Breaking—Iran confirms its President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister, and several other officials died in a helicopter crash in the northwest of country on Sunday. Read more here.
Many Americans are putting off major life plans due to high inflation. Moving to a new home, buying new furniture, or booking a vacation now seem like distant dreams for some.
Susan Garland, 47, from Elkridge, Maryland, believes inflation remains one of the top issues facing the country.
“We are definitely feeling it. We’re a two-person family. Our grocery bill is now over $100 a week,” she said.
For more than 10 years, the Garlands’ grocery bills used to be roughly $70 per week—before high inflation hit. She and her husband have had to cut back on spending on everything, from vacations to eating out.
“I was thinking about purchasing or downsizing into another home. But because the interest rates are still high, I’ve put that off,” another Elkridge resident, Monica Lomax, says.
Overall, prices have surged nearly 20 percent since President Biden took office in January 2021. To bring inflation down, the Fed increased interest rates to the highest level in more than two decades.
A new Adobe Analytics report revealed that consumers are increasingly trading down to cheaper goods to cope with stubborn inflation. In addition, shoppers are flocking to store brands to save money.
“Trading down is clearly a requirement if we are to meet our established budget,” Dennis O'Connor, an 84-year-old retiree from Temecula, Calif., says.
Although illegal, millions of Americans are also trying to purchase prescription drugs from Canada, Mexico, or other countries to save money.
Adding to the financial woes, an increasing number of Americans are being forced to tap into their 401(k) savings early to cover emergencies and basic expenses.
This issue is particularly serious for retirees, as they face the risk of depleting their savings.
“While we are generally very frugal, it appears our efforts are not enough,” KT Hundsen from Minneapolis said. “I have noticed that my husband has cashed out several times, either bonds or stocks, in $10,000 amounts, to be able to pay our usual bills.”
Before the recent price surge, Americans dealt with modest inflation for more than 40 years. Hence, most retirement funds weren’t adequately prepared to cope with the challenges of a high-inflation environment, O'Connor adds.
“Personally, like most seniors, we have had to adjust not only our current spending but also our spending for a very unpredictable future.”
–Emel Akan
Former President Donald Trump and his lawyers Todd Blanche (L) and Emil Bove (R), in the courtroom at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on May 14, 2024. Justin Lane/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
TRUMP TRIAL NEARS END
Former President Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial is nearing its end, and is could wrap up as soon as this week.
“Please be prepared to begin summations on Tuesday,” New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan told attorneys last Friday.
On Friday, prosecutors confirmed they would call no more witnesses. Ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, who’s faced criminal prosecution for making untrue statements to Congress, will return to the witness exam to wrap up questioning by defense and prosecuting attorneys.
Defense lawyers said in court Friday they plan to call a handful of rebuttal witnesses, including experts, whose limited testimonies may be wrapped up within a day.
Meanwhile, the defense is keeping prosecutors guessing about whether Trump himself will take the witness stand to defend himself. Merchan has instructed the parties to prepare for the upcoming week assuming the testimony may not happen.
Trump has indicated in multiple public statements that he was willing to testify in any of his ongoing trials because he had done nothing wrong.
But halfway through the trial, Trump suggested he would not be allowed to testify due to his gag order, prompting the judge to clarify in court that President Trump had the “absolute right” to testify if he wishes.
Though Merchan denied this appraisal, Trump still hasn’t committed.
If Trump takes the witness stand, prosecutors have stated they plan to ask him about his civil case verdicts that found him liable for fraud and defamation, as well as his repeated violation of a gag order.
Prosecutors have said they will make Trump’s credibility as a witness the center of the case if he decides to take the witness stand.
As it stands, Cohen’s testimony has formed the foundation of the case so far, as the only prosecution witness who has shared personal knowledge of Trump’s knowledge and involvement in Cohen’s $130,000 payment to adult actress Stormy Daniels for exclusive rights to her story about an alleged affair with the former president in 2006.
Prosecutors allege that the 11 checks cut to Cohen were created to cover up a payment meant to influence the 2016 presidential election, and that Trump was part of a conspiracy to influence a federal election—allegations which would increase the falsified records charges from misdemeanors to felonies.
Before the jury deliberates, Merchan will hold a charge conference, and advise jurors on the correct interpretation of the law, and make sure all jurors understand the legal issues at hand.
The results could have big implications for Trump’s 2024 aspirations, as some polls have indicated that voters are willing to buy Trump’s narrative of election interference so long as he isn’t convicted of any of the charges—but polls also indicate that many voters would second-guess a ballot for Trump were he convicted.
—Joseph Lord and Catherine Yang
BOOKMARKS
Even as his trial continues on across town in Manhattan, Trump is planning a campaign stop in another one of New York’s boroughs for the first time since he entered politics. The Epoch Times’ Jack Phillips reported that Trump plans to hold a campaign rally in the south Bronx—a borough in which 83.4 percent voted for Biden in 2020. It comes as Trump has ramped up his campaign pressure in the region, including another record-breaking campaign stop in New Jersey.
Republican Party leadership is making a push to expand Republicans’ participation in early voting, ballot harvesting, and drop boxes, The Epoch Times’ Nathan Worcester reported. These were all tactics treated with skepticism by Republicans in 2020, a trend that cratered Republican participation in same-day voting alternatives.
Trump and the Republican National Committee plan a big push to turn Minnesota “red,” The Epoch Times’ Janice Hisle reported. Trump lost the state—which hasn’t voted red since the 1970s—by a narrow margin in 2016. This year, he plans to target the state as a prime flip opportunity.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris could have a problem with black voters that could cost them the election according to an article by The New York Times. In Philadelphia, the city that helped push them over the finish line to narrowly flipping Pennsylvania in 2020, black voters seem wary of giving the administration another four years in office.
Even as Biden and Trump’s age dominates the 2024 presidential race, in the aging Senate, its drawn little reaction. An article by The New York Times explores the renewed Senate bids of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine), two octogenarians likely on a fast track to reelection to the upper chamber for six more years.
