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      in US Politics

      Trump’s Truth Social valued at nearly $8bn as it goes public in New York

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      The firm behind Donald Trump’s Truth Social went public on Tuesday at a price that values the minnow social network at close to $8bn.Shares in Digital World Acquisition, the shell company with which Trump’s social media business has merged, have been surging since the turn of the year.They launched a volatile rally as it combined with Trump Media & Technology on Tuesday, closing up 15% after their first day of trading.The firm is trading under the ticker symbol “DJT”, using Trump’s initials.Trump Media’s arrival on the market has netted the former president a paper fortune of some $4.6bn . After the deal closed on Monday, Bloomberg said that Trump had joined the ranks of the world’s 500 wealthiest people for the first time.But trading in Trump Media was so volatile after Tuesday’s opening bell, it was briefly halted. At one point on Tuesday, shares in the group had soared by more than 50%.Trump, who is currently unable to offload his stake, will need the stock to continue to trade at the levels to which it has surged in recent months if he is to raise billions of dollars from a sale.“I LOVE TRUTH SOCIAL,” he wrote on the platform shortly after Trump Media landed on New York’s Nasdaq stock exchange. Investors finally backed a merger between Trump Media and Digital World last week, setting the stage for the deal to close.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIt comes as Trump, who is vying to regain the presidency from Joe Biden in November’s election, grapples with hefty legal costs. He is on the hook for $454m after a civil fraud case, although the former president was thrown a lifeline on Monday when a panel of appellate court judges provided him with 10 days to secure a far smaller $175m bond.Trump Media has struggled since Truth Social’s lackluster launch, generating sales of only about $5m since 2021. But Digital World has increasingly been seen as a so-called meme stock, boosted by internet memes – posted, in its case, on platforms including Truth Social – urging retail investors to buy into it.Special purpose acquisition companies, or Spacs, such as Digital World raise money from investors through initial public offerings, before typically searching for a company to take public.Once a Spac finds and agrees terms with a target, it absorbs the business and draws it on to the stock market, enabling investors in both companies to take a slide. Should the Spac’s original investors not like the deal, however, they can withdraw their cash.Devin Nunes, the former Republican congressman who now serves as CEO of Trump Media, said: “As a public company, we will passionately pursue our vision to build a movement to reclaim the internet from big tech censors.” More

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      in US Politics

      Undertaxed and over here: why the UK welcomes US mega firms | Phillip Inman

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      Americans love Britain, and in many ways the British admire Americans, but the benefits of the relationship are becoming increasingly one-way.That’s the argument set out in a book published next month documenting how US companies have made inroads into the UK economy by exploiting a desperate need for investment, weak regulation and a public that seems oblivious to the cost to themselves and, ultimately, the economy.Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden: whichever administration is pulling the levers, presidents pay lip service to a special relationship with the UK. Each one makes sure US companies leverage Washington’s power to gain entry, kill off local competition, secure monopoly control and run off with the profits largely tax-free.But UK companies that try to break into the US face huge legal and regulatory hurdles. It’s true that selling goods to America is a lucrative business. That’s not the same as setting up a US subsidiary in the US and going head-to-head with domestic corporations.Labour leaders fall into the trap of lauding energetic and profitable US companies as much as their cheering Tory counterparts do. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were more ardent Americanophiles than most. And Keir Starmer shows every sign of rushing to Washington should he be elected, even if Trump is in charge – much as Theresa May did in 2017, before a humiliating return visit two years later.The new book is not an anti-American leftist call to arms of the kind published in the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher’s admiration for Ronald Reagan generated tomes about the UK being the 51st state of America. Vassal State by Angus Hanton (Swift Press) examines for the first time the disparate data showing how much US companies have embedded themselves in the UK, capitalising on our willingness to pay them outlandish fees and subscriptions and afford them the hefty tax breaks needed to keep them in the UK.We know about the power and influence of Amazon, Apple, Meta/Facebook, Microsoft, Netflix and Alphabet/Google. Other high-profile names include online sellers eBay, Wayfair and Etsy, and streaming companies Sky, Disney and Apple TV.The internet’s cloud storage is mostly provided by American companies. All our data, bit by bit, is being collected by US firms, whether at the front end as we buy stuff using Amazon or travel using Google Maps, or at the back end, so to speak, as health data is scraped by US spy technology firm Palantir – which is run by Peter Thiel, the co-founder of another US web behemoth, PayPal.Hanton, a London-based entrepreneur who co-founded the Intergenerational Foundation charity, documents their rise, but also that of less well-known firms which have acquired the UK’s financial and physical plumbing.A classic example is WorldPay, a payments system used by tens of thousands of UK businesses to process card transactions. Once owned by NatWest, it was offloaded after the 2008 crash to US private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital for £2bn.That was a European Commission order that the UK could have ignored but chose to obey. Advent and Bain floated the company on the London stock market for a handsome profit in 2015, but it soon went private again. Another Advent-owned firm, payments processing technology company Vantiv, paid $10.4bn for it in 2018, then Florida-based Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) paid $35bn in cash and shares for WorldPay in 2019.What ties these firms together is that they offer popular services that somehow we accept should be charged for, without any reference to the cost of production or market influence.It doesn’t happen on the continent in nearly the same way – and some would probably argue France, Germany, Spain and Italy are the poorer for it. WorldPay executives would no doubt say US companies are big investors, enhancing and expanding the UK businesses they buy, often with a long-term vision. Except that the vision includes domination and control of the economy, holding the government to ransom with threats of cutting investments if tax subsidies are not generous enough or tax rates low enough.Google’s soon-to-be-opened monster HQ in London’s King’s Cross is emblematic of the way the UK’s red-carpet treatment for investors has profited US companies and offset the threat of an exodus after Brexit. Google has found the UK, unlike the EU, willing to turn a blind eye to its monopolistic practices.That is great news for Brexiters. It’s not so good for the rest, who, wherever they turn, must pay for the services of an ever-expanding array of US mega-companies. More

