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Harris’ campaign has said she supports nearly all the new taxes in Biden’s latest budget, teeing up a potential starting position in 2025 negotiations over the tax code. Tax cuts and credits for middle- and lower-​income families would be more than paid for by a projected $5 trillion in new revenue over a decade. This money would come in part from increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, raising taxes on billionaires and collecting more Medicare taxes from business owners and high earners. While such measures target the wealthy, New York Governor Kathy Hochul says Wall Street shouldn’t worry—Harris will deliver

“the same they always get under Democratic administrations: a robust economy, strong stock markets.”

Brian Nelson, one of Harris’ top policy aides, calls expanding the middle class her North Star.

“That means stable rules, that means sound economic management,”

he says.

Harris has pledged to go after corporate landlords who collude to drive up rents and pharmaceutical companies that impose predatory prices.

“She really thinks about accountability,”

says Habig, the former Harris deputy in California.

“Like, how do we build a market and an economy that actually works for people, where people know what they’re getting and where companies can actually innovate and build a business knowing that they’re not going to be undercut by another business that’s just cheating.”

That extends also to Harris’ approach to crypto, a sector that’s bristled at the skepticism of Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.

Harris will

“support policies that ensure that emerging technologies and that sort of industry can continue to grow,”

including “stable rules,” Nelson says. That softer stance is a victory for crypto advocates such as Representative Ro Khanna, a Bay Area progressive and Harris backer.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction,”

Khanna says.

“I hope they will build on it.”

Harris has been silent on whom she’d choose to help her navigate the economy. She’s avoided mention of party folk heroes such as the antitrust crusading duo of Lina Khan, the FTC chair whose removal some prominent Democratic donors have advocated for, and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter. For a former FTC intern and antitrust enforcer like Harris not to speak in support of Khan’s work shows how reserved she’s being. Aides say her reticence is in part because she doesn’t want to be seen as measuring the drapes at the White House, but it’s left donors and critics guessing.

In Harris’ drive to court middle-class and swing-state voters, her campaign has shifted starkly from Biden’s in one respect: She and Walz have swaddled themselves in Americana, with rallies awash in red, white and blue.

“They don’t have a monopoly on the flag. We took the damn flag back,”

Walz said at a late August fundraiser in Maryland. (Also, he added, “I took football back. I’m done with them thinking they have it.”)

Appeals to patriotism figured prominently in her Democratic convention speech, with her saying that as commander-in-chief she’d ensure that

“America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world”

and that

“America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century and that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership.”

She used the “lethal fighting force” line again in her concluding remarks at the Sept. 10 debate.

Harris’ foreign policy positions are still taking shape, but she did travel abroad on diplomatic missions 17 times as vice president, sometimes asking that her motorcade drive by the country’s highest court in a nod to her past as a prosecutor. She’s been in lockstep with Biden in supporting aid and weapons for Ukraine, and she briefed President Zelenskiy five days before Russia’s invasion. Senator Chris Coons, a Biden ally, recalls her speaking powerfully about the conflict at the Munich Security Conference.

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Harris also holds virtually the same position as Biden on the war in Israel, calling for a cease-fire deal and pinning most of the blame on Hamas, though she’s sought to emphasize the plight of Palestinians and Gaza in response to fierce activism from some Democratic critics of Israel. On other issues her positions are less defined, including on China, where campaign website pledges such as not tolerating

“unfair trade practices from China or any competitor that undermines American workers”

have had to pass for policy positions.

On social media the Harris campaign has tried to convey her personality by curating moments of spontaneity from her.

The posts have often highlighted one of her passions: food. In videos of a recent trip to Georgia, she eyed a caramel cake at a boutique cafe and gift shop, and in another she enthusiastically shared her recipe for greens with Tabasco sauce.

Booker, who once got a virtual birthday cooking lesson from Harris, says:

“She is one of the best people to teach you how to cook, as a person who has tried to rescue me from my bachelordom.”

Last November, Harris put together a dinner at her residence for some influential men of color in media. According to people familiar with the gathering, guests included comedian D.L. Hughley, commentator Roland Martin and rapper Fat Joe. Hughley is among those who’ve had reservations about Harris’ past as part of a system that’s disproportionately prosecuted Black men. At one point, he recalled in May, the conversation “got contentious.” After he falsely accused her of imprisoning hundreds of Black men on marijuana charges,

“she put her hand on my shoulder, and she asked me to do some research.”

Hughley ultimately apologized to Harris for “letting a media narrative co-opt” his perspective of her. He, Fat Joe and other celebrities have toured with her, sitting for moderated conversations to promote the administration’s policies.

Hughley also spoke on Harris’ behalf at the DNC, while Martin, who has a daily show targeted to the Black community, co-hosted at least four livestreamed fundraising calls for her. Almost all the battleground states have substantial Black populations—Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania among them—so her efforts to shore up their support are crucial.

