Inducted by Long Island’s own Billy Joel, Bill Medley and the Righteous Brothers joined the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2003. Now 82, Bill sat down to chat with WHLI’s Rob Rush before he plays a show in nearby New Jersey.
Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision for The Society of Singers/AP Images
The New York State Office of Children and Family Services has notified Tutor Time in Lindenhurst that its license to operate is pending revocation following an inspection that revealed 10 violations.
An employee the day care was arrested last week for allegedly abusing a toddler in her care.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walgreens Boots Alliance says it has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners as the struggling retailer looks to turn itself around after years of losing money.
Walgreens said Thursday that Sycamore will pay $11.45 per share, giving the deal an equity value just under $10 billion. Shareholders could eventually receive up to another $3 per share under certain conditions.
A buyout to take the drugstore chain private would give it more flexibility to make changes to improve its business without worrying about Wall Street’s reaction. The company has already been making some big changes as it seeks to turn around its business. Walgreens has been a public company since 1927.
Walgreens, founded in 1901, has been dealing with thin prescription reimbursement, rising costs, persistent theft and inflation-sensitive shoppers who are looking for bargains elsewhere. Walgreens is in the early stages of a plan to close 1,200 of its roughly 8,500 U.S. locations.
The Deerfield, Illinois, company had already shed about a thousand U.S. stores since it grew to nearly 9,500 after buying some Rite Aid locations in 2018.
The company also said last August that it was reviewing a U.S. health care operation it had expanded aggressively, and it might sell all or part of its VillageMD clinic business. That announcement came less than two years after the company said it would spend billions to expand it.
Shares of Walgreens shed nearly two thirds of their value last year. Walgreens said the transaction price represents a nearly 30% premium to the share price in December when reports of a deal first surfaced. Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth confirmed in January that a sale process for the business was underway. Including debt, the value of the deal is just under $24 billion, the company said.
Walgreens said earlier this year it was making progress improving prescription reimbursement.
Walgreens has also taken steps to preserve cash. It said in January that it was suspending a quarterly dividend it has offered for more than 90 years, and it’s been reducing its stake in the drug distributor Cencora this year to get cash in part to pay down debt.
Ultimately, the company has to improve its cash flow, whether it remains publicly traded or goes private, Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny said in a Feb. 23 research note.
“Management has not been shy about its push to improve the cash flow generation profile as part of the turnaround plan,” the analyst wrote. “Without cash flow, none of the value cases work.”
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. also runs nearly 3,700 international stores, with locations in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Thailand and Ireland.
The Walgreens buyout comes after competitor Rite Aid emerged last September as a private company from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Remaining publicly traded drugstore operators include the nation’s largest, CVS Health Corp., and retailers like Walmart and the grocer Kroger that run pharmacies at many of their locations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most of America “springs forward” Sunday for daylight saving time and losing that hour of sleep can do more than leave you tired and cranky the next day. It also could harm your health.
Darker mornings and more evening light together knock your body clock out of whack — which means daylight saving time can usher in sleep trouble for weeks or longer. Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change.
There are ways to ease the adjustment, including getting more sunshine to help reset your circadian rhythm for healthful sleep.
When does daylight saving time start?
Daylight saving time begins Sunday at 2 a.m., an hour of sleep vanishing in most of the U.S. The ritual will reverse on Nov. 2 when clocks “fall back” as daylight saving time ends.
Hawaii and most of Arizona don’t make the spring switch, sticking to standard time year-round along with Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Worldwide, dozens of countries also observe daylight saving time, starting and ending at different dates.
Some people try to prepare for daylight saving time’s sleep jolt by going to bed a little earlier two or three nights ahead. With a third of American adults already not getting the recommended seven hours of nightly shuteye, catching up can be difficult.
What happens to your brain when it’s lighter later?
The brain has a master clock that is set by exposure to sunlight and darkness. This circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle that determines when we become sleepy and when we’re more alert. The patterns change with age, one reason that early-to-rise youngsters evolve into hard-to-wake teens.
