Trump marks Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery
"Every day the Republic stands is only possible because of those who did what had to be done when duty called," Mr. Trump said. "Our debt to them is eternal, and it does not diminish with time. It only grows and grows and grows with each passing year. The greatest monument to their courage is not carved in marble or cast in bronze. It's all around us, an American nation, 325 million strong."
Before his remarks, the president laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a somber annual tradition for presidents, and one Mr. Trump participated in during his first term as president. He was accompanied by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who stood behind him as he placed the wreath.
"Each life honored here in Arlington was once full of the ordinary moments and quiet dreams of early sunrises, of good days and bad days, of celebrations and disappointments," Vance said. "For my fellow Americans, especially those watching on television, consider the sum of all the moments that make a good life, and now appreciate that countless strangers — people most of you never met — they gave up those moments in their own life so that we could enjoy them in ours. And that is what Memorial Day is all about."
Early Monday, Mr. Trump posted a message on his social media platform Truth Social about Memorial Day, writing in all caps that he wished a "happy Memorial Day to all," including the "scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country through warped radical left minds." He went on to target immigration policies and accused "USA-hating judges who suffer from an ideology that is sick, and very dangerous for our country" of protecting criminals.
Memorial Day honors those who died in uniform as a result of battle. Since the Revolutionary War, the Department of Veterans Affairs estimates more than 650,000 U.S. military personnel have died in battle.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, completed in 1932, represents the burial site of a soldier from World War I whose remains could not be identified. Unknown remains from later wars were added in 1958 and 1984.
Earlier this month, the president proclaimed on Truth Social that the U.S. will designate new holidays to commemorate the end of World War I and World War II in Europe.
"All over the World, the Allies are celebrating the Victory we had in World War II. The only Country that doesn't celebrate is the United States of America, and the Victory was only accomplished because of us," Mr. Trump said in that post.
"I am hereby declaring a National Holiday in celebration of the Victories of World War I, where the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and World War II, where the Victory date was May 8, 1945," he wrote.
Nov. 11 is already a federal holiday, known as Veterans Day. May, 8, 1945, is generally known as Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day, since the war in the Pacific lasted until the Japanese surrendered, which was announced on Aug. 14, 1945.
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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's Fed Pick Could Face Resistance From Colleagues on Rates
(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump's relentless calls for dramatic reductions in interest rates, along with his ability to make changes to the Federal Reserve's leadership, is drawing more attention to the way monetary policy decisions are made — and the people who make them. PATH Train Service Resumes After Fire at Jersey City Station Mayor Asked to Explain $1.4 Billion of Wasted Johannesburg Funds Chicago Curbs Hiring, Travel to Tackle $1 Billion Budget Hole Seeking Relief From Heat and Smog, Cities Follow the Wind A close look at that group — barring additional surprise departures from the Fed — suggests the president probably won't get the outsize rate cuts he wants in 2026. Fed Governor Adriana Kugler announced last week she'll resign on Aug. 8, five months before her term was set to run out. Trump said he expects to name a replacement in the coming days. 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Waller and Bowman said the Fed should provide more support to a slowing labor market, but most officials, including Powell, remained wary of tariff-driven inflation. Fed chiefs are traditionally given significant deference by other policymakers in pursuing consensus, so long as they have the committee's respect. 'If the new chair is perceived as political or aligned with the administration, they may not be granted that trust immediately,' said Marc Giannoni, chief US economist at Barclays (BCS) Capital and former research director at the Dallas Fed. Fed Board All 19 policymakers participate in discussions about the economy and monetary policy, but only 12 officials vote. The seven Fed governors in Washington always vote, along with the president of the New York Fed. The remaining four votes are rotated each year among the presidents of the 11 other regional Fed banks. If Powell resigns from the board when his chairmanship ends in May 2026, as is customary, that will give Trump another opening to fill, in addition to Kugler's seat. Powell's term on the board doesn't officially expire until 2028. Replacing both Kugler and Powell would make four of seven governors Trump appointees. It's not guaranteed that all would automatically take direction from the president, though it could give the new chair a head start, Fed watchers say. 