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      Trumps Promote American Bitcoin, a New Crypto Mining Venture

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      The debut of American Bitcoin, a mining firm backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., has heightened the ethical concerns swirling around the Trump presidency.On a Wall Street conference call in April, Eric Trump made a pitch for the newest venture in his family’s rapidly expanding cryptocurrency empire.Mr. Trump, the president’s second son, said he was joining forces with the crypto firm Hut 8 to start a company focused on Bitcoin mining, the business of running energy-guzzling machines to generate new coins.Bitcoin mining is a notoriously difficult industry. But in the pitch, Mr. Trump made clear that the policies of his father’s administration would give the new company, American Bitcoin, a “competitive advantage.”“We’re doing it in America with a government that’s dedicated to low-cost energy,” he said, later adding, “We’ve got the best energy policy in this country. That policy is only getting better.”Virtually every aspect of the Trump family’s business portfolio is fraught with conflicts of interest that have blurred the boundary between government and industry. The debut of American Bitcoin, which is set to merge with a publicly traded company later this year, has heightened those concerns, introducing new ethical questions and pulling the Trumps even deeper into crypto, a business the White House has aggressively championed.President Trump is already financially intertwined with two other crypto ventures — a so-called meme coin created by a longtime business partner, and a separate company, World Liberty Financial, that he and his sons founded before the election. At the same time, he has ended a yearslong enforcement campaign against crypto companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission and vowed to sign legislation that would advance the industry’s priorities.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trump’s Trade and Tax Policies Start to Stall U.S. Battery Boom

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      Battery companies are slowing construction or reconsidering big investments in the United States because of tariffs on China and the proposed rollback of tax credits.Battery manufacturing began to take off in the United States in recent years after Congress and the Biden administration offered the industry generous incentives.But that boom now appears to be stalling as the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers try to restrict China’s access to the American market.From South Carolina to Washington State, companies are slowing construction or reconsidering big investments in factories for producing rechargeable batteries and the ingredients needed to make them.A big reason for that is higher trade barriers between the United States and China are fracturing relationships between suppliers and customers in the two countries. At the same time, Republicans are seeking to block battery makers with ties to China, as well as those that rely on any Chinese technology or materials, from taking advantage of federal tax credits. The industry is also dealing with a softening market for electric vehicles, which Republicans and Mr. Trump have targeted. The China-related restrictions — included in the version of Mr. Trump’s domestic policy bill passed by the House — would be very difficult for many companies to operate under. China is the world’s top battery manufacturer and makes nearly all of certain components.The Trump policy bill highlights a difficult dilemma. The United States wants to create a homegrown battery industry and greatly reduce its dependence on China — and many Republican lawmakers want to end it altogether. But China is already so dominant in this industry that it will be incredibly hard for the United States to become a meaningful player without working with Chinese companies.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Terry Moran Says He Doesn’t Regret Posts Criticizing Trump Administration

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      In his first interview since losing his job at ABC News, the longtime TV correspondent, newly popular on Substack, says he does not regret his social media post criticizing the Trump administration.Terry Moran wasted no time ending the speculation.“It wasn’t a drunk tweet,” he said, flashing a lopsided grin on Sunday as he chatted on Zoom.Mr. Moran, a longtime ABC News correspondent, was ousted from his network last week over a post on X that castigated the Trump administration in searing, personal terms. In his first interview since then, he offered no apologies. He sounded chipper — at least, as chipper as a journalist could be after losing a job in spectacularly public fashion.Recounting how he came to write his fateful post, Mr. Moran, 65, said it was “a normal family night” that began with a meditative walk with his dog in the woods: “I was thinking about our country, and what’s happening, and just turning it over in my mind.” He returned home for family dinner and a movie, “Ocean’s Eleven.” He and his wife put their children to bed.And then: “I wrote it, and I said, ‘That’s true.’”“That” was a provocative post, published after midnight on June 8, tearing into Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, as “richly endowed with the capacity for hatred.” Mr. Moran wrote that Mr. Miller “eats his hate” as “spiritual nourishment” and assigned the term “world-class hater” to both Mr. Miller and President Trump, whom the correspondent had interviewed in the Oval Office weeks earlier.The since-deleted post stunned Mr. Moran’s colleagues and prompted a furious riposte from Vice President JD Vance, who labeled it an “absolutely vile smear” and demanded an apology from ABC. Two days later, the network said it would not renew Mr. Moran’s contract, citing “a clear violation of ABC News policies.”Some veteran journalists said that his comments crossed the line of impartiality, and provided a gift to right-wing politicians seeking to depict the mainstream media as biased against Mr. Trump. Supporters on the left cheered Mr. Moran for issuing what they considered a candid assessment.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      2 of 4 Men Who Escaped From Immigration Detention Center Are Caught