Morning light resets the rhythm. By evening, levels of a hormone called melatonin begin to surge, triggering drowsiness. Too much light in the evening — that extra hour from daylight saving time — delays that surge and the cycle gets out of sync.
Sleep deprivation is linked to heart disease, cognitive decline, obesity and numerous other problems. And that circadian clock affects more than sleep, also influencing things like heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones and metabolism.
How does the time change affect your health?
Fatal car crashes temporarily jump the first few days after the spring time change, according to a study of U.S. traffic fatalities. The risk was highest in the morning, and researchers attributed it to sleep deprivation.
Then there’s the cardiac connection. The American Heart Association points to studies that suggest an uptick in heart attacks on the Monday after daylight saving time begins, and in strokes for two days afterward.
Doctors already know that heart attacks, especially severe ones, are a bit more common on Mondays generally — and in the morning, when blood is more clot-prone.
Researchers don’t know why the time change would add to that Monday connection but it’s possible the abrupt circadian disruption exacerbates factors such as high blood pressure in people already at risk.
How to prepare for daylight saving time
Gradually shift bedtimes about 15 or 20 minutes earlier for several nights before the time change, and rise earlier the next morning, too. Go outside for early morning sunshine that first week of daylight saving time, another way to help reset your body’s internal clock. Moving up daily routines, like dinner time or when you exercise, also may help cue your body to start adapting, sleep experts advise.
Afternoon naps and caffeine as well as evening light from phones and other electronic devices can make adjusting to an earlier bedtime even harder.
Will the U.S. ever eliminate the time change?
Every year there’s talk about ending the time change. In December, then-President-elect Donald Trump promised to eliminate daylight saving time. For the last several years, a bipartisan bill named the Sunshine Protection Act to make daylight saving time permanent has stalled in Congress; it has been reintroduced this year.
But that’s the opposite of what some health groups recommend. The American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine agree it’s time to do away with time switches but say sticking with standard time year-round aligns better with the sun — and human biology — for more consistent sleep.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war.
The White House insists its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the taxes proposed by Trump have caused a gaping wound in the decades-old North American trade partnership. Trump’s tariff plans have also caused the stock market to sink and alarmed U.S. consumers.
In addition to his claims about fentanyl, Trump has insisted that the tariffs could be resolved by fixing the trade deficit and he emphasized while speaking in the Oval Office that he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2.
“Most of the tariffs go on April the second,” Trump said before signing the orders. “Right now, we have some temporary ones and small ones, relatively small, although it’s a lot of money having to do with Mexico and Canada.”
Trump said he was not looking to extend the exemption on the 25% tariff for autos for another month.
Imports from Mexico that comply with the 2020 USMCA trade pact would be excluded from the 25% tariffs for a month, according to the orders signed by Trump. Auto-related imports from Canada that comply with the trade deal would also avoid the 25% tariffs for a month, while the potash that U.S. farmers import from Canada would be tariffed at 10%, the same rate at which Trump wants to tariff Canadian energy products.
Roughly 62% of imports from Canada would likely still face the new tariffs because they’re not USMCA compliant, according to a White House official who insisted on anonymity to preview the orders on a call with reporters. Half of imports from Mexico that are not USCMA compliant would also be taxed under the orders being signed by Trump, the official said.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has planned to announce any retaliatory measures on Sunday, but Trump credited her with making progress on illegal immigration and drug smuggling as a reason for again pausing tariffs that were initially supposed to go into full effect in February.
“I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border.”
Trump’s actions also thawed relations with Canada somewhat, after its initial retaliatory tariffs of $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) on U.S. goods. The government said it had suspended its second wave of retaliatory tariffs on additional U.S. goods worth $125 billion (US$87 billion).
Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs threats have roiled financial markets, lowered consumer confidence, and enveloped many businesses in an uncertain atmosphere that could delay hiring and investment.