Harris has reopened the race in several of the seven swing states, post-Biden. She can win with as few as three of them, and Democrats have grown hopeful that strong turnout en route to a Harris win would allow them to regain control of the House. The Senate looks grimmer. It may come down to Montana, where Democrat Jon Tester is trying to hold on to a seat he first won in 2006. If he loses, Democrats will almost surely cap out at 49 seats, ceding their majority and forestalling many, if not all, of Harris’ plans.

With the time she has left to make her case, she’ll keep bringing it back to character—the middle-class kid versus the millionaire’s son, the prosecutor versus the felon—and connecting her experiences with those of voters however she can. In August, at a school in Georgia, Harris spoke to a marching band with cheerleaders and athletes lining the room.

“All that you all are doing, it requires a whole lot of rehearsal, a whole lot of practice, long hours. Right? Sometimes you hit the note, sometimes you don’t,”

she said.

“Sometimes you’re going to hit the step right, sometimes you’re not. Sometimes you’re going to win the game, sometimes you may not. But, you know, you never let any circumstance knock you down or slow you down. You just keep going at it.”

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Trump and Harris let off steam: The Immigration question is at stake as never before

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The Democrat continues to want to mobilize women by promising to restore the federal right to abortion. The Republican, for his part, promises to put an end to an "invasion" of millions of illegals and to expel them.

Harris strongly responded Thursday to Donald Trump on the rights of women and immigrants, two crucial themes of a very tense US presidential campaign, where the Democratic candidate and her Republican rival are going blow for blow. Five days before an election with an unpredictable outcome and potentially violent consequences, the opponents are engaged in a tight chase across the seven key states.

They were on Thursday in two of them, Nevada and Arizona (southwest), in particular to seduce the Latin American electorate. In Las Vegas, the Democratic vice president was supported by the star Jennifer Lopez, in front of an enthusiastic crowd chanting "Si, se puede!" (Yes it is possible!), recalling Barack Obama's famous "Yes we can" slogan.

Harris, 60, continues to want to mobilize women by promising to restore the federal right to abortion, in front of Trump, customary of sexist outings and sentenced in civil in 2023 in New York to tens of millions of dollars in compensation for sexual assault. "We know that this man simply does not respect women's freedom or women's intelligence to make decisions about their own lives," she said Thursday night in Las Vegas.

“And we know that if elected, he would ban abortion throughout the country”

His team circulated on Thursday a passage from a Donald Trump meeting the day before where he mocked his own advisers asking him to stop presenting himself as a “protector” of women.

“I'm going to do it whether women like it or not,” Donald Trump had then replied. Her rival considered these remarks “very insulting”, during a meeting earlier in the day in Phoenix and Reno.

Another central theme of the campaign: immigration. Donald Trump, populist tribune with increasingly authoritarian and far-right rhetoric, promised again at a meeting in Albuquerque (New Mexico), not far from Mexico, to end an “invasion” of millions of illegals and deport them.

An antiphon repeated in Glendale, Arizona, where he blamed immigrants for causing a crime wave - something that no official statistics show.

"Prisons around the world are being emptied to be dumped in our country,"

he assured, portraying an America overwhelmed by "murderers" and "drug traffickers".

According to him, the fault lies with Kamala Harris, a leader "dumb as her feet" and whose "open border" policy with Mexico would have totally failed.

The billionaire continued to fuel the controversy of the week triggered Sunday in New York by a trumpist comedian who had called the American territory of Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage". President Biden had responded by calling Donald Trump's supporters "garbage", before Kamala Harris tried to correct the shooting.

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Trump and Harris let off steam: The Immigration question is at stake as never before


In Las Vegas, Kamala Harris received the support of Puerto Rican superstar Jennifer Lopez, who used this controversy to call on all Latin Americans to vote Democratic.

“It's not just Puerto Ricans who were offended that day, launched the singer. It was all the Latinos in this country! It was humanity and any person of good morality!”

Earlier in Las Vegas, Donald Trump confirmed that he had taken legal action on Thursday over an interview given in early October by Kamala Harris on the CBS program "60 Minutes".

He is seeking $10 billion in compensation for what he believes to be election interference. According to this complaint, the Democrat would have answered in a confused way to a question about the influence of the Biden administration on the war waged by Israel in Gaza, and CBS would have edited this answer in order to make this "verbal salad" disappear.

In a campaign increasingly tense and observed around the world, the candidates have been accusing each other for weeks of fracturing the United States, and the polls show them tied.

Some 65 million Americans have already voted by mail and early. In 2020, 155 million had voted for the presidential election, a complex election by indirect universal suffrage.

As the election approaches, concern is growing around a possible violent protest if victory were to escape Trump. Electoral centers in the counties of the most contested key states, targets four years ago of intense tensions, have turned into fortresses, protected by wrought iron fences and metal detectors.