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      in US Politics

      Steven Mnuchin putting together investor group to buy TikTok

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      Steven Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to try to buy TikTok, he told CNBC on Thursday.The former US treasury secretary’s comment comes just a day after the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would give the app’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest TikTok’s US assets or face a ban. If it did not do so, app stores including the Apple App Store and Google Play would be legally barred from hosting TikTok or providing web-hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.TikTok had called the bill a “ban” and urged senators to listen to their constituents before taking any action.“I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Thursday. “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok.”Discussions of banning TikTok in the US have circulated for years, spurred by fears the China-based company could collect sensitive user data on American citizens – an allegation TikTok has repeatedly denied. Donald Trump attempted a ban in 2020, which did not succeed.The recent bipartisan push to force the company to divest marks the most serious challenge to the app yet, however, and now faces an uncertain vote in the Senate. The House voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favor of a ban, with 352 members of Congress voting yes on the bill and only 65 opposed. The company has called the bill unconstitutional.TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, said on Wednesday that the company will exercise its legal rights to prevent a ban. He warned in a video message that the bill threatened to consolidate power in the hands of other big tech platforms while risking American jobs. TikTok users have flooded Congress’s phone lines to advocate against a ban, while the company has called on the Senate to reject the bill.“This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban,” a TikTok spokesperson said. “We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7m small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service.”Although other big tech firms could feasibly attempt to purchase TikTok, companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google are already facing intense scrutiny over allegations of antitrust violations and consolidation of power. Microsoft previously offered to buy TikTok in 2020, amid Trump’s attempt to ban the app.Mnuchin served as treasury secretary in the Trump administration, where he oversaw sweeping tax cuts that benefited the wealthy and his department became mired in corruption scandals. Although Mnuchin at one time discussed using the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office after 6 January, he told CNBC last week that he would consider serving again in a second Trump administration.Mnuchin’s private equity firm, Liberty Street Capital, also recently led a group of investors in a $1bn injection of funds into New York Community Bank as its shares plummeted and internal turmoil gripped the institution.China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said the House’s vote to force a sale used “robber’s logic” in a harsh statement on Thursday morning.“When you see other people’s good things, you must find ways to own them,” Wang said.Despite passing in the House, the potential ban faces an uncertain future. So far, not enough senators have said they would vote in favor of the bill for it to pass. Chew announced that he would head to Congress to speak with senators. TikTok has likewise said it is not clear whether the Chinese government would approve a sale to a US company.The bill that passed in the House on Wednesday is the latest salvo in an ongoing political battle over the platform, which exploded in popularity after its emergence in 2017. The popular app has faced a number of bans and attempted bans in recent years, starting with an executive order by Donald Trump in 2020, which was ultimately blocked by courts on first amendment grounds. Trump has since reversed his stance, now opposing a ban on TikTok. Joe Biden, by contrast, has said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. More