Major U.S. stock markets briefly bounced off lows after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick previewed the month-long pauses on CNBC on Thursday. Significant declines already seen this week resumed within an hour. The S&P 500 stock index has fallen below where it was before Trump was elected.
Asked whether the stock market decline was due to his tariffs, Trump said: “A lot of them are globalist countries and companies that won’t be doing as well because we’re taking back things that have been taken from us many years ago.”
Sheinbaum said she and Trump “had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results,” on a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Mexico has cracked down on cartels, sent troops to the U.S. border and delivered 29 top cartel bosses long chased by American authorities to the Trump administration in a span of weeks.
At a press conference, Sheinbaum elaborated on her call with Trump Thursday, saying that she told the president that Mexico was making great strides in fulfilling his security demands.
“I told him we’re getting results,” Sheinbaum said. But the U.S. imposed the tariffs, so she asked Trump “how are we going to continue cooperating, collaborating with something that hurts the people of Mexico?”
She added that “practically all of the trade” between the U.S. and Mexico will be exempt from tariffs until April 2.
She said the two countries will continue to work together on migration and security, and to cut back on fentanyl trafficking to the U.S.
From January to February, the amount of fentanyl seized at the border dropped more than 41%, according to Sheinbaum, citing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. She cited the dip as meeting a commitment made to Trump.
Still, relations between the United States and Canada remain frosty because of the tariff pressures.
A senior Canadian government official said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s call on Wednesday with Trump became heated. The U.S. president used profanity while complaining about protections in Canada’s dairy industry. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the call, said Trudeau did not use profanity.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the leader of Canada’s most populous province, said tha t starting Monday the province will charge 25% more for electricity shipped to 1.5 million Americans in response to Trump’s tariff plan. Ontario provides electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan.
“This whole thing with President Trump is a mess,” Ford said Thursday. “This reprieve, we’ve went down this road before. He still threatens the tariffs on April 2.”
Ford’s office said that the tariff would remain in place even if there’s a one month reprieve from the Americans. Ford has said that so long as the threat of tariffs continue, Ontario’s position will not change.
Lutnick said that he will be watching fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. as a key “metric” he will focus on when evaluating Canada and Mexico’s efforts to combat the synthetic opioid.
In his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, Trump portrayed tariffs — which he has has also levied on China at 20% due to their role in fentanyl production — as a source of increasing wealth and power for the United States.
Yet most economists expect the import duties to send prices higher, slow the economy, and potentially cost jobs.
The Yale University Budget Lab has estimated that the tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico would increase inflation by a full percentage point, cut growth by half a percentage point and cost the average household about $1,600 in disposable income.
Trump appeared to acknowledge Tuesday night that there could be some pain: “There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re okay with that. It won’t be much.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 885th career goal midway through the third period of the Washington Capitals’ game against New York Rangers on Wednesday night, moving nine away from tying Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.
The Capitals’ captain scored as he knocked in a loose puck from the left side with 9:32 left in the third period to tie the score 2-2. Ovechkin now has 46 goals in 76 career games against the Rangers.
“Great job on faceoff,” Ovechkin said of the play. “Great battle and the puck came to me.”
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery was more effusive in his praise for his star forward.
“He has a flair for the dramatics at a key moment in the game,” Carbery said. “The puck squirts to him and he makes no mistake. That’s a huge goal for our team, huge goal on the power play. It’s not him in his office, it’s him jumping on a loose puck.”
The Capitals went on to win 3-2 in overtime on Tom Wilson’s goal at 4:07.
Ovechkin has 32 goals in 46 games this season. He had 15 goals in his first 18 games, then missed 16 games with a fractured left fibula. He returned Dec. 28 and has scored 17 in 28 games since.
The Russian star is on pace to break Gretzky’s mark of 894, which had long seemed unapproachable, in early April, well before the regular season is over.
“What do we need, 10 more (to set the record),” Carbery said. “Ten more. We got this.”