Trump, who has never admitted defeat in 2020, has already spoken of “cheating” in Pennsylvania.

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American Ugliness
They Will Vote for Him or Her Out of Despair

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Next week tens of millions of Americans will vote for Donald Trump. Some will do so out of grievance, because they think Kamala Harris is a radical Marxist who will destroy their country. Some are fired up by national pride, because Mr Trump inspires in them the belief that, with him in the White House, America will stand tall. Yet some will coolly opt to vote Trump as a calculated risk.

This last group of voters, which includes many readers of The Economist, may not see Mr Trump as a person they would want to do business with, or any kind of role model for their children. But they probably think that when he was president he did more good than bad. They may also believe the case against him is wildly overblown. Central to this calculation is the idea that Mr Trump’s worst instincts would be constrained: by his staff, the bureaucracy, Congress and the courts.

This newspaper sees that argument as recklessly complacent. America may well breeze through four more years of Mr Trump, as it has the presidencies of other flawed men from both parties. The country may even thrive. But voters claiming to be hard-headed are overlooking the tail risk of a Trump presidency. By making Mr Trump leader of the free world, Americans would be gambling with the economy, the rule of law and international peace. We cannot quantify the chance that something will go badly wrong: nobody can. But we believe voters who minimise it are deluding themselves.

Some will dismiss this as alarmism. It is true that our worst fears about Mr Trump’s first term did not come to pass. At home, he cut taxes and deregulated the economy, which has grown faster than any of its rich-world counterparts. His administration deserves credit for funding vaccines for covid-19, even if he refused to urge Americans to get vaccinated. Abroad, he projected strength, shifting the consensus towards a confrontational posture on China. He helped broker the Abraham accords, which formalised relations between Israel and some of its neighbours—a peace that has so far survived a regional war. He prodded some of America’s allies to increase their defence spending. Even when Mr Trump behaved abominably by fomenting an attack on the Capitol to try to stop the transfer of power on January 6th 2021, America’s institutions held firm.

If The Economist failed to foresee so much in 2016, why heed our warning now? The answer is that today the risks are larger. And that is because Mr Trump’s policies are worse, the world is more perilous and many of the sober, responsible people who reined in his worst instincts during his first term have been replaced by true believers, toadies and chancers.

Make America grate again
The case against Mr Trump begins with his policies. In 2016 the Republican platform was still caught between the Mitt Romney party and the Trump party. Today’s version is more extreme. Mr Trump favours a 20% tariff on all imports and has talked of charging over 200% or even 500% on cars from Mexico. He proposes to deport millions of irregular immigrants, many with jobs and American children. He would extend tax cuts even though the budget deficit is at a level usually seen only during war or recession, suggesting a blithe indifference to sound fiscal management.

These policies would be inflationary, potentially setting up a conflict with the Federal Reserve. They would risk igniting a trade war that would ultimately impoverish America. The combination of inflation, out-of-control deficits and institutional decay would bring forward the day when foreigners worry about lending the US Treasury unlimited money.

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Such politics could yet wreck the foundations of America’s prosperity.

Another reason to fear a second Trump term is that the world has changed. In 2017-21 it was largely at peace. Mr Trump’s supporters chalk that up to his unpredictability and willingness to take strong and unconventional action, a combination that can indeed keep awkward countries in line. When the foreign-policy elite warned of dire consequences after the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, one of Iran’s main generals, Mr Trump was vindicated. But as the next president takes office, two wars will be endangering America’s security. In Ukraine Russia has the upper hand, putting Vladimir Putin in a position to threaten further aggression in Europe. In the Middle East a regional war creeping towards Iran could yet suck in the United States.

These conflagrations would test Mr Trump in a way that his first term did not. His glib promises to bring peace to Ukraine in a day, and his open-ended encouragement of Israel’s offensives, are not reassuring. Even worse is his contempt for alliances. Although these are America’s greatest geopolitical strength, Mr Trump sees them as scams that let weak countries scrounge off its military power. Bluster and threats may see Mr Trump through, but they could equally destroy NATO. China will be watching as it weighs up how aggressive to be against Taiwan. Asian allies may calculate they can no longer trust America’s nuclear guarantee.

The risks for domestic and foreign policy are amplified by the last big difference between Mr Trump’s first term and a possible second one: he would be less constrained. The president who mused about firing missiles at drug labs in Mexico was held back by the people and institutions around him. Since then the Republican Party has organised itself around fealty to Mr Trump. Friendly think-tanks have vetted lists of loyal people to serve in the next administration. The Supreme Court has weakened the checks on presidents by ruling that they cannot be prosecuted for official acts.

