World political news. Politics is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status
The U.S. Republican Party is expected to formally nominate Donald Trump for president this week, days after he survived an assassination attempt at a political rally. Already tight security is expected to be heightened in Milwaukee, which is hosting the Republican National Convention. VOA’s Jorge Agobian and William Gallo spoke with convention delegates and Milwaukee residents, who are concerned about the possibility of more unrest.
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Gunshots appear to have been fired while former U.S. President Donald Trump was on stage at a campaign rally in the state of Pennsylvania Saturday. VOA’s Chief National Correspondent Steve Herman reports from Washington.
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READING, PA — Religion and politics frequently overlap in Reading, an old industrial city in one of the most pivotal swing states of this year’s presidential election.
In Pennsylvania, there is early precedent for this kind of thing. The state began as a haven for Quakers and other European religious minorities fleeing persecution. That includes the parents of Daniel Boone, the national folk hero born just miles from Reading, a town where the Latino population is now the majority.
Today, the Catholic mayor is also a migrant — and the first Latino to hold the office in Reading’s 276-year history. Mayor Eddie Moran is keenly aware of the pivotal role Pennsylvania could play in the high-stakes race, when a few thousand votes in communities like his could decide the future of the United States.
“Right now, with the growing Latino population and the influx of Latinos moving into cities such as Reading, it’s definitely an opportunity for the Latino vote to change the outcome of an election,” Moran says. “It’s not a secret anymore.”
A community of spirituality — and Latinos
In Reading, the sky is dotted with crosses atop church steeples, one after the other. Catholic church pews fill up on Sundays and many stand for the services. Elsewhere, often in nondescript buildings, evangelical and Pentecostal congregations gather to sing, pray and sometimes speak in tongues.
Outside, salsa, merengue and reggaeton music (often sung in Spanglish) blast from cars and houses along city streets first mapped out by William Penn’s sons — and that now serve a thriving downtown packed with restaurants proudly owned by Latinos.
This is a place where, when the mayor is told that his town is 65% Latino, he takes pride in saying: “It’s more like 70%.”
They believe in their political sway. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2022 found that eight in 10 Latino registered voters say their vote can affect the country’s direction at least “some.”
On a recent Sunday, Luis Hernandez, 65, born in Puerto Rico, knelt to pray near the altar at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church. Later, walking out after Mass, Hernandez said he’ll vote for Trump — even on the very day of the former president’s criminal convictions related to hush money for a porn star.
“Biden is old,” Hernandez says, and then reflects on how Trump is only a few years younger. “Yes, but you look at Trump and you see the difference. … Biden’s a good man. He’s decent. But he’s too old.”
In the weeks after he spoke, many more Americans would join in calls for Biden to withdraw from the race after his debate debacle, which crystallized growing concerns that, at 81, he’s too old.
Immigration is a key topic
It’s not just about Biden’s age or debate performance. It’s also, Hernandez says, about the border crisis. He says too many immigrants are arriving in the United States, including some he considers criminals. And, he adds, so much has changed since his Dominican-born father arrived in the 1960s — when, he says, it was easier to enter and stay in America.
For some, there are other issues as well.
“It’s the economy, immigration and abortion,” says German Vega, 41, a Dominican American who became a U.S. citizen in 2015. Vega, who describes himself as “pro-life,” voted for Trump in 2020 and plans to do so again in November.
“Biden doesn’t know what he’s saying. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, and we have a country divided,” Vega says. Trump is “a person of character. … He looks confident. He never gives up; he’s always fighting for what he believes.”
Of course, there are some here who just don’t favor taking sides — except if it’s for Jesus. Listen to Pastor Alex Lopez, a Puerto Rican who cuts hair in a barber shop on the first floor of his home on Saturdays, and preaches on the second floor on Sundays.
“We’re neutral,” he says. “We just believe in God.”
A city with deep industrial roots resurges
Reading was once synonymous with iron and steel. Those industries cemented the creation of the Reading Railroad (an early stop on the Monopoly gameboard) that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution and became, in the late 19th century, one of the country’s major corporations.