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      in US Politics

      ‘Huge tax breaks’: private equity prepares for a boon from Congress

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      Some of largest and most profitable companies in the US are primed to save billions of dollars from a congressional tax deal that critics say gives “billions in tax credits to the biggest corporations while giving pennies to middle-class children and families”. And private equity funds could be among the deal’s biggest beneficiaries, a Guardian analysis suggests.The tax cuts passed the House of Representatives at the end of January as part of an agreement that pairs handouts for businesses with a moderate expansion of the child tax credit. The Senate could vote on the bill over the coming weeks, and the White House has indicated that Joe Biden would sign it into law.The deal, led by Democratic senator Ron Wyden and Republican congressman Jason Smith – the chairs of Congress’s tax-writing committees – would roll back a series of tax measures that were designed to partially offset the cost of the 2017 Trump tax cuts.Weakening these provisions would allow companies to claim bigger tax deductions for certain expenses, including buying new equipment, spending money on research and development, and paying interest on their debt, as the Guardian previously reported.Last year the American Investment Council (AIC), private equity’s main trade group, spent more than $3m lobbying the federal government, according to OpenSecrets – more than any single year since 2009. Including their subsidiaries, five of the country’s largest private equity funds – Blackstone Group, KKR & Company, Carlyle Group, Cerberus Capital Management and Apollo Global Management – together spent an additional $21m lobbying over the same period.“Increasing the interest deductions, which private equity firms have been the worst abusers of, is just another example of how the Wyden-Smith tax deal hands out billions in tax credits to the biggest corporations while giving pennies to middle-class children and families,” the Democratic congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, one of two dozen House Democrats who voted against the bill, told the Guardian.“While private equity is cheering on the huge tax breaks they will get if this deal passes the Senate, American families are living paycheck to paycheck and struggling with rising costs.”‘Debt can supercharge the returns of private equity’Tax policy experts told the Guardian that raising the cap on interest deductibility could provide an especially generous subsidy for private equity funds, which rely heavily on debt.“The model of the private equity industry is often to … buy public corporations, take them private and load them up with debt,” said Steve Wamhoff of the non-profit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. These heavy debt burdens help explain why companies bought by private equity funds are about 10 times more likely than other firms to go bankrupt.“The deductions that are allowed for interest expenses really make that a more viable business model,” Wamhoff said.Debt is cheaper when companies get a tax break for deducting the interest they pay on that debt, and “cheaper money, which has to be repaid by their takeover targets, is what makes private equity go,” said Carter Dougherty of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), an advocacy coalition.“The magic of the private equity business model, and the way that it’s able to generate outsized returns, is its reliance on debt for the acquisition,” said Brendan Ballou, author of Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America.If you invest $20m in a business and get 10% returns, you only get $2m back,” Ballou explained. “But if, of that $20m, you actually only put up $2m yourself, you actually make 100% return. So debt, or leverage, allows you to get bigger returns than you normally would if you actually had to put up your own cash.”That’s how “debt can supercharge the returns of private equity”, Ballou said.Asked for comment, the AIC referred the Guardian to two letters previously signed by the group, one of which states that “debt financing plays an important role in supporting job-creating investments”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“There’s already a strong bias in the tax code for debt, and this bill doubles down on that bias to boost private equity’s predatory practices, which will only drive more American companies into bankruptcy and decrease market competition,” said the Texas congressman Lloyd Doggett, one of three Democrats who voted against the bill in the House ways and means committee, in a statement.“There’s nothing fair about private equity companies lining their pockets while shifting the tax burden to American families already dealing with high costs.”‘A complete wasteful giveaway’The Trump tax law established new limitations on how much interest companies could deduct from their tax bills in a single year. That annual cap on interest deductions was tightened further in 2022.Higher interest rates have made debt more expensive, so private equity funds have found themselves having to invest more of their own money, rather than relying as extensively on borrowed money.That shift, in turn, has lowered potential returns, adding to the industry’s sense of urgency to loosen the cap on interest deductions, AFR’s Carter Dougherty said.Not only would the Wyden-Smith deal undo the tighter limit created by the Trump law, but it would do so retroactively, meaning corporations could amend their 2022 and 2023 tax returns to take advantage of the newly generous subsidies.Making these tax cuts retroactive “would be just a complete wasteful giveaway”, Chye-Ching Huang, the executive director of the Tax Law Center at the New York University School of Law, told the Senate finance committee last November. “You can’t change past investments or wages by giving away tax cuts.”Loosening the interest deduction threshold would cost $64bn over the next 10 years if it were made permanent, according to an estimate provided to members of the House ways and means committee by the US Congress’s non-partisan joint committee on taxation.While the Wyden-Smith deal only rolls back the provision through 2025, tax policy experts told the Guardian that corporations and their trade groups would probably work to extend it further.In a statement to the Guardian, a Wyden spokesperson said: “The provision dealing with business interest was a Republican priority in negotiations, and it’s clear that it would become law in a Republican Congress without any matching benefit for working families. With the support of finance committee Democrats, Senator Wyden set a standard for this divided Congress that any tax cuts for corporations must be matched with an investment in children and families that the Joint Committee on Taxation scores as equal, and that’s why the bill includes a child tax credit expansion that helps 16 million children from low-income families get ahead.”Smith’s office did not respond to a request for comment. More