If external constraints are looser, much more will depend on Mr Trump’s character. Given his unrepentant contempt for the constitution after losing the election in 2020, it is hard to be optimistic. Half his former cabinet members have refused to endorse him. The most senior Republican senator describes him as a “despicable human being”. Both his former chief-of-staff and former head of the joint chiefs call him a fascist. If you were interviewing a job applicant, you would not brush off such character references.

Good presidents unite the country. Mr Trump’s political genius is for turning people against each other. After the death of George Floyd, he suggested the army shoot protesters in the leg. America’s prosperity depends on the idea that people are treated fairly, regardless of their politics; Mr Trump has threatened to turn the Justice Department on his political enemies.

Next to Mr Trump, Kamala Harris stands for stability. True, she is an underwhelming machine politician. She has struggled to tell voters what she wants to do with power. She seems indecisive and unsure. However, she has abandoned the Democrats’ most left-wing ideas and is campaigning near the centre, flanked by Liz Cheney and other Republican exiles.

She has ordinary shortcomings, none of them disqualifying. Some of her policies are worse than her opponent’s, for example her taste for regulation and for further taxing wealth-creation. Some are merely less bad, on trade and the deficit, say. But some, on climate and abortion, are unambiguously better. It is hard to imagine Ms Harris being a stellar president, though people can surprise you. But you cannot imagine her bringing about a catastrophe.

Presidents do not have to be saints and we hope that a second Trump presidency would avoid disaster.

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How Will the New World Look Like?
A Few Hours Left

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For the rest of the world, the shorthand of the US presidential race has been that Kamala Harris represents continuity and Donald Trump chaos.

A deeper realization is also taking hold in key capitals: America’s brief heyday as the world’s lone superpower is history, no matter who wins.

The WSJ canvassed the mood across time zones and the prevailing sentiment from the Group of Seven establishment to the aspiring powers of the Global South is one of caution and pragmatism. The world is fixated on the result of Tuesday’s vote — even if Washington doesn’t call all the shots any more, it still calls plenty.

America’s vibrant economy remains the world’s biggest and its politicians — especially Trump — have shown they’re ready to weaponize it. So there’s widespread fear of getting caught in the crosshairs if the next president decides to ramp up a trade war with China. Many partners have tariff-escalation plans in the drawer, ready to be pulled out.

But there’s also a growing sense of the US as an aging superpower, one that must pick its battles more carefully in a world where the number of conflicts competing for its attention is on the rise. That’s true for Trump’s ‘America first’ and Harris’ more measured approach. One British diplomat observed that the Roman Empire didn’t suddenly end. Instead, it managed a long decline.

Ukraine is already feeling the cold shoulder, Europe is facing the existential crisis of whether it can defend itself and its neighborhood, and Israel is openly defying the appeals of its main ally and arms supplier in Washington.

A Mideast official said it was demeaning for President Joe Biden to get personally involved in pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza only for it not to happen. That impression is increasingly shared in allied capitals beyond the Middle East.

Of course, the stakes of the US election remain sky high for the world. Foreign capitals — both friends and foes — have rarely been so open in showing their preferred outcome, from public endorsements to the covert efforts to meddle that US intelligence regularly reveals.

The global impact could be seismic. Should Trump win and seek a deal with Vladimir Putin that sells Ukraine out, the European Union will split between those who would welcome any opportunity for peace — however premature — and other nations who would want Europe to back Kyiv on its own. The “Trump electroshock” is how some on the continent describe it.

Harris or Trump? Some claim that the future of Europe depends on the American elections, while it depends first and foremost on us. On condition Europe finally grows up and believes in its own strength. Whatever the outcome, the era of geopolitical outsourcing is over.

If you’re a historic foe like Russia trying to rebuild the Soviet orbit, a relic of the “axis of evil” like Iran, or a contender for global clout like India, the view that America’s best days are behind it is an opportunity to exploit.

North Korean troops are in Russia fighting in its war against Ukraine, Kyiv says. India is being accused by Canada of assassinating a Sikh separatist on its soil. China is providing support for Moscow amid its war in Ukraine and pushing harder in the South China Sea. In each case, the sense is that the US can’t or won’t do much to stop it.

Though she’s stuck close to Biden’s policies, Harris is seen as a different generation, less steeped in the Atlanticism of the Cold War. Some in Europe peg her as a Californian; more attuned to Silicon Valley and potentially more interested in the Indo-Pacific, where she also has family roots.

As for Trump, not all US allies see his unpredictability as purely a liability. Though he’s seen as friendlier to Russia and Israel than Harris would be, some hope he might surprise with a tougher line. Aspiring powers like India and Turkey, meanwhile, are quite comfortable with his more transactional approach.

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Trump enjoyed playing golf with Shinzo Abe and despised Angela Merkel but his demands on Japan and Germany boiled down to the same thing: Pay more for US protection and buy more from the US.