Ovechkin now has 321 power-play goals, extending his NHL record, and is one point away from becoming the 11th player to reach 1,600 career points.
Ovechkin had two shots blocked and an attempt denied by Igor Shesterkin on his first shift in the opening minutes of the game. In the second period, he fired a wrist shot that was gloved by Shesterkin 2 1/2 minutes in, and turned and sent a shot that was saved by the goalie with 1:11 to go in the period.
He broke through in the third period and then nearly won it 2 minutes into overtime but Shesterkin gloved the puck as he fell to the ice with his legs spread.
The MTA is looking to improve wireless service for LIRR commuters. It has put out a request for proposals from companies interested in building and maintaining a wireless communication network throughout the Long Island Rail Road. The network, which would be developed at no cost to the MTA, could include new cellular towers in segments of the LIRR system known to have spotty coverage. The LIRR has said it has no plans to offer free Wi-Fi on trains, because of the cost.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is granting a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers, as worries persist that the newly launched trade war could crush domestic manufacturing.
The pause comes after Trump spoke with leaders of the “big 3” automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, on Wednesday, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Asked if 30 days was enough for the auto sector to prepare for the new taxes, Leavitt said Trump was blunt with the automakers seeking an exemption: “He told them that they should get on it, start investing, start moving, shift production here to the United States of America where they will pay no tariff.”
Trump had long promised to impose tariffs, but his opening weeks in the White House involved aggressive threats and surprise suspensions, leaving allies unclear at what the U.S. president is actually trying to achieve.
Based off various Trump administration statements, the tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China imposed on Tuesday are about stopping illegal immigration, blocking fentanyl smuggling, closing the trade gap, balancing the federal budget and other nations showing more respect for Trump.
All of that has left Canada, a long-standing ally, determined to stand up against Trump with their own retaliatory tariffs, rejecting a White House overture to possibly reduce some of tariffs imposed on Tuesday.
“We are not going to back down,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said after speaking with the Canadian prime minister. “We will not budge. Zero tariffs and that is it”
Ford told The Associated Press that the auto sector in the United States and Canada would last approximately 10 days before they start shutting down the assembly lines because of the tariffs.
“People are going to lose their jobs,” he said.
After the White House announced the one month reprieve, shares of big U.S., Asian and European automakers jumped as much as 6%.
But pausing the 25% taxes on autos traded through the North American trade pact USMCA would only delay a broader reckoning to take place on April 2, when Trump is set to impose broad “reciprocal” tariffs to match the taxes and subsidies that other countries charge on imports.
The U.S. automaker Ford said in a statement: “We will continue to have a healthy and candid dialogue with the Administration to help achieve a bright future for our industry and U.S. manufacturing.”
GM in a statement thanked Trump “for his approach, which enables American automakers like GM to compete and invest domestically.”
Other industries are also likely to seek exemptions from the import taxes.
“A number of industries have reached out to us to ask us for exemptions to the tariffs,” Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday.
The White House repeatedly insisted that it would not grant exemptions and the sudden turnaround reflects the economic and political problems being created by Trump’s day-old tariffs. While the Republican president sees them as enriching the United States, his plans to tax imports have alienated allies and caused anxiety about slower economic growth and accelerating inflation.
The U.S. president engaged in a phone call on Wednesday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had suggested that the administration was looking to meet Canada and Mexico “in the middle.”
But Trudeau refused to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs so long as Trump continues with his new taxes on imports from Canada, a senior government official told The Associated Press. The official confirmed the stance on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
“Both countries will continue to be in contact today,” Trudeau’s office said.
The prospect of a trade war appears to be an ongoing feature of the Trump administration. In addition to his upcoming reciprocal tariffs that could strike the European Union, India, Brazil, South Korea, Canada and Mexico, Trump wants to tax imports of computer chips, pharmaceutical drugs and autos. He also closed exemptions on his 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs and is investigating tariffs on copper as well.