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      in UK Politics

      Relax planning laws and build more homes for prosperity, says Skipton chief

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      For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsEyebrows were raised little more than a year ago when Stuart Haire jumped from HSBC, where he ran UK personal and private banking, to become chief executive of Skipton Building Society.He was very much near the top of the global giant’s star executive chart, having held senior roles within M&S Bank, First Direct and John Lewis Financial Services, as well as HSBC UK. Compared to the mighty HSBC, the Skipton was seen as something of a backwater. He’s smiling, nodding, when this reaction is put to him. He remembers it well.Here he is, though, 49 and having just presented an impressive set of annual results, with a performance that would do any financial powerhouse proud. He laughs at the memory. “What people don’t realise is that if we were to demutualise – and we’re not going to – Skipton would go straight into the FTSE 100 of biggest listed companies.”His is an organisation with £37.2bn of total assets, more than 1,300 branches and 1.2 million members.As well as the main building society business, Skipton owns Connells, Britain’s largest estate agents with more than 80 high street brands including Hamptons, Bairstow Eves, William H Brown and Connells. It is responsible for one in ten houses bought and sold in the UK. Skipton also has a financial advisory subsidiary, a commercial estate agency and an AI software firm in New Zealand. “We’ve a range of interesting businesses, it was part of the attraction,” says Haire. “We’ve got very strong businesses and we have no shareholders – we just have customers who are our owners. It’s a breath of fresh air.”The group turned in pre-tax profits of £333.4m, up by more than £30m. Mortgage advances increased 6.3 per cent to £6.7bn, helping Skipton lift its market share by 12.7 per cent – this, despite the mortgage market being stagnant for most of the year.Savings balances also rose, by 15.4 per cent to £26bn. Again, savings market share increased, 10.7 per cent. This, too, against a savings market that grew only 1.7 per cent.Mortgage arrears of three months or more, were 0.23 per cent – against an industry average of 0.91 per cent.It may be 170 years old, and still based in picturesque Skipton, in North Yorkshire, but the society has long earned a reputation for innovation. Haire is keen for it to continue, launching Britain’s only available deposit-free mortgage, Track Record. He’s rightly proud of increasing the number of first-time buyers helped by 40 per cent. Track Record received over £62m in applications.It is genuinely deposit-free. “If you can prove you’re paying rent and the mortgage repayments will be less, then it’s likely you will get a mortgage offer. We want to assist people who don’t have part of the equity saved up, we want to help them get started as homeowners.”It also unveiled Income Booster, which allows more than one person’s income to go towards buying a home. Again, aimed at giving first-time buyers a lift.He has focused Skipton on two watchwords: homes and money. “There are too many people in the UK who desperately feel that they will never have a home of their own. Be they aspiring homeowners or renters. And that needs to change.“Homes and money are vital for individual prosperity, and for our country to thrive. The Skipton Group sits at the nexus of homes and money, and we want to drive collaborative change across the UK housing sector, to help more people put these stable foundations in place, and to help unlock opportunity and build long-term financial wellbeing, home by home, right across Britain.”He wants to see planning laws relaxed and the whole process speeded up. “We’ve got the largest estate agency in the UK. As a country, we need more houses.”For first-time buyers some areas are prohibitively expensive and in places such as Skipton, there is an additional pressure, from second-home owners. “It’s not just about the financial aspects, local and central government have got to do more. We’ve got to do more with planning permission, we must be making sure we’re getting more homes built and in locations where people want to live.”Last year saw Skipton become the Which? Recommended Mortgage Provider. It was awarded the Your Mortgage – Best First Time Buyer Mortgage Lender, together with being named, at the What Mortgage Awards 2023, Best National Building Society for the 10th year in a row.“Looking ahead, our ambition is to make a positive impact to tackle the UK’s housing crisis by enabling more first-time buyers to realise their homeownership aspirations.”Skipton, he says, “has great potential to drive transformative change in the housing market and financial services industry, leveraging our collective capability to drive change, influence decision makers and campaign on the issues that matter to our members and wider society.”Savers are not forgotten. “We’re supporting our savers, passing on over 75 per cent of 2023’s base rate increases, which is above our competitors, while even our lowest rate on an instant-access account is well ahead of the market average.”Saving members received £148m more interest than if they had taken market average rate saving products. They were able to take advantage of “member only“ offers.“What attracted me to Skipton is its unwavering member-focused purpose and its huge potential to help more people.”Skipton Building Society offers Britain’s only deposit-free mortgageHe says Skipton is a society that has always believed in keeping things simple, no frills. It’s in the DNA. “Its roots are here, in Yorkshire. We’re a massive local employer and we ensure that one per cent of our profits go to charity. We’re very much aware of our history and responsibility.”Haire himself is from Glasgow – “a scumbag from Glasgow is how I am viewed in these parts,” he jokes. “I was always taught never to get ahead of myself, never to let ego get in the way. That’s also true of the people of Yorkshire. They work exceptionally hard and they’re very proud.”In the year ahead, he is expecting rates to remain high. “They will come down but not by so much.”He’s predicting “low growth” for the economy. “We’re starting to see confidence return. There are signs of real green shoots. In the housing market, mortgage applications are up 14 per cent, viewings are up 12 per cent and sales are up 12 per cent. Confidence is returning.”Unlike HSBC, you sense, the Skipton has given him mission and purpose. More