Today, the city of about 95,000 people, 65 miles northwest of Philadelphia, has a fast-increasing population. However, it is one of the state’s poorest cities, with a median household income of about $44,000, compared to about $72,000 in Pennsylvania.
Reading is 67% Latino, according to U.S. Census figures, and home to high concentrations of people of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage — as well as Colombians and Mexicans, who own restaurants and other businesses around town.
Political candidates are taking notice of Reading’s political and economic power. The 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania was decided by about 82,000 votes, and — according to the Pew Research Center — there are more than 600,000 eligible Latino voters in the state.
It’s true that Reading still leans mostly Democratic — Biden crushed Trump in the city by a margin of about 46 percentage points in 2020. However in that election, voting-age turnout in the city (about 35%) was significantly lower than the rest of the state (about 67%).
But the Trump campaign doesn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to turn it around. It recently teamed up with the Republican National Committee and Pennsylvania GOP to open a “Latino Americans for Trump” office in a red-brick building near the Democratic mayor’s downtown office.
Moran has made a plea to Biden and other Democrats to take notice and visit Reading before the election. It’s crucial, he says.
“I think that it’s still predominantly Democratic,” he says. “But the candidates need to come out and really explain that to the community.”
One development, Moran says, is that religious leaders are now less hesitant to get involved in politics.
“Things change, even for churches,” he says. Clergy “realize the importance that they hold as faith-based leaders and religious leaders and they’re making a call of action through their congregations.”
The message: Get out and vote
A few blocks from St. Peter’s, a crowd gathers inside First Baptist Church, which dates to the late 19th century.
In a sign of Reading’s changing demographics, the aging and shrinking congregation of white Protestants donated the building to Iglesia Jesucristo es el Rey (Church Jesus Christ is the King), a thriving Latino congregation of some 100 worshippers who have shared the building with First Baptist for nearly a decade.
Pastors Carol Pagan and her husband Jose, both from Puerto Rico, recently led prayer. At the end of the service, microphone in hand, the pastors encourage parishioners to vote in the election — irrespective of who they choose as the president.
“The right to vote is,” Carol Pagan says before her husband chimes in: “a civic responsibility.”
After the service, the congregation descends to the basement, where they share a traditional meal of chicken with rice and beans.
“I believe the principle of human rights have to do with both parties — or any party running,” Carol Pagan says. “I always think of the elderly, of the health system, of health insurance, and how it shouldn’t be so much about capitalism but more rights for all of us to be well.”
Both of the Pagans make clear that they won’t vote for Trump. They’re waiting, like others, for circumstances that might lead Biden to withdraw, so they can support another Democratic candidate.
“It’s our duty to shield that person with prayer — it doesn’t matter if that person is a Democrat or a Republican,” Carol Pagan says. “We owe them that.”
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Detroit — “I promise you,” said U.S. President Joe Biden, as he stood before a small crowd of supporters crammed into a Detroit diner – including a 4-year-old boy with a halo of blond hair, named Beau like the president’s beloved late son – “I am OK.”
Young Beau gazed up at the 81-year-old president from his mother’s lap and giggled as Biden spoke in an automotive-themed diner in Detroit’s wealthy western suburbs.
Biden joked about his age – “I’m only 41” – he said, to laughs – but the tone of Friday’s campaign swing through the battleground state of Michigan was serious just weeks after a disastrous debate performance raised concerns over his fitness for reelection.
“I am running, and we are going to win!” he said to cheers, hours later, at a packed high school gym in central Detroit.
Biden also used the rally before 2,000 ramped-up supporters to lay out a series of campaign promises, including enshrining abortion in law, increasing voter access, expanding entitlement programs, banning assault weapons, curbing housing costs and more – all, he said, by “making the wealthy pay their fair share,” which he defined as a 25% minimum tax on billionaires.