Both have since hiked defense spending, having learned the lesson of greater self-reliance. A reduced US global role may raise the price further.

“This is not the apocalyptical contest over the future of American democracy that some — mainly Americans and Europeans — make it out to be,”

veteran Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan wrote.

“Biden was more consultative and predictable, but let’s not forget that Biden was not consulting you to inquire how your family is doing, but to see what you are prepared to do to advance America’s strategic goals.”

More than two and a half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine depends on support from its allies for everything from advanced weapons to money to pay salaries. Kyiv is hoping for even more backing to convince Putin to negotiate, but the Russian president, who looks to have the upper hand, is showing no appetite for compromise, betting that allied support will gradually fade.

Harris has vowed to keep up support for as long as it takes but she’d likely face growing skepticism in Congress for major additional funding. Like Biden, Harris has so far refused to commit to grant Ukraine’s request to be allowed to use allied missiles for strikes deep inside Russia or for an invitation to join the NATO alliance, which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says is needed to ensure his country’s security.

Trump has said he would end the war “in 24 hours” after the election by getting Putin and Zelenskiy to negotiate. He hasn’t spelled out how he’d do that but he and his running mate have repeatedly signaled Ukraine needs to be ready to make concessions. They’ve questioned why the US is spending so much to support Ukraine and argued that allies in Europe need to take up more of the burden.

Trump would be motivated by desire to exit an expensive and risky foreign war but constrained by fear that a sudden stop in US support could trigger a collapse in Kyiv’s forces. The net result would likely be a reduction in US aid that weakens Ukraine’s battlefield position and presses Europe to fill the gap, without opening the door to immediate victory for Russia.

For NATO allies, Trump’s threat to withhold US support from any country failing to meet its obligations would add pressure to increase defense spending. Matching the 3.3% of GDP the US spends on defense each year could add $2.8 trillion to Europe’s debt by 2034. For Harris, fading support in Congress for more aid and Ukraine’s weakening battlefield position would likely raise calls for an effort to end the war through diplomacy, though not on the kind of terms Trump would seek.

Since Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, fighting in the region has steadily spread despite US efforts to contain the violence while it continues to arm Israel.

Having largely crushed Hamas with strikes in Gaza, killing more than 43,000 civilians and combatants, Israeli forces are now in Lebanon, taking on Hezbollah. Israel has also exchanged strikes with Iran, which backs the two groups — considered terrorists by the US and other nations — as well as the Houthis in Yemen, who have all but closed the Red Sea to Western ships with their attacks. Looming over all the violence is Iran’s nuclear program, which is only weeks away from developing enough highly enriched uranium for a weapon, something the US and Israel vow to prevent.

Harris pledges to ensure Israel has the means it needs to defend itself but has called for more efforts to reduce the suffering of civilians in Gaza. She’s backed the Biden administration’s repeated — and so far failed — calls for cease-fires. She endorses a two-state solution, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has all but ruled out, though she hasn’t spelled out how such an outcome might be obtained.

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She dodged the question of whether Netanyahu can be considered a close US ally but called Iran America’s greatest adversary during the campaign.

Trump says the Oct. 7 attack would never have happened had he been president, without saying how he would have prevented it. He’s said Israel needed to “do a better job of public relations” and called on the country to “get it over with.” In the debate in September, he dodged the question of whether he would support a Palestinian state. He has called for more steps to isolate Iran. In his first term, he also helped broker the Abraham Accords normalizing relations between Israel and some Arab states.

For Harris, Biden’s stalwart support for Israel as regional underdog may appear better suited to earlier decades. If elected, she’d likely apply more pressure to limit the humanitarian cost of the conflict. For Trump, a reasonable base case is continuity in US support for Israel but less diplomatic engagement around the edges.

Still, Trump’s transactional approach abroad and rock-solid MAGA base at home mean there’s more scope to be surprised. For the global economy, the key risk is higher oil prices.

The geopolitical risk premium for oil stayed close to zero after Israel’s relatively restrained strikes on Iran on Oct. 26, and neither candidate is aiming to further inflame tensions.

The prospect of rising protectionism has central bankers and economists worried that US moves to close its market could fuel broader trade wars that will slow global growth and raise inflation.

The Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Harris supported a Biden administration decision to extend Trump-era tariffs on China and has backed tens of billions in subsidies for clean-energy, infrastructure and high-technology investment in the US. She has embraced some trade deals but as a senator opposed others and has sought to build in protections for workers and the environment.

Trump calls for sweeping tariffs of up to 20% on imports, as well as levies as high as 60% on trade with China as a means to stimulate investment in the US, though he’s said some of the figures may be negotiating tactics. Trump argues the current international trading system is rigged against the interests of the US and promises a rebalancing if he wins the presidency again.

Trump’s first term brought 25% tariffs on hundreds of billions in US-China trade. That generated a lot of news headlines, but not much impact on the macro data. For his second term, his promise of 60% tariffs on China and 20% on everyone else would change the game.