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      in US Politics

      Voters may at last be coming round to Biden’s sunny view of the economy

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      Joe Biden has spent most of his presidency insisting to Americans that the economy is on the right track. Poll after poll has shown that most voters do not believe him. That may be changing.After months of resilient hiring, better-than-expected economic growth and a declining rate of inflation, new data shows that Americans are becoming upbeat about the US economy, potentially reversing the deep pessimism Biden has struggled to counter for much of the past three years.That trend could reshape campaigning ahead of November’s presidential election, in which Biden is expected to face off against Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Experts believe the president’s case for a second term will benefit from more optimistic views of the economy – but the hangover from the inflation wave that peaked a year and a half ago presents Republicans with a potent counterattack.“Over the last couple of years, people have been feeling the most pain on day-to-day spending, on things like groceries and gas prices and prescription drugs. And, fortunately, those prices are beginning to come down, which gives Democrats a stronger hand than we had just a few months ago,” said Adam Green, co-founder of advocacy group the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.“For a campaign that says that they want to finish the unfinished business of the Biden presidency, our polling shows that it’s perfectly OK to acknowledge that there has been pain, and there’s more business to do,” said Green.He added that the Biden campaign should “really focus the voters’ attention on the forward-looking agenda of one party wanting to help billionaires and corporations, and the Democratic party wanting to challenge corporate greed and bring down prices for consumers”.Biden has been unpopular with voters, according to poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight, even as employment grew strongly and the economy avoided the recession that many economists predicted was around the corner. While it’s not the only factor, pollsters have linked voters’ disapproval with Biden to the wave of price increases that peaked in June 2022 at levels not seen in more than four decades, and which have since been on the decline. An NBC News poll released this month showed Biden trailing Trump by about 20 points on the question of which candidate would better handle the economy, a finding echoed by other surveys.But new data appears to show Americans believe the economy has turned a corner. Late last month, the Conference Board reported its index of consumer confidence had hit its highest point since December 2021, while the University of Michigan’s survey of consumer sentiment has climbed to its highest level since July of that year.View image in fullscreen“The people who give positive views of the economy, they tend to point to, the unemployment rate is low, and they also point to that inflation is down from where it was,” said Jocelyn Kiley, an associate director at Pew Research Center, whose own data has found an uptick in positive economic views, particularly among Democrats.Trump and his Republican allies have capitalized on inflation to argue that Biden should be voted out, though economists say Biden’s policies are merely one ingredient in a trend exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and global supply chain snarls that occurred as a result of Covid-19. Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who is the last major challenger to the former president still in the race has said the economy is “crushing middle-class Americans”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBut voters’ improving views of the economy could blunt those attacks ahead of the November election, where the GOP is also hoping to seize control of the Senate from Biden’s Democratic allies and maintain their majority in the House of Representatives. Lynn Vavreck, an American politics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said Trump might have to fall back to tried-and-true tactics from his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton, such as promising to institute hardline immigration policies.“The economy is growing. People don’t really say that they feel good about it, but if you’re gonna load up your campaign on those people’s feelings, I feel like that’s a little risky,” said Vavreck, who has studied how economic conditions can affect presidential campaigns.“You could do that, and that would be a bit of a gamble, or you could find an issue on which you believe you are closer to most voters than Joe Biden, that is not about the economy, and you could try to reorient the conversation around that issue.”There is already evidence that harnessing outrage over the flow of undocumented immigrants into the United States is key to Trump’s campaign strategy. The former president’s meddling was a factor in the death of a rare bipartisan agreement in Congress to tighten immigration policy in exchange for Republican votes to approve assistance for Ukraine and Israel’s militaries.With the economy humming along, Trump is apparently nervous that the US economy could enter a recession at an inconvenient moment. “When there’s a crash, I hope it’s going to be during this next 12 months because I don’t want to be Herbert Hoover,” he said in an interview last month, referring to the US president who is often blamed for the Great Depression that began 95 years ago.Even though the rate of inflation has eased, albeit haltingly, prices for many consumer goods remain higher than they were compared with when Biden took office, which his opponents can still capitalize on, said the Republican strategist Doug Heye.“Consumers go to the grocery store, and they spend money, and they’re upset with what things cost, and that should always be what they’re talking about,” Heye said.While Biden has been quick to take credit for the strong hiring figures during his administration, polls show that hasn’t landed with voters. In recent months, the White House has shifted strategy, announcing efforts to get rid of junk fees and accusing corporations of “price gouging”.Evan Roth Smith, head pollster for the Democratic research firm Blueprint, said that lines up with his findings that voters care less about job growth and more about the fact that everything costs more.“Voters just felt a prioritization mismatch between what they were experiencing, the kind of pressures they were under, which isn’t that they didn’t have jobs, it’s that they couldn’t pay their bills,” Smith said.“Makes all the sense in the world that if the White House and president and the Biden campaign are touting this stuff, that they are going to make headway, and are making headway with voters in getting them to feel like Joe Biden in the Democratic party do understand.” More