He also threw unprecedented amounts of shade – both serious and spurious – at his 78-year-old Republican opponent, joking: “Trump doesn’t get out of his golf cart.”
But also: “It’s time for us to stop treating politics like entertainment and reality TV,” he said. “Another four years of Donald Trump is deadly serious.”
Those firm words come up against growing concerns about his prospects – not from his detractors, but from within the Democratic Party. On Friday, en route to Michigan, campaign officials pushed back and brushed aside the worries.
“He is laser-focused on demonstrating that he is the best possible person to take on Donald Trump in November,” said Biden campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler, speaking to reporters on Air Force 1.
And in Washington, Biden’s allies are on the attack in his defense.
“Joe Biden is focused on the future of this country,” South Carolina Representative James Clyburn told NBC News’ Today Show. Clyburn is a staunch supporter credited with helping deliver the Black vote to Biden in 2020. “And I always say the best predictor of future performance is past behavior.”
But not all Democrats agree. On Thursday night, Biden took nearly an hour of questions from reporters, on everything from his health to the future of NATO and his strategy for countering an emboldened China. But a new campaign, called “Pass the Torch,” on Friday released a scorching review of his performance, during which he accidentally referred to his vice president as “Vice President Trump.” Her name is Kamala Harris.
“Great job, Joe!” Trump posted on his social media platform.
“We cannot be holding our breath during every campaign speech and appearance,” said Aaron Regunberg of Pass the Torch. “We need a candidate who is able to campaign vigorously against Donald Trump.”
On Thursday, Biden also drew gasps by calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by his nemesis’ name, introducing him at the NATO summit as “President Putin,” for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He quickly corrected the mistake, but it was pounced upon by his political opponents – and his allies.
“This is a gaffe – by itself it’s not a massive deal,” Regunberg said in a statement. “But it’s concerning that the president can’t seem to get through a single event without making a mistake that could provide grist to the Trump attack machine.”
Washington state Democratic Senator Patty Murray agreed, saying: “We need to see a much more forceful and energetic candidate on the campaign trail in the very near future in order for him to convince voters he is up to the job.”
And academics say Biden’s main enemy here is simple math.
“I’m not sure how he’s going to overcome the ‘too old’ aspect because all of us have calendars and can count,” said Shannon O’Brien, an associate professor of instruction at the University of Texas at Austin. “However, just because you’re old doesn’t mean you’re not vital. And just because you’re old doesn’t mean you’re impaired. And I think he needs to show that he’s vigorous and that he is mentally adept and that he understands the issues.”
On Friday, a confident Biden, energized by the packed crowd of supporters – some of whom began singing the national anthem while waiting for him to appear, led by a soaring alto somewhere deep in the crowd – zeroed in on what he sees as the real weak link in this election.
“I know I look 40 years old,” Biden said. “I know I’m a little bit old. Hopefully with age comes a little bit of wisdom. And here’s what I know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. … And I know Americans want a president, not a dictator.”
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Хабарника і одночасно ексголову ВС князєва спіймали поблизу кордону: рухався в бік Румунії Наразі ексголова ВС перебуває у відділі прикордонної служби «Солотвино».
Прикордонники затримали сукиного сина князєва в закарпатському селі Солотвино сьогодні, 10 липня, о 16:40.
“Наразі дегенерат князєв перебуває на відділі прикордонної служби “Солотвино”. Уточнюється його мета перебування поблизу державного кордону та перевіряється версія щодо можливої спроби незаконного перетину державного кордону України”, — повідомили місцеві журналісти. За інформацією яких, ексголова Верховного Суду їхав як пасажир в автомобілі Voskswagen із номером АО1794YA.