'If you have four governors all lined up on one side, that gives the chair quite a bit of momentum to get his or her way,' William Dudley, a former president of the New York Fed, said Monday on Bloomberg TV. 'But I think the Federal Reserve presidents are going to vote their conscience in terms of what's right for the macroeconomy.' Dudley is a Bloomberg Opinion contributor. While Trump has been calling for lower rates for months, Bowman and Waller backed holding rates steady — and voted in favor of such moves — through June. Waller, whose name has been floated as a potential successor for Powell, has also been a staunch defender of central bank independence. The other members of the board — Governors Michael Barr, Lisa Cook and Vice Chair Philip Jefferson, are generally viewed as neutral voices on rates. All three were appointed by former president Joe Biden. 'They will be very focused on the fundamentals, and they could be a bit of resistance if the new members of the FOMC seem to be more influenced by political desire,' said Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist for Nationwide. Regional Banks Aside from New York Fed President John Williams, the regional presidents voting next year will be Cleveland's Beth Hammack, Dallas Fed chief Lorie Logan, the Minneapolis Fed's Neel Kashkari and Philadelphia's Anna Paulson. Williams, who is also vice chair of the FOMC, has often backed Powell and is viewed as a centrist. 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Newsweek
23 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Map Shows States Where Homeowners Benefit Most from Capital Gains Tax Plan
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Blue states, including California and Washington, are among those that stand to benefit the most from President Donald Trump's idea to eliminate the federal capital gains tax on home sales, according to a new study. A proposal to abolish the tax was first pushed forward by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene last month and then echoed by Trump, who told reporters on July 22 that he was "thinking about…no tax on capital gains on houses." While it is not yet clear if the president's suggestion may lead to a real change in the way home sales are taxed by the government, real estate brokerage Redfin has calculated that homeowners in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Washington, and New Jersey, in this order, would benefit the most from the abolition of the capital gains tax. What Is the Federal Capital Gains Tax on Home Sales—and Why Does Trump Want To Abolish It? Homeowners who sell a property where they have been living for longer than a year may have to pay capital gains taxes if they sell their property for more than they originally purchased it for. Capital gains taxes are a portion of the profit made by homeowners through the years that their property has appreciated in value. At the moment, capital gains taxes are limited by a cap. Homeowners who have lived in a home as their primary residence for at least 24 months in the five years before the sale receive an exemption on the first $250,000 of gains for individuals and $500,000 for married couples filing jointly. This cap, however, has not been updated since it was introduced in 1997 nor adjusted for inflation—leading many experts to support urgent changes to the exclusion. "It is not indexed for inflation. In real terms, the exclusion has gone down over these last 20-something years," William McBride, Chief Economist & Stephen J. Entin Fellow in Economics at the Tax Foundation, told Newsweek. "The high inflation we had in recent years, during the pandemic and consequently, is one of the things that has caused a lot of home price appreciation." While this is a problem that typically affects wealthier homeowners the most, the rapid appreciation that occurred during the pandemic homebuying frenzy means that "this is no longer just a concern for high-end properties," Shannon McGahn, executive vice president and chief advocacy officer at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), told Newsweek. According to a recent report by NAR, nearly 29 million homeowners, about one-third of the U.S. market, already face potential capital gains taxes if they sell, "and that number is expected to climb sharply over the next decade," McGahn said. If no change is made to the way capital gains are taxed, nearly 70 percent of homeowners could exceed the $250,000 cap, according to NAR. "A sizable portion of homeowners, especially in states with high home prices that have grown quickly, are sitting on more than the $250k/$500k of capital gains that are exempt from capital gains taxes," Chen Zhao, head of economics research at Redfin, previously told Newsweek. "These homeowners generally have owned their homes for a long period of time, but