Retailers issue ‘warning’ to Trump that higher prices are coming soon: report
Retailers are likely to raise prices "in the coming weeks" due to President Donald Trump's tariffs, according to a report in The New York Post.
Business editor and Fox correspondent Charles Gasparino wrote Friday, "The retail industry is alerting President Trump that they can’t 'eat' his tariffs forever – and price increases are likely to hit in the coming weeks."
"Whether this gets translated into higher official inflation numbers is anyone’s guess at this point. But for many items enjoyed by Americans who like cheap goods brought in from abroad – a majority of them from China – these things will soon be getting a lot less cheap."
EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade
Trump famously told Walmart execs to "'EAT THE TARIFFS,' and not charge valued customers ANYTHING."
"I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!" he warned.
Gasparino's anonymous sources told him that "the retailers’ warnings to the president about how they can’t just eat tariffs indefinitely were well received in the sense that Trump didn’t chase them out of the Oval."
Gasparino speculated that "When the price increases begin to spread, that could set up an interesting catfight between the president and a huge chunk of the business community."
White House claim puts Trump ‘potentially outside the immunity shield’: attorney
An attempt by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to blow off ethical and legal concerns about Donald Trump's crypto dinner on Thursday night might come back to haunt her boss.
Thursday afternoon Leavitt lectured reporters in the Brady Briefing Room about the dinner which was to include foreign investors at a Donald Trump golf resort in Virginia, telling NBC's Garrett Haake, "Well, as you know, Garrett, this question has been raised with the president. I have also addressed the dinner tonight. The president is attending it in his personal time. It is not a White House dinner, it’s not taking place here at the White House. But certainly I can raise that question and try to get you an answer for it."
Leavitt's claim of "personal time" caught the ear of multiple Trump critics.
EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade
On X, The Bulwark's Tim Miller pointed out, "President's don't get 'personal time.' There's not like a magic suit you wear when you are doing official business and one where you are just Donald from Queens."
Conservative lawyer and ardent Trump opponent George Conway took the next step and suggested, "Actually, it’s fine. If Trump is saying he’s doing something on his 'personal time,' then obviously that means he’s not acting within what the Supreme Court calls 'the outer perimeter of his official responsibility,' which, in turn, means he’s not immune from criminal prosecution."
With Conway referencing the conservative Supreme Court's 2024 ruling that Trump and presidents who follow him are absolved of criminality if they are engaged in "official acts" as president, California attorney Tracey Gallagher also pounced on X.
"If Trump claims he’s acting on his 'personal time,' he’s likely implying he’s not operating in an official capacity as president," she asserted. "The Supreme Court, in cases like Trump v. United States (2024), distinguishes between official acts (within the president’s constitutional authority) and unofficial acts (personal conduct outside that scope). Official acts may carry immunity from criminal prosecution, while unofficial acts generally don’t. So, by framing something as 'personal time,' he’s suggesting it’s an unofficial act, potentially outside the immunity shield."
She later cited former Labor Secretary Robert Reich who observed, "The 220 top buyers of Trump's memecoin will have dinner with him at his golf club tonight. The average price of admission is $1M per person. Trump is literally selling access to government to the highest bidders."
Friday morning, conservative columnist Matt Lewis made the case on MSNBC that what the president did on Thursday night was nothing less than being the recipient of "bribery."
‘It looks bad’: Fox reporter admits ‘problem for the GOP that can be exploited’
The Republican-led Senate passed the procedural vote to end a filibuster on a bill that would place regulations on the $250 billion stablecoin market with a bipartisan vote. However, one Fox correspondent
The "GENIUS Act" would create a framework for regulating stablecoins and address ongoing fears about consumer protections and other risks, the legislation explains. GENIUS stands for "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins."
As Axios explained, 18 Democrats voted earlier this week to support the bill, but many of those same Democrats won't support it without "basic protections against corruption by public officials."
The Shib Daily reported Friday that Democrats intend to attach an Amendment to prevent "the U.S. president and other officials from financially benefiting from stablecoins."
ALSO READ: Democrats surrender huge stash of FTX crypto cash
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) has been a key player in negotiating the bill with his fellow Democrats. He argued they should back the bill even if they still have concerns about Trump's family crypto business.
“But we cannot allow that corruption to blind us to the broader reality: blockchain technology is here to stay,” Warner stated on Monday, Axios reported.
Pro-crypto Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino wrote for the New York Post that the bill's author, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), was nervous about whether it would make it past the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
“It will be either 59 votes or 70″ voting in favor, said Hagerty. Ultimately, he got 66 votes with Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) opposing it.
Gasparino celebrated Trump's transparency in his meme coin investments, but conceded, "you can make the case that it looks bad. It’s still an optics problem for the GOP that can be exploited when the senate tries to pass other more important crypto bills. Amendments about Trump’s business dealings could [bog] down full passage of the legislation. It’s the likely reason for some of the GOP holdouts."
"The problem is obvious," he explained. "The president appoints the people heading crypto regulation, the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Trump is literally deregulating an industry he’s profiting from. This appearance problem could be a sticking point when Congress takes its next legislative step, a rewrite of securities laws to better serve digital coins."
Lawyer rips Epstein adviser’s ‘gross’ claim about ‘American hero’: ‘Shame on her’
An attorney for several survivors of Jeffrey Epstein said he was "appalled" on Thursday after a high-powered corporate attorney who advised the late child sex offender told lawmakers that she did not view Virginia Giuffre as a "credible witness."
Attorney Arick Fudali, who represents 11 Epstein survivors, told CNN anchor Boris Sanchez he was stunned to learn about the comments from attorney Kathy Ruemmler, the former Goldman Sachs general counsel, who was questioned behind closed doors by the House Oversight Committee earlier this month about her relationship with the financier.
Ruemmler told congressional leaders that she thought Giuffre, one of the most prominent accusers of Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, "lacked inherent credibility."
Ruemmler's comment has left Giuffre's family furious, and Fudali shared his reaction with CNN.
"It's appalling. It's gross. You know, any adjective you can possibly think of and [it's] really offensive for her to say that about Ms. Giuffre, who, in my opinion, is an American hero, someone who suffered greatly and someone who inspired so many other survivors, not just of Jeffrey Epstein, but of sexual abuse around the world," Fudali said.
"Ms. Giuffre is the reason, I know personally, that a lot of women were able to feel comfortable, feel strong, and feel empowered enough to step forward," Fudali added. "So shame on her for saying anything of the sort. Anything, especially casting doubt on Ms. Giuffre's allegations."