Tariffs are taxes paid by importers in the countries receiving the goods, so the cost could largely be passed along to U.S. consumers and businesses in the form of higher prices. In his Tuesday night speech to a joint session of Congress, Trump tried to minimize the financial pain as a ” little disturbance.”
“It may be a little bit of an adjustment period,” he said after claiming that farmers would benefit from reciprocal tariffs on countries that have tariffs on U.S. exports. “You have to bear with me again and this will be even better.”
Trump has predicted that tariffs will lead to greater investment inside the U.S., creating factory jobs and boosting growth in the long term.
On Tuesday, Trump put 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada, taxing Canadian energy products such as oil and electricity at a lower 10% rate. The president also doubled the 10% tariff he placed on China to 20%.
The administration has claimed that the tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of drugs such as fentanyl, with aides asserting that this is about a “drug war” rather than a “trade war.” U.S. customs agents seized just 43 pounds (19.5 kilograms) of fentanyl at the northern border the last fiscal year.
Trudeau said on Tuesday that his country would plaster tariffs on over $100 billion (U.S. dollars) of American goods over the course of 21 days, stressing that the United States had abandoned a long-standing friendship.
“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they are talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” Trudeau said on Tuesday.
Mexico indicated it would announce its own countermeasures on Sunday.
Beijing responded with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of U.S. farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen.
“If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” China’s embassy to the United States posted on X on Tuesday night.
In response to China, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that the United States is “prepared” for war against the world’s second largest economy.
“Those who long for peace must prepare for war,” Hegseth said Wednesday morning. “If we want to deter war with the Chinese or others, we have to be strong.”
Leavitt is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on First- and Fifth-amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
The Suffolk County Legislature has allocated nearly $35 million to the county’s Board of Elections to purchase new voting machines. Officials say the current machines are prone to ballot jams and mechanical issues.
Various civic groups have argued the new machines under consideration are unreliable, too costly and inefficient. The Board of Elections is looking to make its final decision on the new machines in June and expects to have them in place countywide for the November Election,
Thirteen gang members involved in a vehicle theft and credit card fraud ring have been indicted in Suffolk County.
The members of the Hempstead/Freeport-based gang known as the CC Boyz are accused of breaking into more than 52 vehicles and stealing 15 of them around Long Island, and using stolen credit cards to make more than $40,000 in purchases
WASHINGTON (AP) — A president’s speech to Congress — even without the formal gloss of a State of the Union address — is typically a time for a call to national unity and predictable claims about the country being strong.
But that wasn’t President Donald Trump’s plan. His speech on Tuesday night was relentlessly partisan, boasting about his election victory and criticizing Democrats for failing to recognize his accomplishments.
The hard edge reflected Trump’s steamroller approach to his second term, brushing aside opposition and demanding loyalty throughout the federal government.
Here are key takeaways from the speech:
Trump airs grievances and inflates achievements
Trump set a tone of division almost from his first words, calling his predecessor Joe Biden the worst president in history and chiding Democrats as so stinting in their praise of him they would not even grant him perfunctory applause.
He placed himself alongside the country’s first president, George Washington, when discussing what he said were the flood of early achievements of his second term.
He was speaking to a house divided. Republicans stood and cheered. For Democrats, it was silence, with occasional shouts of protest, with the only applause when he announced that Ukraine wanted to restart peace negotiations.
Trump leaned hard into cultural flashpoints — his opposition to affirmative action, diversity programs and transgender rights.
He inflated the scale of his victory in November, the margin of which was actually among the smallest in American history. The tenor was more that of a campaign speech than an address to Congress.
In a stunning breach of protocol and a measure of the fractious politics, one Democrat, Rep. Al Green of Texas, stood up and shouted at Trump, gesturing toward the president with his cane. He refused to sit when asked by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who ordered him removed.
Trump described Democrats as a lost cause. “There is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy,” he said.
Trump warms on Zelenskyy after days of hammering the Ukrainian leader
Trump has been unsparing in his criticism of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
But towards the end of his address, Trump read from a letter from Zelenskyy he had received earlier in the day.