If Trump delivers on his campaign pledges and the rest of the world retaliates, our model shows the US share of global goods trade would crater to 9% by 2028 from the current 21%. For China, almost 90% of exports to the US would be wiped out. For Mexico and Canada, which count the US as their dominant trade partner, the drop is more than 50%. Under Harris, continuity of Biden’s “small yard, high fence” policy to block China’s access to critical technologies is a good bet. Still, Harris’ pragmatism, and a change of the guard in top policy jobs, mean the size of the yard and the height of the fence could both surprise.

US efforts to manage the competition with China have grown increasingly fraught as Beijing’s economic and military clout have expanded alongside Washington’s attempts to counter them.

China has ratcheted up military exercises around Taiwan, which it claims as a rogue province. The island and its residents rely on the US and its allies to back them up in the event the pressure escalates into open conflict. In the balance is the heart of the world’s chipmaking industry — vital to economies globally.

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Harris embraces the Biden administration’s approach to China, with export controls on key chip and other sensitive technologies and supports the US commitment to ensuring Taiwan’s security (but not independence, which China bitterly opposes). She’s backed the expansion of alliances across the region to counter Beijing.

Trump pledges to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese exports in an effort to reduce dependence on Beijing in “critical areas.” Trump has claimed Taiwan “stole” the US semiconductor business, arguing it should pay more for its own security, without elaborating on what he means. He has refused to commit to come to its defense in the event of a Chinese attack, reverting to long-standing US policy. He has called on US allies Japan and South Korea to spend more on their own defense, threatening in the past to reduce military commitments there and restrict trade.

The disastrous economic and foreign policy costs of abandoning Taiwan limit room for maneuver under either Trump or Harris. The most likely outcome if Trump wins: a more transactional approach where US security support remains but Taiwan faces pressure to accelerate the construction of chip plants in the US and amp up purchases of US arms. We’d expect Harris to reaffirm America’s policy of strategic ambiguity — meaning hints but not commitment to defense of the island.

As Biden deviated from that policy with a full-throated commitment, anything less might strike Beijing as a step back in US support. For the global economy, the stakes in the Taiwan Strait couldn’t be higher. Take out the Taiwan link in the semiconductor supply chain and the cost to global GDP could run as high as $10 trillion.

The biggest wave of new immigrants to the US in years has catapulted the issue to near the top of the political agenda, with both parties now pushing for restrictions even as government data shows the influx has been critical to powering economic growth since the pandemic and has slowed this year amid tightened controls.

Harris has supported tighter limits on undocumented immigration and restrictions on asylum to stem the flow of people seeking to cross the US southern border. She’s promised to push for a bipartisan bill that would combine new asylum limits with more funding for processing and judges. She’s also advocated steps to increase legal immigration and provide a pathway to citizenship for some migrants.

Trump has called for deporting more than 11 million undocumented immigrants, creating detention camps and deploying troops at the Mexican border, as well as strict limits on a range of forms of legal immigration, including asylum, and even birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented parents.

Trump’s pledge to close the border and deport unauthorized migrants would come at a significant cost. Taking inflows of new immigrants down close to zero and deporting those that arrived since 2020 would put a 3% hole in US GDP by 2028.

Origin countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras benefit from remittance inflows equaling as much as a fifth of GDP a year. Mass deportations from the US could reduce the total. Harris is taking a sterner line on border security than in the past.

Still, relative to Trump her policies are less severe, and would have a smaller impact on US growth and remittance flows.

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During a concert, Donald Trump is checking cash to order a song dedicated to Kamala Harris, “Good Bye My Love”

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Arizona man threatening to kill Trump arrested

An Arizona man was arrested Monday after allegedly threatening to kill President-elect Donald Trump in a series of Facebook videos, including one in which he appears to hold up an AR-15-style rifle, according to court documents.

Manuel Tamayo-Torres faces a felony charge of threatening the president-elect after he made several threats against Trump and his family, the documents said.

So in the end Biden and Harris got exactly what they wanted. Some Americans did take their inflammatory “threat to democracy” rhetoric seriously. The question is, how many of our fellow citizens are ready and willing to target the president-elect?

#Trump #Arizona #Harris

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How to Smash Trump Again?
A master plan

Top Democratic elected officials and billionaire donors found out they don’t have much pull at the Democratic Nationalist movement Committee, where party insiders on Saturday chose a steady hand — Ken Martin — over their preferred choice for chair.

Neither Martin nor the pick of much of the establishment, Ben Wikler of Wisconsin, were promising a major overhaul of the party. And in selecting Martin, Democrats did much to answer some of the deepest questions their party faces as they search for a path out of the political wilderness.

“Now we have new blood,”

said Biden.

