Weekly Wrap: Trump is getting an economic crash-course

Apr 14, 2017
Which begs the question: Did he know what he was talking about during the campaign?
US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, April 13, 2017.
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

What's behind Trump’s shifting economic policies?

Apr 13, 2017
President Trump is reversing his positions on some key economic issues, as a Wall Street Journal interview revealed: China (no longer calling it a currency manipulator); the Export-Import Bank (supports it); Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen (likes her, would like to see interest rates stay low), to name a few. What’s behind all this? Is […]

Give Budget Director Mick Mulvaney a beer and he'll tell you a lot

The Trump administration's Office of Management and Budget head talks about the federal debt, infrastructure costs and lifting the hiring freeze.
Director Mick Mulvaney of the Office of Management and Budget speaks about US President Donald Trump's budget during a daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Trump's 'beachhead team' is the government's eyes and ears

Apr 12, 2017
There's a lot we don't know about these staffers' roles, says ProPublica's Justin Elliott.
President Donald Trump beside members of his Cabinet in the Oval Office of the White House.
Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images

Mixed response to Trump’s call for NATO members to boost defense spending

Apr 12, 2017
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is wrapping up a two-day visit to the U.S. Later today, he’ll hold a joint press conference with President Trump in Washington. The U.S. is the main contributor to the military alliance. Trump, like many presidents before him, has repeatedly called on the other 27 NATO members to spend more on defense. […]

The price of Russia’s support of Syria is steep

Apr 7, 2017
Weapons, oil and other investments keep money flowing between the two countries.

Axing social programs can mean more social costs in the future

Apr 6, 2017
President Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, made some waves a few weeks ago when he defended cuts to the community development block grant program because “We can’t spend money on programs just because they sound good.” It can be hard to justify spending on things like Meals on Wheels or children’s after school-programs, because their […]

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The return of Glass-Steagall

Apr 6, 2017
Republicans, including President Trump, have been talking about bringing back Glass-Steagall, the 1930s law requiring banks to separate their commercial and investment banking businesses. Gary Cohn, the president’s economic adviser, reportedly told senators he supports that proposal in a private meeting yesterday, according to Bloomberg. If Glass-Steagall were to be reintroduced, what would that mean […]

DOJ will review consent decrees at police departments across the nation

Apr 4, 2017
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered the Department of Justice to take a close look at consent decrees in place at police departments across the country. They’re agreements a local police department signs on to after the department’s civil rights division investigates its policing practices, often in the wake of a high-profile shooting or […]

President Trump prepares for 'difficult' talks with China’s Xi Jinping

Apr 3, 2017
China’s President Xi Jinping will have talks with President Trump on Thursday at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Last week, Trump tweeted that the meeting would be “very difficult.” The U.S. has a $347 billion trade deficit with China. In the election campaign, Trump also threatened to label China a “currency manipulator,” a designation that could […]