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      in US Politics

      With business empire on brink of abyss, tycoon Trump recasts himself as victim

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      From Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue to the Trump Building on Wall Street, the Trump World Tower by the United Nations to the Trump International overlooking Central Park, Donald Trump has stamped his name in golden letters on skyscrapers across New York City.This real estate empire was the springboard for Trump’s ascent from tabloid fodder to reality TV stardom, and ultimately the presidency, all built on his self-projected image as America’s most famous businessman.While the reality of Trump’s business acumen – and the true extent of his wealth – have long been questioned, on Friday a New York judge forever tarnished his gilded image, finding Trump and his allies guilty of frauds that “shock the conscience” and a “lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological”.Trump was ordered to pay $354.9m and was banned from leading a New York business for three years after a court found that he and his associates fraudulently overstated his net worth. The Trump Organization was wrenched from his family’s control – and its future looks far from certain.For decades, the former president has portrayed himself as a brash, bronzed, brilliant businessman who ruled the Manhattan skyline. Whether lecturing Apprentice contestants, charming voters, or bragging to fellow world leaders, he could point to more than a dozen Trump-branded towers as evidence of all he had achieved.Trump is “the archetypal businessman – a dealmaker without peer”, with a name “synonymous with the most prestigious of addresses”, according to his own company: the “very definition of the American success story”.View image in fullscreenBut Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling is a shocking blow to this image. The same buildings which once embodied the former president’s fame and fortune will, for years, remain supervised by court-appointed monitors. For now, Trump has lost control of the corporation which once provided a stage for his persona.And yet, just as he is separated from his business empire, his political machine is gearing up to propel him back into the Oval Office.Trump has marched closer to the Republican nomination amid – not despite – these legal woes. He has tried to utilize this trial, and the others he faces, to bankroll his comeback campaign. They amount to politicized “witch-hunts”, he tells loyal supporters, suggesting that they, rather than he, are the true targets.Minutes after Trump left the first day of his civil fraud trial in October, his machine sent out a fundraising email. “I just left the courthouse,” it began, claiming that politicians were “weaponizing the legal system to try and completely destroy me” and requesting contributions “of ANY amount – truly, even just $1 – to peacefully DEFEND our movement from the never-ending witch hunts”.View image in fullscreenOver 11 weeks in a Manhattan courtroom, the Trump Organization was publicly exposed to forensic scrutiny for the first time. This is a business that says it has “set new standards of excellence”, affording Trump “the designation of arguably being the preeminent developer of luxury real estate” in the world. Engoron took an altogether different view.Before the trial had even started, he ruled that the former president had committed fraud for years by exaggerating the value of his assets.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionNow, having heard the evidence, Engoron has imposed an eyewatering financial penalty. How Trump foots this bill is an open question. While his fortune has been pitted at around $2.3bn, the majority of this is tied up in the very business empire at the heart of this case.The money is still coming in. Trump has proven to be a highly effective fundraiser. His campaign raised about $44m in the second half of last year. His legal battles appear to have provided an additional boost.View image in fullscreenBut beyond his race to regain the presidency, Trump is now grappling with legal penalties that could destroy the personal cash pile he has said is at his disposal. Even before Friday’s decision, he had been ordered to pay $83.3m to E Jean Carroll. The former president claimed in a deposition last year to have “substantially in excess” of $400m – a huge sum, but one that would be wiped out by these bills.But this process has a long way left to run. “There’s enough uncertainty that it’s not an immediate concern,” said Gregory Germain, professor of law at Syracuse University. Trump, who has already appealed Engoron’s initial ruling, and is widely expected to do the same with this decision.View image in fullscreenOn the campaign trail and social media, in the courtroom and the inboxes of supporters, the former president has repeatedly pledged to fight what he argues is a gross injustice. On Friday Trump once again attacked the “tyrannical Abuse of Power” he claims is arrayed against him and the “liquid and beautiful Corporate Empire that started in New York, and has been successful all around the world.”In November, the American people will deliver their verdict on whose story they believe. More

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      in UK Politics

      UK recession – live: Reeves says Britain trapped in cycle of ‘decline’ as Sunak’s economy pledge ‘in tatters’