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      The men had been on the lam for three days after breaking out of the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark.Two of the four men who escaped from an immigration detention center in New Jersey on Thursday have been captured, federal authorities said on Sunday.The men, Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez of Honduras and Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada of Colombia, were taken into custody after three days on the run, according to a spokeswoman from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was unclear on Sunday where or how the men were tracked down.The authorities are still searching for the other two men, Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes of Honduras and Andres Pineda-Mogollon of Colombia, the spokeswoman said.The men escaped from Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, an overcrowded center where conditions in recent weeks have continued to deteriorate.Some detainees have been forced to sleep on the floor, and others were given slices of bread instead of a meal, immigration lawyers and family members told The New York Times. The detainees, they said, had become so frustrated with the conditions that they had begun to cover up the security cameras and smash walls and windows.The disorder has raised questions about the center and others like it around the country, where about 51,000 migrants are being held.The 1,000-bed facility is run by GEO Group, a private company that has come under public scrutiny for the building’s poor construction and bad management. GEO Group won a 15-year, $1 billion contract from the Trump administration in February to convert the building into a detention center.On Friday, Senator Andy Kim and Representative Rob Menendez of New Jersey, both Democrats, toured the center. After the tour, Mr. Kim said at a news conference that the men who escaped had punched a hole through an exterior wall, which was “essentially just drywall with some mesh inside.”“It shows just how shoddy construction was,” Mr. Kim added.In a news release on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said that “there has been no widespread unrest at the Delaney Hall Detention facility” and that the “privately held facility remains dedicated to providing high-quality services.”Christopher Ferreira, a GEO Group spokesman, issued a similar statement and noted that the company offered services including medical care, family visitations and opportunities to exercise religious faiths.The men who escaped had been arrested on criminal charges in New Jersey. Mr. Sandoval-Lopez was arrested twice in Passaic, once on Oct. 3 on charges of unlawful possession of a handgun and once on Feb. 15 on a charge of aggravated assault, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Castaneda-Lozada was arrested in Hammonton on May 15 on several charges, including burglary.Mr. Bautista-Reyes was arrested in Wayne Township, N.J., on May 3 on several charges, including assault and illegal possession of a weapon, the agency said. Mr. Pineda-Mogollon was arrested on May 21 on burglary charges. More

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      As Trump Returns to G7, Rift With Allies Is Even Deeper

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      In 2018, the president called for the group to embrace Russia and stormed out of the summit. Now he is seeking to shrink America’s military role abroad and embarking on a more expansive trade war.When President Trump last attended a Group of 7 meeting in Canada, he was in many ways the odd man out.At that meeting, in 2018, Mr. Trump called for the alliance of Western countries to embrace Russia, antagonized allies and ultimately stormed out of the summit over a trade battle he began by imposing metals tariffs on Canada.As he returns on Sunday for the Group of 7 meeting in Alberta, those fissures have only deepened. Since retaking office, the president has sought to shrink America’s military role abroad and made threats to annex the summit’s host after embarking on a much more expansive trade war.Mr. Trump is now facing a self-imposed deadline of early July to reach trade deals. His trade adviser even promised in April that the tariffs would lead to “90 deals in 90 days.” Despite reaching framework agreements with Britain and China, the administration has shown scant progress on deals with other major trading partners.The future of the president’s favored negotiating tool is uncertain as a legal battle over his tariffs plays out in the courts. But a failure to reach accords could lead the Trump administration to once again ratchet up tariffs and send markets roiling.“I think we’ll have a few new trade deals,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday as he left for the summit.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Diplomacy With Iran Is Damaged, Not Dead

