It's not too late to spare this crucial intelligence agency
In a world increasingly defined by uncertainty and great-power rivalry, the last thing the United States should be doing is cutting one of its most quietly indispensable assets: the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) at the State Department. And yet approximately 20 percent of the staff might soon be gone, having either been laid off or accepted deferred retirement. These cuts undermine not just the bureau, but the intelligence and diplomatic posture of the United States itself.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
26 minutes ago
- New York Times
Corrections: July 29, 2025
An article on July 23 about legal concerns surrounding President Trump's pledge to open international waters to mining misidentified the location of a speech given by Nathan Nagy, a legal adviser to the U.S. State Department. It was delivered at a U.N. conference in New York, not France. An article on Sunday about Joe Kennedy III, the former Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, misstated Representative Nancy Pelosi's leadership position when she supported Mr. Kennedy in a Senate race. She was the House speaker, not the minority leader. The article also described incorrectly the relationship between Joe Kennedy III and Senator Ted Kennedy. The senator was Mr. Kennedy's great-uncle, not uncle. The article also referred incorrectly to the location of Jackson, Miss. It is near the Mississippi Delta region, not part of it. Because of an editing error, an article on Saturday about David Ellison, who is set to become the chairman and CEO of Paramount, misstated the title of the CBS show hosted by Stephen Colbert. It is 'The Late Show,' not 'Late Night.' A Critic's Notebook article on Friday about this year's Williamstown Theater Festival misstated the nationality of the character Genevieve in the play 'Spirit of the People.' She is Canadian, not American. An article on Saturday about the New York Historical acquiring the archive of the photographer Bill Cunningham, who chronicled fashion for The New York Times, misstated the nature of the transaction. The archive was purchased for an undisclosed amount; it was not donated. Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions. To contact the newsroom regarding correction requests, please email nytnews@ To share feedback, please visit Comments on opinion articles may be emailed to letters@ For newspaper delivery questions: 1-800-NYTIMES (1-800-698-4637) or email customercare@
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump ushers in a new reality: Get used to tariffs, everyone
A new reality is settling in for the global economy: President Donald Trump's tariffs are here to stay. On Monday morning, Trump said the baseline tariff rate for the world will be 'in the range of 15 to 20% ... probably one of those two numbers.' 'We're going to be setting a tariff for essentially the rest of the world, and that's what they're going to pay if they want to do business in the United States, because you can't sit down and make 200 deals,' Trump added. That statement came some 12 hours after Trump announced an agreement Sunday with the European Union that would see a 15% tax paid on products brought into the United States from the bloc. The E.U. also agreed to spend $750 billion on energy purchases from the U.S., while investing an additional $600 billion here. Before Trump took office for a second time, imports from the E.U. were taxed at an average effective rate of about 1.2%. In making tariffs a cornerstone of his administration, Trump is upending the decades-old Washington consensus around free trade. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump hinted at a 10% baseline tariff, with higher duties on Chinese goods. But the final levels he's rolled out — even with recently announced bilateral deals, and with more possibly in the offing — are the highest in nearly a century, according to The Yale Budget Lab, a nonpartisan policy research center. Those higher tariffs make it nearly certain that American households will pay higher prices for the everyday goods that are made overseas and purchased in the U.S. A Yale estimate from July 23 found that the tariffs will result in as much as $2,700 in lost annual income per household, though the taxes collected would help narrow the long-running federal deficit. The tariffs that have gone into effect so far are bringing more money into the U.S. Treasury. In June, tariff revenue was $27.2 billion and in May it was $22.8 billion, according to the Treasury Department's monthly statements, a notable increase from previous years. In a note to clients titled 'Trump winning on his terms,' Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro research group, compared Trump's succession of deal announcements — which alongside the E.U.'s also includes ones with China, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines — to entering an ill-advised competition but still winning it. 'I can't help but wonder that as every academic and critic of the White House lights their hair on fire over the effective tariff rate, America is taking some steps to rebalance our economy,' Dutta wrote, adding: 'Entering a hotdog eating contest might be stupid, but if you eat the most hotdogs, you win!' Alongside the country-by-country tariffs, duties on aluminum, autos, auto parts, copper, lumber, steel and timber also remain in effect — with Trump hinting ones on pharmaceuticals are in the works. Markets initially tumbled in early April, when Trump announced higher-than-expected tariffs on U.S. trading partners. They've since recovered to set new records, but uncertainty still reigns. The odds of a recession have increased since Trump began his second term — to about 1 in 3, according to a Wall Street Journal poll. Recession odds were less than 1 in 4 at the conclusion of President Joe Biden's term, according to the same poll. Wall Street analysts have continued to take a dim view of the deals. Trump and his allies have hailed the E.U. deal as a massive win — but market reaction Monday was muted, with the S&P 500 slipping solidly into the red by 2 p.m. The administration has offered a host of rationales for the tariffs, saying they will boost employment while reducing the deficit — and that any business that doesn't want to pay the tariffs should simply move production back to the U.S. Outside of his base of support, Trump's tariffs seemingly have few defenders. Even the U.S. automotive sector, whose businesses the tariffs are designed to benefit, said last week that Trump's recently announced deal with Japan forces American automakers to pay more in import taxes based on existing auto duties than what a Japanese automaker must pay. Overall, the economic results so far have not favored Trump. Since April, when his tariffs started rolling out, growth in manufacturing employment has been statistically insignificant, while inflation-adjusted wage growth in the U.S. has slumped. Friday will see the release of jobs data for July that could show further impact. Major businesses that have attempted to confront the administration's tariffs push, such as Amazon and Walmart, have faced swift rebukes from the White House that may have put a damper on the willingness of other companies to speak up. The ultimate effects of the tariffs will hinge on how deals with three of the U.S.' largest trading partners — Canada, China and Mexico — turn out. Administration officials have warned not to expect any new breakthroughs on a China deal, meaning the current average effective rate of more than 50% will stand. There remains an outside chance that a court will strike down many of Trump's tariffs, most of which have been imposed through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. A federal appeals court is set to hear oral arguments this week in a case brought by a U.S. firm challenging the president's authority to levy tariffs. This article was originally published on
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Trump's reported snub of Taiwan president spurs concerns over deference to China
The Trump administration is reportedly blocking Taiwan's president from stopping over in New York City, en route to a diplomatic meeting in Central America, following pressure from China. The Financial Times reported Monday that the administration has denied Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te the opportunity to stop over in New York City during a planned trip to Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize — all countries that recognize Taiwan as its own independent country. However, on Monday, the office of the president in Taiwan released a statement indicating that Lai "currently has no plans to go on an overseas visit," according to Taiwan-state media. A source familiar with the matter at the State Department confirmed that no formal travel plans for President Lai have been announced. "In consideration of the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in southern Taiwan following a recent typhoon and regional developments including the United States' tariffs, the president currently has no plans to go on an overseas visit," the statement from President Lai said. According to the Financial Times, which spoke with unnamed sources said to be intimately familiar with the alleged trip, Lai's decision not to travel came after he was informed that he would not be able to stop in New York City on his way to Central America. Lai's trip was also reportedly supposed to include a stop in Dallas, but it is unclear if the Trump administration was also planning to bar Lai from stopping there as well, according to the Financial Times. The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. However, a State Department source familiar with the matter indicated that the Trump administration continues to be committed to the government's long-standing one China policy, rooted in the Taiwan Relations Act, joint diplomatic agreements with China and longstanding pledges crafted by the government in regard to Taiwan and China. Despite being in line with longstanding government policy, the move still garnered criticism from some Asia policy experts and critics of Trump. Lyle Morris, a senior fellow on foreign policy and national security at the Asia Society's Center for China Analysis, said the "first concrete move" under Trump's second term regarding Taiwan is "a cause for concern." "The assumption is this decision was made in the context of ongoing US-China trade negotiations and a possible Trump-Xi meeting," Morris said on X. "Still, not a good sign for enduring US-Taiwan relations." "Denying President Lai a transit is a deeply concerning break with bipartisan precedent and sends a reckless signal to Beijing that our partnership with Taiwan is on the negotiating table," added Democrat Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., in a post on X following the news about President Lai's alleged travel. "American leadership is now seen as deeply unreliable, with Trump's fits and starts with Ukraine, NATO allies, and other key partners. I urge President Trump to reverse course and do what presidents of both parties have done and allow a transit, and ask my colleagues in Congress to join me in that call." News of the Trump administration's decision to prohibit the Taiwanese president from stopping in New York City comes as the president is reportedly feeling out a potential trip to Beijing himself, alongside major U.S. CEOs. Nothing so far has been set in stone regarding Trump's trip, however.