Before the vote, Harris privately called the three front-runners and, in 15 to 20 minute conversations, told each that she looked forward to working “closely with the winning candidate as soon as they are elected.”

That was probably smart politics, sidestepping putting her thumb on the scale in a close race.

But the real good news for Harris appeared to come in the wellspring of goodwill she seemed to enjoy on Saturday among the party faithful.

During the meeting, Biden and Harris each delivered pre-recorded video messages to DNC members. And Harris’ appearance drew louder cheers than Biden’s. Both said that Dems should oppose any Trump’s step, any his initiative snowing the stupidity of what he is doing.

“Trump will lead our country to a geopolitical abyss,”

Harris said.

“We’ll smash Trump one day of another. This motherfucker will not stand long, we’ll come back to our imperishable basic tenets,”

promised Martin.

#Martin #Harris #Trump

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Will Kamala Harris Say “I’ll be back” 🇺🇸

Following a devastating loss to Trump, Harris returned home to California in January with a decision to make about her political future: to enter the race for governor, or not.

As she deliberated privately, the Democratic party was grappling publicly with a new political reality – one entirely reshaped by her defeat in last year’s presidential election. 📉

Approval ratings for the Democratic party had cratered. Grassroots frustration with their party’s status quo swelled.

And calls grew louder for Democratic officials to take a more combative – and urgent – stance against what many see as the Trump administration’s authoritarian threat. ⚠️

On Wednesday, when Harris announced that she would not run for governor of California, she also made clear that she had been listening.

“I have extraordinary admiration and respect for those who dedicate their lives to public service – service to their communities and to our nation,”

she said. 🗣

“At the same time, we must recognize that our politics, our government and our institutions have too often failed the American people, culminating in this moment of crisis.”

Harris continued:

“As we look ahead, we must be willing to pursue change through new methods and fresh thinking – committed to our same values and principles, but not bound by the same playbook.” 💡

It was a striking acknowledgment from the 2024 Democratic flag-bearer, suggesting a willingness to challenge party orthodoxy that critics says cost Democrats in November.

Before leaving the White House, Harris had been in elected office for more than two decades, breaking racial and gender barriers as she ascended from district attorney in San Francisco to attorney general of California, then US senator and finally vice president of the United States. 👩🏽‍⚖️

Polls suggested Harris would have entered the gubernatorial race with an early lead over many of the lesser-known aspirants who have already declared their candidacies.

Harris’s decision throws open the race for California’s governorship, a post seen as a critical bulwark against Trump’s agenda. 🗳

It also leaves open the possibility that Harris could run again for political office. She did not rule out another run for the White House, saying only that “for now, my leadership – and public service – will not be in elected office.”

A person familiar with her thinking said 2028 was not an overriding factor in her decision, but she can do it. She can be back!

#harris #election #whitehouse #democrats

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Trump Revoked the Harris Secret Service protection 🚨

Trump revoked the Secret Service protection provided to former Vice President Harris on Thursday, a spokesperson for Harris and a senior White House official confirmed. 🗳

The protection for Harris, who ran against Trump in the 2024 presidential election, was canceled through a letter titled “Memorandum for the Secretary of Homeland Security”. 📜

She received six months of Secret Service protection after the Biden administration ended in January, but that was extended for another year through a directive former President Biden signed before leaving office, according to WSJ. 🕒

Only former presidents receive Secret Service protection for life. 🛡

Harris is set to embark next month on a book tour across 15 cities in the U.S., United Kingdom, and Canada, for her memoir titled “107 Days.” The tour will start Sept. 24 in New York City. 📚✈️

Trump announced in March that two of Biden’s children — Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden — would no longer receive protection from the Secret Service. 🚫

Trump previously revoked the protective details for former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and former envoy to Iran Brian Hook. 🔒

#Harris #Secret #Service #protection #trump

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📰 Harris vs. Biden: The Debate Phone Call That Still Burns

Kamala Harris has finally put in writing what many suspected during the chaotic 2024 campaign: she was furious with Joe Biden. In her upcoming memoir 107 Days, Harris describes how the then-president managed to rattle her just before the one debate that defined her short-lived run against Donald Trump.

💭 Harris in The Guardian excerpt:

“He was distracting me with worry about hostile power-brokers in the biggest city of the most important state. I was angry and disappointed. He made it all about himself.”

📋 What Happened
• Hours before the debate, Biden phoned Harris from the White House.
• He relayed a warning from “power brokers in Philly” who allegedly disliked her criticism of him.
• He shifted to reminiscing about his own debates.
• Harris left the call “confused, angry, and disappointed.”

⚡️ Fallout in the Book
Harris writes that Doug Emhoff told her to “let it go” before she stepped onstage. But she didn’t forget. She now calls the Biden family’s mantra — “It’s Joe and Jill’s decision” — less grace than “recklessness.” The stakes, she argues, were too high to hinge on personal ego.