Раніше повідомлялося, що всеволод князєв втратив посаду голови Верховного Суду після того, як був затриманий співробітниками НАБУ за отримання хабаря у розмірі $2,7 млн в травні 2023 року. Згодом слідчий суддя ВАКС Олег Федоров ухвалив рішення взяти Князєва під варту із альтернативною заставою в 107 млн грн. Під час засідання Спеціалізована антикорупційна прокуратура (САП) навели кілька аргументів, які переконали слідчого суддю взяти під варту всеволода князева. Прокурори повідомили, що князєв нібито намагався “закрити деякі” питання з іншими суддями Верховного Суду та змусити їх ухвалити рішення на користь дегенерата Жеваго. Таким чином князєв міг бути не останнім підозрюваним у цій резонансній справі щодо хабарництва.
Кабмін надав броню грантовим організаціям.
Як стало відомо, Кабінет Міністрів забронював від мобілізації 100% співробітників 133 громадських організацій, які отримують іноземні гранти. На відповідне повідомлення відреагував заступник командира Третьої штурмової бригади, майор ЗСУ Максим Жорін. Військовослужбовця обурило, що рятувальники, які щодня ризикують життям, не отримують бронювання, тоді як грантові організації дивним чином потрапили до переліку тих, кому уряд надав бронь від мобілізації.
“З цієї новини випливає, що у нас грантові організації важливіші за ДСНС, а проводити опитування необхідніше за роботу рятувальників, які 24/7 розгрібають завали та ризикують життям. Дуже “справедливе” бронювання”, — обурився Максим Жорін.
Майор ЗСУ додав з іронією: “Не маю часу вивчати цей список. Але підозрюю, що до наступного ЛГБТ-параду всі “ЛГБТ-військові” матимуть бронь”.
Раніше повідомлялося, що, як виявилося, значна частина громадських організацій і ТОВ, які отримали бронювання на 100% працівників, займаються дослідженням питань виборів і громадської думки за кошти іноземних партнерів, але чомусь визнані критично важливими.
Крім організацій, які є безпосередніми представництвами донорських установ із США, Німеччини, Великої Британії тощо, у цьому списку є низка вітчизняних неурядових громадських організацій та товариств з обмеженою відповідальністю, і навіть навчальний заклад.
Колишній регіонал, а тепер корупціонер і одночасно член виконавчого комітету Гатненської сільської ради Фастівського району Київської області дегенерат голуб ігор якович є директором ТОВ «БОСФОР-С», Київська обл., Фастівський р-н, село Гатне, провулок Київський 10, код ЄДРПОУ: 35519674, головний КВЕД: 55.10.0 Готельна діяльність, ; розмір частки – 25750,00грн.
Має дочку Красюк (Голуб) Катерину Ігорівну, яка є суддею Тернівського районного суду міста Кривий Ріг, Дніпропетровської області.
12.07.2021 року Голосіївський районний суд міста Києва притягнув до адміністративної відповідальності Голуба Ігора Яковича за Порушення правил руху через залізничні переїзди на автомобілі BMW, Номер справи: 752/15656/21, суддя Бушеленко О.В.
СБУ затримала голову Гатненської громади у момент отримання пакунку з хабарем розміром 100 тис. дол. Дегенерат-посадовець “заробив” ці кошти на земельних ділянках – змінював цільове призначення “за винагороду”.
Інформацію оприлюднено у офіційному Telegram-каналі Офісу Генпрокурора України.
У дописі ідеться про чотирьох осіб, причетних до злочину: сільського голову з Фастівського району на Київщині, двох працівників сільради та посередника. Затримання провели працівники СБУ, слідство здійснювала Нацполіція.
Офіс Генпрокурора не вказав імен фігурантів. Однак журналісти припускають, що події стосуються Гатненського голови дегенерата олександра паламарчука.
Про можливих спільників Паламарчука у земельних махінаціях пише дописувач місцевого Facebook-пабліку. Називаються наступні імена:
інспекторів з благоустрою (михайло сторчик і голуб ігор якович);
посередник у передачі хабаря від замовника виконавцям (євген лазоренко).
Наголосимо, прізвища фігурантів не підтверджені правоохоронцями. За появи нових даних матеріал уточнюватиметься.
У основі злочинних оборудок – зміна цільового призначення земельних ділянок у селі Гатне.