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      Hunt insists plan to bring inflation down is working despite 4 per cent increaseFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsBritain is trapped in a cycle of decline and Rishi Sunak’s pledges to boost the economy are now “in tatters”, Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has warned, as the UK fell into recession.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Thursday a 0.3 per cent decline in gross domestic product (GDP) between October and December 2023.The gloomy official figures mean the economy entered a technical recession, as defined by two or more quarters in a row of falling GDP, for the first time since amid the pandemic in the first half of 2020.The news deals a blow to the prime minister, who has promised to grow the economy as one of his five priorities, especially after most economists were only forecasting a 0.1 per cent decline in GDP.In comments Labour suggested were “out of touch”, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said low economic growth is “not a surprise”, but added that the UK must “stick to the plan – cutting taxes on work and business to build a stronger economy” despite tough times for many families.Show latest update 1708007931Rachel Reeves insists Labour’s plans to grow economy differ significantly from government’sRachel Reeves rejected suggestions that Labour’s economic plans to grow the economy were not much different from the government’s.Asked at a press conference about the plans, the shadow chancellor said: “I reject entirely that there is little difference between what Labour and the Conservatives offer.“We have got a comprehensive plan for growth that has been drawn up with business.”She pointed to planning reforms, as well as plans to invest in a £7.3bn national wealth fund, and new publicly owned energy company, Great British Energy, among the steps Labour had set out in its plans.Andy Gregory15 February 2024 14:381708006791Public services ‘on their knees’, says Rachel ReevesLabour’s Rachel Reeves said public services are “on their knees” and need an immediate injection of cash.The shadow chancellor said: “I do recognise that our public services are under huge pressure – unlike perhaps the Conservatives do – which is why I said there does need to be an immediate injection of cash into our public services.”She added: “If our economy had grown at the rate of other OECD countries these last 14 years, our economy would be £150bn bigger, worth £5,000 for every family in the UK and we would have tens of billions of pounds of additional tax receipts which we would be able to invest in our public services.“That’s why it’s so important that we grow our economy.”Andy Gregory15 February 2024 14:191708005894Tory former chancellor says room for tax cuts in BudgetTory former chancellor Lord Lamont said he thought there was room for tax cuts in the March Budget.He told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “I do think tax cuts have to be responsible. I think there is probably some headroom that has been created by very strong growth in tax revenues, particularly as a result of the freezing of the tax thresholds for such a long period.“There may be some headroom. I think looking longer term though, any tax cuts have to be matched by tight control of public spending, probably financed by reductions in public spending.”On the outlook for the UK after it slipped into recession, Lord Lamont said: “I think people ought to be realistic about this. We have an almost perfect storm. We are coming through it, I think there is light at the end of the tunnel now and we just need to hold our nerve.”Andy Gregory15 February 2024 14:041708003569What does Britain being in a recession mean?While a severe recession typically causes unemployment to rise, Britain’s technical recession serves more as an indicator of the pressure households and firms are already under – and as a blow to the government’s promises to boost economic growth.The gloomy