🗳 Beyond Biden
• Harris reveals Pete Buttigieg was her first choice for running mate, not Tim Walz.
• She says the campaign judged it “too big of a risk” to ask Americans to accept a Black woman married to a Jewish man alongside another openly gay candidate.
• Biden’s late exit and Harris’s rushed campaign remain, in her telling, an avoidable train wreck.

🤔 If Harris is right, 2024 wasn’t just lost to Trump — it was sabotaged by Biden’s refusal to step aside in time. The question is: will Democrats read her book as therapy, or as an indictment of their own decision-making machinery?

#usa #biden #harris #elections #trump #2024

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Kamala Harris Prepares Her Come-Back. She called Trump “a tyrant” 👩🏽‍💼🇺🇸

She says she is not done with politics and strongly suggested that she is considering another bid for president in a new interview. 🗳

In an interview scheduled to air on the BBC on Sunday morning, Harris says that she would “possibly” be the next president, making the clearest suggestion to date that she will make another run for the White House in 2028 despite lagging far behind in the polls. 🏛📺

Harris insisted that she had not yet made a decision, but that she was confident that there will eventually be a woman in the White House and her political career is not over. 💪👩‍⚖️

Harris dismissed polls that place her as an outsider to win a place on the Democratic ticket – currently ranking behind even Hollywood actor Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. 🎬📉

“If I listened to polls I would have not run for my first office, or my second office – and I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here,” she said. 💬

In the interview on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the UK’s prime weekend political show, Harris says the warnings she made on the campaign trail about Trump behaving as a fascist and authoritarian have been proved right. She lambasted her former rival as a “tyrant” with “thin skin” who is weaponising the justice system. ⚠️⚖️

Harris also slammed business leaders and institutions in the US whom she accuses of submitting to Trump’s tyrannical demands:

“There are many (…) that have capitulated since day one, who are bending the knee at the foot of a tyrant, I believe for many reasons, including they want to be next to power, because they want to perhaps have a merger approved or avoid an investigation.” 💼🏛

In a response to the BBC, a White House spokesperson said: “When Kamala Harris lost the election in a landslide, she should’ve taken the hint – the American people don’t care about her absurd lies.” 🏠📢

Harris is on an international book tour promoting 107 Days, her account of her abbreviated 2024 presidential run which began only after Biden withdrew from the race following months of speculation about his cognitive decline. 📚🛫

#harris #comeback #politics #biden #trump

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Trump Took Umbrage With De Niro’s Personal Attacks On Him 🤬🎤

Trump has responded to a recent podcast appearance by Robert De Niro, in which he called the president “an idiot.”

Speaking on Monday’s episode of The Best People with Nicole Wallace, De Niro, who has long criticised the politics, morals, and competence of Trump, said: “He’s an idiot. We gotta get rid of him. He’s gonna ruin the country.”

He added: “ I don’t want everybody going around with their Maga, the American flags, like they’re the only ones. We are Americans too.”

The actor then took headline billing at the State of the Swamp, a Washington event intended as a riposte to Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. In his emotional speech, De Niro described the president as “failing, flailing and desperate” and said he felt “betrayed by my country.”

Writing at length on Truth Social on Wednesday, the president first proposed deporting representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who left the Capitol building early on Tuesday after shouting him down during his speech.

Trump called them “Low IQ” and claimed they “screamed uncontrollably last night at the very elegant State of the Union, such an important and beautiful event.”

“They had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalised.”

He added: “They should actually get on a boat with Trump Deranged Robert De Niro, another sick and demented person with, I believe, an extremely Low IQ, who has absolutely no idea what he is doing or saying – some of which is seriously CRIMINAL!”

Trump continued: “When I watched him break down in tears last night, much like a child would do, I realised that he may be even sicker than Crazy Rosie O’Donnell, who is right now in Ireland trying to figure out how to come back into our beautiful United States.”

“Trump derangement syndrome” is a phrase the president has frequently used to describe his political opponents. His suggestion this was the cause of the death of the late Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, caused considerable backlash.

Shortly before Trump’s re-election in 2024, De Niro told HBO Max’s Chris Wallace that he felt Trump and his allies were “not real Republicans” and called him “a jerk, an idiot (…) and a clown.”

Although not a particular fan of Kamala Harris, De Niro said that she was “at least … sensitive to the condition of the country, the people.” “She’ll make mistakes,” he continued.

“Of course, everybody does, but we need somebody with the right intentions, this guy does not have the right intentions, and everybody knows that. It’s insanity. Period.”

Earlier that year, the National Association of Broadcasters rescinded a leadership award it had been due to present to De Niro after the actor spoke out against Trump outside the latter’s criminal trial in New York.

#trump #deNiro #idiot #maga #harris

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#Harris #Kamala #elections

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