in some places, people are exceeding the current capital gains exemptions solely based on appreciation during the pandemic." Trump has hinted at the idea of abolishing the capital gains tax on home sales as a solution to the ongoing affordability crisis in the U.S. housing market. On July 22, he told reporters that "if the Fed would lower the rates, we wouldn't even have to do that." Greene has framed the tax as an "unfair burden" hurting the "American dream." Which States Will Benefit the Most—and the Least According to Redfin, more than a quarter of homes across the U.S. have gained at least $250,000 in value since the last time they were purchased, with 8 percent having gained more than $500,000. The owners of these homes are the ones that stand to benefit by a potential elimination of the capital gains tax. By the same reasoning, the states where homeowners stand to gain from the abolition of the tax are those where homes have appreciated the most in recent decades. These include some of the most expensive housing markets in the country: California and Hawaii. In the Golden State, the median home value is $766,896 and the typical capital gain of all homes is $332,659, according to Redfin. A total of 62.3 percent of homes in the state have gained at least $250,000 since they were last sold—the highest share of any state in the nation. One in three (33 percent) have gained more than $500,000. Hawaii followed with 61 percent of homes having gained more than $250,000 in value since they were last sold, while 34.6 percent gained over $500,000. The overall capital gain was even higher than that of California, however, at $338,346. The top five states that would benefit most from the abolition of the federal capital gains tax also include Massachusetts, Washington and New Jersey, with respectively 58.4 percent, 54.1 percent, and 52.2 percent of homes that have gained at least $250,000 in value since they were last sold. Do you think abolishing the federal capital gains tax on home sales is a good or bad idea? Let me know your opinion by emailing The states where homeowners would benefit the least from the change, on the other hand, are Mississippi, North Dakota, Iowa, Oklahoma and Wyoming, which have seen the smallest share of homes that have appreciated over $250,000 in the country, respectively at 1.2 percent, 2.2 percent, 2.4 percent, 3.1 percent and 3.4 percent. What Would Be the Impact of Eliminating the Capital Gains Tax? According to experts, eliminating the federal capital gains tax could have a positive impact on the U.S. housing market, unlocking homes that homeowners were previously holding on to to avoid a high fiscal burden. "Ending the capital gains tax could potentially spur some sales by removing a barrier to selling. Home sales have been in a slump for the past couple years, and this might nudge some sellers to consider," Bankrate's Jeff Ostrowski told Newsweek. "However, the tax burden is far from the main cause of the housing market slowdown." Some experts fear that such a move could have unwanted consequences. "Ongoing affordability issues could be exacerbated by abolishing this tax as it could fuel demand and lead to a more competitive housing market, especially where supply is constrained," Hannah Jones, senior economist at told Newsweek. "Removing this tax would favor wealthy owners which could worsen equity inequality and make the market even more challenging for low-to-mid-earning buyers." McBride also said the measure does not address another cause of home price appreciation in recent years: the lack of supply. "There's a shortage of supply and that's the fundamental problem that needs to be addressed directly. This proposal does not address that," he said. "We have a penalty on investment in housing, on the supply of housing, due to its tax treatment through our depreciation system. That should be addressed, that's the way to directly address this."
Associated Press
23 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Live updates: Texas Democrats prevent state redistricting by leaving the state
Texas Democrats on Monday prevented their state's House of Representatives from moving forward, at least for now, with a redrawn congressional map sought by President Donald Trump to shore up Republicans' 2026 midterm prospects as his political standing falters. After dozens of Democrats left the state, the Republican-dominated House was unable to establish the quorum of lawmakers required to do business. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has made threats about removing members who are absent from their seats. Democrats counter that Abbott is using 'smoke and mirrors' to assert legal authority he does not have. In California, Democrats encouraged by Gov. Gavin Newsom are considering new political maps that could slash five Republican-held House seats in the liberal-leaning state while bolstering Democratic incumbents in other battleground districts. The move is intended to undercut any GOP gains in Texas, potentially swinging House control and giving Democrats a counterweight to Trump on Capitol Hill. Update: Date: 2025-08-05 11:53:50 Title: Ask AP reporters a question Content:
