eminent domain and CO2 leaks. Only one bill moved through the House Natural Resources Committee. Senate Bill 73, from Sen. Mike Reese, R-Beauregard, passed without objection. The bill requires...

(The Center Square) – Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that travelers without Real ID-compliant cards will still be able to board flights – for now – even when the law takes effect on Wednesday. "What will happen tomorrow is folks will come through the line, and [they] will issue their ID and show it," Noem told lawmakers on Tuesday. "If it's not compliant, they may be diverted...

(The Center Square) – As the final House committees markup the lion’s share of the budget reconciliation package, nearly three dozen fiscally conservative lawmakers are reminding party leaders to fulfill their spending reduction promises. The $5.8 trillion concurrent budget resolution, which gives congressional committees funding directions to pass President Donald Trump’s tax and other policy goa...

(The Center Square) – The crypto company Ripple recently offered big money to purchase the company best known for issuing the USDC stablecoin. Ripple, best known for its XRP token, offered somewhere between $4 billion and $5 billion to take over Circle Internet Group Inc. However, its proposal was rejected by Circle, Bloomberg reports. The offer would have consolidated two prominent stablecoin com...

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended a Milwaukee judge facing two federal charges for allegedly trying to help a man illegally in the country escape from immigration officials. The order, released late Tuesday, said Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan faces two federal charges – one a felony and one a misdemeanor – and it is in the public interest to relieve her of her dutie...

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump delivered remarks at a rally in Michigan Tuesday evening, his 100th day in office of his second term. Trump touted his progress cutting federal waste, “protecting workers, restoring the rule of law” and ending illegal immigration as part of “the most successful 100 days in the history of any administration.” “Instead of putting China first, I'm putting...

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump's goals for the Department of Government Efficiency remain even as leader Elon Musk prepares to spend less time on government matters and more time with electric vehicle maker Tesla. When Trump first created DOGE, before taking office, he said it would be the government cost-cutting equivalent of the "Manhattan Project." Both Trump and Musk promised Ame...

(The Center Square) – Americans aren’t thrilled with how President Donald Trump is handling the economy, despite the economy and immigration being his top-performing issues in polls leading up to the election. The president’s overall job approval ratings are barely distinguishable from how he’s polling on the economy, according to The Center Square Voters' Voice poll conducted by Noble Predictive...

(The Center Square) – A nonprofit public-interest litigation firm filed a lawsuit Monday alleging President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs require congressional approval. The Liberty Justice Center, based in Texas, challenged the administration's reciprocal tariffs, which Trump announced on April 2 and suspended on April 9, hours after they went into effect. The Liberty Justice Center fil...

(The Center Square) – As Americans file their taxes at the last minute this April 15, the federal debt – and Americans’ federal debt burden – continues to grow. While the federal government reports a national debt nearing $37 trillion, one budget watchdog says the figure is actually much higher: $158.6 trillion, amounting to $974,000 for each federal taxpayer. Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit budg...

(The Center Square) − A Louisiana jury's decision last week to award $745 million in damages against Chevron has become the latest flashpoint in the national legal battle over climate accountability, drawing fierce reactions from industry allies, legal reform advocates, and watchdog groups warning of broader implications. The verdict, issued by the 25th Judicial District Court in Plaquemines Paris...

(The Center Square) – The massive crackdown on illegal immigration at the southern border is making the U.S. safer, but there’s more work to do, border czar Tom Homan told Arizona lawmakers during a joint session of the Legislature Tuesday. “In a matter of weeks, we’ve had illegal border crossings down 94%. President (Donald) Trump did in five weeks what Joe Biden wouldn’t do in four years,” said...

(The Center Square) – As Senate Republicans work on the floor to pass a compromise budget resolution, fiscal watchdogs are warning that permanently extending President Donald Trump’s tax cuts will have dire consequences. The Senate’s amendment to the House’s $4.5 trillion budget resolution would theoretically subtract $3.8 trillion from the price tag by adopting a current policy baseline, which tr...

Trade between the world's two largest economies could soon come to a standstill as the U.S. and China dig in on trade war. President Donald Trump hit China with 145% tariffs on imports from the globe's second-largest economy. China hit back with 125% tariffs, but said there's no point in going higher. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-...