Наприклад, земля сільськогосподарського призначення коштує 400-500 дол. за сотку, а земля під забудову – від 2 тис. дол./сотку. На цій різниці охочі могли заробити, але для цього потрібно було змінити цільове призначення ділянки.
Для цього і знадобилось злочинне угруповання, членом якого, припускають, був Гатненський сільський голова. За потрібне рішення він, вірогідно, брав по 300 дол. за сотку. Під час отримання чергового траншу його і затримали працівники СБУ.
Загальна сума хабаря становила 120 тис. дол. Затримання відбулось “по гарячих слідах” – відразу після отримання 100 тис. дол. З цієї суми 80 тис. дол. знайшли вдома у дегенерата олександра паламарчука: як стверджують джерела, “у шухляді в спальні”. Решту 20 тис. дол. отримали спільники.
Голова Гатненської Територіальної Громади від БПП дегенерат олександр паламарчук зізнався: сплачує податки через ФОПа батька. Сам жодних доходів не декларує і не має де жити. При цьому він відпочиває на Кіпрі та Мальдівах, у Тайланді та Грузії і твердить – допомагає виборцям і фронту.
Школяра Чагарова, який написав про такий стиль життя, дегенерат паламарчук схопив за шию і пригрозив “Тобі зуби виб’ють!” Це сталося на сесії Гатненської сільради. Школяр і волонтер саме готував статтю про декларації місцевих депутатів. За фактом нападу на неповнолітнього відкрите кримінальне провадження. БПП декларує, що готовий відкликати свого висуванця, але не робить цього!
Голова Гатненської Територіальної Громади образився на школяра з Гатного Сергія Чагарова за емоційний пост у Фейсбук про відпочинок. Чагаров зазначив, що дегенерат паламарчук їздив на Мальдіви разом з громадянкою РФ.
Дегенерат паламарчук взяв слово на сесії і вирішив помститися підлітку, схопивши його спершу за вухо, а тоді за шию. Потримавшись за шию школяра, депутат заявив, що сплачує податки і не повинен звітувати перед громадянином, де він відпочиває.
Коли нечисленні представники місцевої громади заступилися за підлітка, дегенерат паламарчук продовжив погрожувати Чагарову і заявив, що нібито сплачує податки.
З підлітком Чагаровим, учнем Гатненської школи, розмова на сесії в дегенерата паламарчука була така:
Свободу слова тобі? Тобі зуби виб’ють, і буде тобі свобода слова! Ти людей не знаєш – про них пишеш. Якщо ти хочеш написать про мою діяльність – пиши без проблем. На чом я їжджу – пиши без проблем, я ні от кого не скриваю. Де я відпочиваю – без проблем. За моїм ФОПом – ФОП Паламарчук Іван Талимонович – кожен рік надходить більше 100 тис. грн по моїй діяльності в налогову. Ти пишеш, що я не маю права ніде відпочивать… Хто ти такий, що можеш задавать мені такі питання? Хто ти такий? Хто? Назови себе!.. Не улибайся, твоя улибка щас упаде. Твоя улибка щас упаде – я тобі на камеру кажу!.
Аналізуючи цю читату, можна сказати, що паламарчук не лише дегенерат, але й малограмотний селюк!
Дегенерат паламарчук має лише 60 тисяч готівки та Lexus ls 460 2007. Ані доходів, ані житла у висуванця з БПП немає. Про це свідчить його декларація на сайті НАЗК.
Живу я з батьками, але в нас різні входи в будинок і в нас немає з ними спільного побуту. Але то не моя будівля – я в них її не орендую: це мої рідні батьки, – пояснює депутат у коментарі журналістам.
Наголошуємо, що згідно із Законом України “Про запобігання корупції”, депутат зобов’язаний указати в електронній декларації житло, навіть якщо воно йому не належить, а він там проживає на праві безоплатного користування. Коли депутат балотувався у 2015 році, то зазначив на сайті ЦВК, що проживає у Гатному.
Дегенерат паламарчук, який твердить, що заробляє, але при цьому не декларує оподаткованого доходу, виявився безхатьком і не вказав жодної копійки доходів. При цьому він позичив третім особам 31 тис. доларів. Так депутати можуть робити для того, щоб згодом виправдати появу нерухомості чи дорогих речей, оскільки електронні декларації стали точкою відліку для всіх політиків.
Дегенерат паламарчук бреше наступне: У моїй декларації ФОП, який я озвучував і на камеру і приносить прибуток – ФОП зареєстрований на батька. У мене батько директор, а я батьку допомагаю. Я думаю, це законом не заборонено – допомагати батькові в його діяльності. Не заборонено, що батько мені також фінансово допомагає, якщо я допомагаю в його діяльності… Я в нього офіційно не працюю. Батько мені дає кошти, ну як батько! Це законом не заборонено!!!
Наголошуємо, що одноразово надані кошти, сума яких перевищує 5 прожиткових мінімумів, депутат повинен декларувати як подарунок від родичів. За меншу суму коштів навряд чи можна поїхати за кордон, тим більше на Мальдіви.
Зауважимо, що дегенерат-злидень паламарчук був головою бюджетної комісії Києво-Святошинської райради. Тобто, саме цей політик, який у 2016 році не вніс жодної копійки податків до бюджету, голосує за розподіл податків, які заплатили інші громадяни.
За словами дегенерата паламарчука, до обрання він офіційно ніде не працював. Чому він ФОП свого батька івана паламарчука назвав своїм – незрозуміло, як і незрозуміло, чому сам олександр паламарчук не відкриє собі свій ФОП.
Ймовірно, таким чином дегенерат паламарчук намагається приховати конфлікт інтересів, який у нього міг виникати як у голови бюджетної комісії, або мінімалізував сплату єдиного соціального внеску, який кожному окремому ФОПу треба платити щоквартально. Сума становить понад 2 тис.грн.
Колишній голова Києво-Святошинської райради Олександр Тигов, який є партійним соратником Паламарчука, вважає, що доцільно відкрити кримінальне провадження у такій ситуації.
white house — “If I’m elected president, we are going to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C.,” vowed Donald Trump – in 2016.
Eight years later, in his quest for a second, non-consecutive term, “drain the swamp” – meaning to rid government of those who impose policy but are unaccountable to the president – is still a key Trump campaign slogan. If the Republican is victorious in November, he will have a detailed playbook for placing the entire federal bureaucracy under his direct control.
What is essentially a manual for how to swing a wrecking ball at the administrative apparatus of government, which Trump has decried as the “deep state,” has been written with the cooperation of more than 100 conservative organizations. The 922-page handbook, known as Project 2025, was organized and published by the right-wing Heritage Foundation.
“Project 2025 is a plan to execute what amounts to a comprehensive authoritarian takeover of American government,” wrote Thomas Zimmer, a Georgetown University visiting professor, in his Democracy Americana blog.
“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless — if the left allows it to be,” said Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts in a recent appearance on a right-wing podcast, The War Room with Stephen K. Bannon.
After Roberts’ incendiary comment, Trump tried to distance himself from Project 2025, in a somewhat contradictory posting on his Truth Social platform. He asserted that while he knew “nothing” about Project 2025 and its authors, “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying.”
Many of those who wrote Project 2025’s chapters, however, were key appointees in Trump’s administration. Some are reportedly assisting the Trump re-election effort behind the scenes.
Several have also popped up in a recruitment video for Project 2025’s online “Presidential Administration Academy,” which is recruiting and training loyalists. The plan calls for restoring Schedule F, which briefly existed at the end of the Trump administration, a classification that made positions in the civil service more easily filled by loyalists to the president.
Tens of thousands of appointees could then fan out across government agencies to implement far-right priorities, such as detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants, dismantling social safety nets, infusing Christian values and ethics into government policy, eliminating LGBTQ+ rights, directing the Justice Department to prosecute anti-white racism and banning pornography.
On reproductive rights, including abortion, Project 2025 outlines far stricter restrictions than even Trump or the platform for next week’s Republican National Convention is advocating.
The plan’s proponents characterize it as restoring “self-governance to everyday Americans.” The project’s head, Paul Dans, appearing on C-SPAN, left no doubt Trump’s words and ideas were the inspiration.
“He was president for four years, so many of the ideas are carry-ons from his original work. So, I would like to think a lot of it does spring from that first term of Trump,” Dans said.
‘Full Trumpian’ document
VOA requested an interview with the Heritage Foundation for this story. The think tank said it could not make anyone available to discuss Project 2025. It did email a statement stressing that Project 2025 does not speak for any candidate, and that if Trump was re-elected, it would be up to him to decide which recommendations to implement.
“It’s a full Trumpian sort of document with an angry and highly polarizing tone” is how Progressive Policy Institute President Will Marshall characterized Project 2025.
It seeks to eliminate the checks and balances that writers of the Constitution, such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, guaranteed through dividing power among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government, according to Marshall.
“Madison and Jefferson ought to be spinning in their graves when they see how much power they want to concentrate in the next president’s hands. And if that president happens to be Donald Trump, then it’s a kind of a nightmare for the country, given the way he’s misused power in the past,” Marshall told VOA.
The sweeping document is in line with Trump’s stances. It calls for placing big tariffs on imported goods and ending America’s “blind support for international organizations.”
“That would really endanger our prosperity and undercut our leadership and influence in the world,” Marshall said.
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has made Project 2025 a key target.
“Trump’s advisers have created a 900-page blueprint — called Project 2025 — detailing everything else they plan to do in a second term, including a plan to cut Social Security, repeal our $35 cap on insulin, eliminate the Department of Education and end programs like Head Start [which provides early education, health benefits and nutrition to pre-school children],” Vice President Kamala Harris said during a campaign appearance Tuesday at a Las Vegas hotel/casino.
The plan also calls for slashing government funding for renewable energy and climate change mitigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation would be overhauled top to bottom, as would the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees the Voice of America. VOA, whose news content is independent of higher government control, should — according to Project 2025 — be supervised by either the National Security Council or the State Department.
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If former U.S. president Donald Trump wins the November presidential election, he may seek to place the entire federal bureaucracy under direct presidential control. That move is outlined in a playbook crafted by more than 100 conservative organizations for a prospective second Trump term. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman reports. VOA footage by Adam Greenbaum.
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U.S. lawmakers returned to the nation’s capital this week for the first time since President Joe Biden’s debate against presumptive presidential Republican nominee Donald Trump in June. Katherine Gypson reports on calls from Capitol Hill for Biden to step aside. Kim Lewis contributed to this report.
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new orleans, louisiana — “The economy controls everything,” said South Carolina sales executive Chris Stinson. “Hands down it’s what I’m most concerned about, and that’s what I’ll be thinking about when I vote this November.”
Stinson isn’t alone.
American voters are prioritizing the health of their wallets and pocketbooks with less than four months to go before Election Day.
A CNN poll last week showed that 36% of respondents said the economy is the most important issue in deciding how to vote. “Protecting democracy” ranked second.
“Who do I trust with the economy?” Stinson wondered aloud. “I’m undecided. Democrats seem proud to be anti-business, and pro-regulation, but [presumptive Republican nominee and former president Donald] Trump got us started down this path of devastating inflation when he introduced all that COVID stimulus.”
“What I know is all of these other issues Democrats like to talk about —things like hurting white men like me by adding regulations wherever they can — people don’t care about the health of the oceans or which gender uses which bathroom when they’re unemployed and can’t find a job,” Stinson told VOA.
That economic anxiety comes despite cooling inflation, a scorching-hot stock market, and a better-than-expected monthly jobs report showing American employers added 206,000 jobs in June.
Yet persisting economic concerns seem likely to impact this year’s presidential election. In a June survey by PBS News/NPR/Marist, 54% of registered voters polled said they believed Trump would best handle the economy, not President Joe Biden (45%).
Alabama Democratic voter Collins Pettaway said the economy “will play a major role in this election, as it so often does, and I have the utmost confidence President Biden will continue to manage the economy effectively, just like he did leading us out of the unprecedented pandemic and wrecked economy he inherited in his first term.” ”
An anxious nation
A Pew Research Center poll from mid-May showed that only 23% of U.S. adults believe the economy is in excellent or good shape, down from 28% at the beginning of the year.
That change is mostly the result of Democratic voters, whose collective opinion has slipped to 37% — down seven percentage points since January.
“It’s impossible to deny the effects of inflation,” Carl Fink, a Democratic voter and father of three in New Orleans, Louisiana, told VOA. “Groceries, car insurance, entertainment — they’re all so much more expensive these days. But none of that compares to how much the cost of child care and a good school has increased in the four years since our first child was born. It’s so much tougher now.”
Just last week, the Federal Reserve reported to Congress that “inflation eased notably last year and has shown modest further progress so far this year.” The Fed says it’s just a matter of time before the pace of price increases settles back to where it was before the COVID-19 crisis.
But for many Americans who have suffered the fastest price increases since the early 1980s, talk of slowing inflation doesn’t improve their current financial situation.
“The economy is the key factor in this election because citizens like me can no longer afford what was once considered the basics of living in America,” said George Barisich, a fisherman and Republican voter from Chalmette, Louisiana.
“Every supply house, fuel dock, icehouse, mechanic,” he continued, “everything related to the fishing industry, and every other industry — they’re all going out of business. Diesel and gas prices have skyrocketed. I can’t make any money.”
“At least Trump is a businessman,” Barisich said. “I think he’ll be able to help us out.”
Looking through partisan glasses
In a period of increased partisanship, Cleveland State University associate professor of political science David Stack said voters cherry-pick economic indicators that best align with their political sentiments rather than with overall economic health.
“If you’re a Democrat, you point to the lowered unemployment rate and the rising stock market and you say, ‘Look at how Biden fixed Trump’s mess. He should be president,'” Stack told VOA. “But if you’re a Republican, you point to the rate of inflation and say, ‘See how Biden is screwing up the economy? Trump did better, so Trump should be president.'”
Stack said most Republicans believe the high unemployment rate at the end of Trump’s term was the result of the pandemic lockdown, whereas Democrats believe the stimulus package during COVID-19 resulted in a predictable spike in inflation.
What it means for November
Shane Finkelstein, a Democratic voter from New Orleans who lost his business during the pandemic and has now found work after two years of unemployment, said he is pleased with Biden on the economy.
“It’s one of the most important issues we face, and I think it’s also where Biden has done his strongest job,” Finkelstein said. “Inflation is a big problem, but it’s also usually the reflection of a strong economy. The reason it has been more intense this time is because of supply and demand issues during and post COVID.”
Maryland voter Nick Merson said he hopes other issues — such as gun control and access to abortion — will power Biden to a second term, even if the economy cannot.
“I think in any other election, current views around inflation and the economy would result in an easy win for Republicans,” Merson told VOA. “But Republicans also have the most toxic candidate in history.
“We don’t have a great one, either, but this election matters too much to sit out.”
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President Joe Biden welcomes members of the newly enlarged NATO alliance this week for a summit aimed at planning for Ukraine’s future defense — and, some observers say, “Trump-proofing” it if Biden loses the November poll amid growing doubts over his future. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from the White House.
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U.S. President Joe Biden says he is staying in the race for reelection against former President Donald Trump after Biden struggled in their first debate. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns looks at what U.S. voters think about the president’s continuing candidacy.
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This coming week could be consequential for U.S. President Joe Biden’s reelection bid as voices continue to grow for him to leave the race amid concern over his age and capacity to lead. So far however, he still has the support of many of his peers, even as they acknowledge Democratic voters’ worries. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
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