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      The push to do a deal on the country’s nuclear program could be revived, even after the Israeli strikes scuppered the latest round of talks.If war is diplomacy by other means, diplomacy is never finished. While Israel and Iran are in the midst of what could be an extended war that could spread, the possibility of renewed talks to deal with Iran’s expanding nuclear program should not be discounted.Negotiations are on hold while the war continues, and the future of diplomacy is far from clear. Iran will feel compelled to respond to Israel, and the Israeli campaign could last for days or weeks. For now Washington does not appear to be doing anything to press both sides to stop the violence and start talking again.But the Iranians say they still want a deal, as does President Trump. The shape of future talks will inevitably depend on when and how the fighting stops.“We are prepared for any agreement aimed at ensuring Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons,” the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told foreign diplomats in Tehran on Sunday. But his country would not accept any deal that “deprives Iran of its nuclear rights,” he added, including the right to enrich uranium, albeit at low levels that can be used for civilian purposes.Mr. Araghchi said Israel did not attack to pre-empt Iran’s race toward a bomb, which Iran denies trying to develop, but to derail negotiations on a deal that Mr. Netanyahu opposes.The attacks are “an attempt to undermine diplomacy and derail negotiations,” he continued, a view shared by various Western analysts. “It is entirely clear that the Israeli regime does not want any agreement on the nuclear issue,” he said. “It does not want negotiations and does not seek diplomacy.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trump’s Parade Drafted the Army Into a War of Images

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      After a week of stunning and sobering TV-news scenes, the brassy Trumpy production was a surreal viewing experience.Officially, the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary military parade through Washington was meant to be a straightforward celebration of the service’s history.But as it played out on live TV Saturday, history was overwhelmed by the stormy present.The first complication was the fact that the Army shared a birthday with President Trump, making the military procession seem gift-wrapped for a leader who for years has had one on his wish list. To some, the spectacle smacked of the gaudy self-celebrations thrown by strongmen; to others, it was a symbol of resurgent American strength.Maybe at another time, the parade could have been the mundane, even dull bit of civic history that on the surface it was. But once conscripted into Mr. Trump’s war of imagery, a tank cannot be just a tank.The event also came at the end of a tumultuous week of shocking TV images. It came after the National Guard and Marines were deployed to Los Angeles to quell protests, over the objections of local leaders. It came after Senator Alex Padilla of California was forced to the ground and handcuffed after he tried to ask a question of Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, at a news conference. It came after Mr. Trump gave a political-rally-like speech to cheering troops at Fort Bragg. On top of this were volleys of missiles between Israel and Iran and, on Saturday morning, the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and the attempted murder of another.The result, as it rolled across our screens, was anything but an uncomplicated celebration. It was a split-screen presentation for a split country, in a world that seemed to be riven apart.The major broadcast networks did not carry the parade. CNN and MSNBC covered it on and off, along with the Middle East and Minnesota news, as well as the “No Kings” protests across the country that accused Mr. Trump of antidemocratic overreach.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      An American Fight With Mexico Won’t Go Well

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      Amid days of unrest in Los Angeles, with police officers firing beanbag rounds, protesters waving Mexican flags and the Trump administration sending in thousands of soldiers in what it called a mission to secure the streets, influencers on the Trumpist right started to lay the blame south of the Rio Grande.The loudest voice was that of the activist and author Charlie Kirk, who posted a misleading video for his millions of followers on social media under the headline “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is a bigger threat to America than Vladimir Putin.” As he put it, “This woman, the president of Mexico, is talking about leading an uprising in the interior of America.”People say a lot of crazy things online, but the argument appeared to get the attention of Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who echoed it on Tuesday at the White House. “Claudia Sheinbaum came out and encouraged more protests in L.A., and I condemn her for that,” Ms. Noem told reporters. “She should not be encouraging violent protests that are going on.”In fact, the opposite is true. Ms. Sheinbaum, the 62-year-old Mexican president, was quick to speak out against any violence in Los Angeles. “The burning of patrol cars seems more an act of provocation than of resistance,” she said on Monday. “We should be clear: We condemn violence wherever it comes from.”Ms. Sheinbaum has been a reliable partner to Washington since she took power last Oct. 1, putting pressure on drug cartels and their human smuggling networks and giving President Trump one of his few clear wins by helping reduce the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl heading north. She has helped ease bilateral tensions over trade and tariffs while, unlike other world leaders, managing to avoid personal confrontations with Mr. Trump.The argument that Ms. Noem and Mr. Kirk are making is not only wrong, it’s also dangerous. It encourages the hawks in Washington who want to unleash unilateral military strikes against cartels in Mexican territory. Deploying drone strikes and Special Forces operations south of the border might appeal to Mr. Trump’s supporters but it would not defeat the cartels, which are sprawling criminal networks with many thousands of affiliates, including some in the United States. It could torpedo the relationship with Mexico, which is proud of its sovereignty, rendering it politically impossible for Ms. Sheinbaum to continue to cooperate with Washington. A fully combative relationship with Mexico, as commentators like Mr. Kirk are gunning for, would almost certainly worsen problems over trade and cartels and inflame additional protests in the United States, as well as in Mexico.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More