“The letter reads Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Trump said. “Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians … My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”
It remains to be seen if the letter will mark a detente in the long-complicated Trump-Zelenskyy relationship.
Late last week, Trump and Vice President JD Vance used an Oval Office meeting to rip Zelenskyy for being insufficiently grateful for the billions of dollars in U.S. aid poured into Ukraine. Trump then abruptly ended the White House meeting where the deal —designed to give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s deposits of titanium, lithium, manganese and more — was supposed to be signed.
On Monday, Trump ordered a “pause” in U.S. assistance to Ukraine as he looked to dial up the pressure on Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.
Trump blames the soaring price of eggs on Biden, not bird flu
The president gave voice to a frustration of many Americans over rising costs of groceries — particularly the skyrocketing cost of eggs, but blamed Biden instead of the bird flu.
“Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control — and we are working hard to get it back down,” Trump said.
His agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, said last week that egg prices could still soar more than 40% this year.
The main reason egg prices have increased to a record average of $4.95 per dozen this month is that more than 166 million birds have been slaughtered to limit the spread of bird flu that has overwhelmed flocks around the country.
The administration announced the USDA will invest another $1 billion on top of the roughly $2 billion it has already spent battling bird flu since the outbreak began in 2022.
The looming presence of Elon Musk
Trump lavished praise on Elon Musk, the billionaire who he has tasked with overhauling the federal government and work force. Democrats tried to verbally fact check the president by shouting “false” at some of his assertions of success.
Musk, seated in the gallery above, stood when Republicans applauded him. Democrats held signs that said “Musk steals.”
The president said that Musk has found “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud,” vastly overstating his team’s accomplishments. For example, many canceled contracts were already fully paid, meaning the government received no savings.
He was dressed more formally than usual, wearing a dark suit with a blue tie rather than a black t-shirt that says “tech support.”
Musk has vast influence as a presidential adviser, leading Trump’s efforts to overhaul and downsize the federal government. Thousands of workers have been laid off, with many more expected to follow.
Trump presses forward with tariff fight
The president has long viewed the stock market as a lodestar. But he ignored Wall Street losses that wiped out gains since the November election.
The stock market has been tumbling as Trump enacts tariffs on Canada and Mexico, critical trading partners that have been retaliating with their own levies. The dispute threatens to increase costs for American consumers even as the president promises to bring down prices.
Trump showed no interest in backing off, describing tariffs as integral to his political agenda.
“Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening and it will happen rather quickly. There will be a little disturbance, but we’re ok with that.”
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said she plans to announce retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on Sunday.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier on Tuesday diagnosed Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports as simply “a very dumb thing to do.”
Trump offers something for everyone
For rich foreigners, he talked up his plan to introduce a $5 million “gold card,” giving the wealthy preferred immigration status.
“We will allow the most success for job-creating people from all over the world to buy a path to U.S. citizen,” Trump said. “It’s like the green card, but better and more sophisticated.”
He also made his case that he’s for the everyman, redoubling on campaign promises to pursue three legislative efforts that could have huge impact on working Americans.
“I’m calling for no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors,” Trump said.
At another point, he gushed that his trade policies will be a boon for the agriculture industry, even as farm-state senators have warned that tariffs could hurt them.
That was then, this is now
The president has always reveled in his reputation for tough talk. But a look back at 2017, when Trump gave his first speech to Congress in his first term, shows how Trump has only become more of a hardliner.
Eight years ago, he talked about working with Canada’s Trudeau to support women entrepreneurs in both countries. He paid homage to “our nation’s path towards civil rights.” He said “real and positive immigration reform is possible.” There was no reference to Barack Obama, who he replaced in the White House.
Now Trump is feuding with Trudeau over tariffs. He used his speech to criticize diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which he’s been swiftly eliminating across the federal government. His remarks on immigration focused on deporting criminals. And he repeatedly derided Biden.