economic data is also likely to ramp up pressure on the Bank of England to start cutting interest rates from their 14-year high of 5.25 per cent, given the threat to the wider economy from painfully high borrowing costs.You can read more about what the latest economic data means below:Andy Gregory15 February 2024 13:261708001718Reeves defends Starmer’s handling of antisemitism rowRachel Reeves has defended Keir Starmer’s handling of the antisemitism row that engulfed Labour this week, saying he had not let her down.The senior frontbencher said Labour would have taken action over comments made by Azhar Ali and Graham Jones “sooner” if it had known about them and the party had intervened “swiftly”.She also told a press conference in central London: “I only returned to the shadow cabinet because I was sure of Keir Starmer’s commitment to that (rooting out antisemitism) and he hasn’t let me down, he hasn’t let the Jewish community down, and it is right that both of them have been suspended.“In terms of the vetting procedure, my understanding is that this was a private meeting, not a Labour Party meeting, and the recording was released much later.“Obviously if we’d have known about these things we would have taken action sooner.“We can’t see everything everywhere, but when we do see evidence of antisemitism, we act swiftly to ensure the highest standards and rightly so amongst our MPs and amongst our parliamentary candidates.”Kate Devlin, Politics and Whitehall Editor15 February 2024 12:551708000189Recession figures ‘don’t paint true picture of suffering’ in UK, poverty campaigner warnsSimon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said of the new fuel poverty figures: “Even these terrible figures don’t paint the true picture of the suffering in households across the UK.“They exclude millions of homes in certain energy performance categories and also don’t include many people who actually get a Warm Home Discount to help with their bills.“The numbers of households paying more than 10 per cent of their income on energy is truly shocking, far exceeding previous estimates.”And he said: “The reality is that household energy debt is now at record levels, millions of people are living in cold, damp homes and children are suffering in mouldy conditions.“The wider impact of high energy bills is also clear to see with households having to cut back on spending so much that the UK has now entered a recession.”Andy Gregory15 February 2024 12:291707998996Hunt says his Budget will focus on ‘prioritising economic growth’ – after fall into recessionJeremy Hunt has insisted his upcoming Budget will be focused on “prioritising economic growth”, after being questioned about rumours he could cut public sector spending to fund lower taxes, as the government seeks to garner political favour with voters ahead of a general election.Asked about the reports by Sky News, Mr Hunt said he would not break with convention and speak about the Budget in the weeks preceding it.But the chancellor did hint at his preference for tax cuts, suggesting that countries with “lighter taxes” did “tend to grow faster”.He added: “But I would only cut taxes in a way that was responsible, and I certainly wouldn’t do anything that fuelled inflation just when we are starting to have some success in bringing down inflation.”Andy Gregory15 February 2024 12:091707997592UK is ‘most certainly’ in a recession, says shadow chancellorRachel Reeves said the UK was “most certainly” facing a recession, after attempts to play down fears from the chancellor.At a press conference, Labour’s shadow chancellor said: “These were worse numbers than economists were predicting. This is a recession. “But we didn’t need to get these numbers for us to know that families are struggling through an enormous cost of living crisis and businesses are struggling as well.“As [former Marks and Spencer chair] Stuart Rose said on the radio this morning, if it quacks like a recession, it is a recession and this is most certainly a recession.” More