Trump running out of options to fix inflation, economic woes before election, experts say

WASHINGTON — With three months remaining until election day, there is now little the Trump administration can do to bring relief to Americans battered by years of stagnant wages and steep inflation before they hit the polls, experts say — complicating midterm campaigning for Republicans and sharpening the opportunity for Democrats to win back some control in Washington.

That’s in part because the Trump administration has very few levers to turn the tide in such a short period, and has shown little interest in using those it does have, experts said. Rather, President Donald Trump has persisted in waging war in Iran and pushed forward with new tariffs on trade partners despite both contributing to soaring costs for food, gas and other basic necessities.

Other options, such as issuing rebate checks for consumers or releasing strategic oil reserves, would be costly in the long run, experts said.

“There isn’t much available on a 14-week clock that doesn’t cost more later than it delivers now,” said Patrick Harker, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

—Los Angeles Times

How NC Sen. Tillis helped stall Blanche confirmation vote because of ‘1776 fund’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced on social media Thursday he could withdraw the nomination of Todd Blanche for attorney general until senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn leave office.

The senators and the White House are in a stalemate over a $1.776 billion fund that would allow defendants who harmed police officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to collect restitution.

Trump administration officials told Congress the fund is dead, but Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, and Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, are holding up Blanche’s nomination until they have that in writing.

On Thursday morning, Tillis and Cornyn told Punchbowl News that Blanche was negotiating in good-faith but someone high up at the White House was ruining the deal. Tillis added that he didn’t believe it was Trump. Within an hour, Trump appeared to confirm it might be him.

—The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Boston Mayor Wu says downtown remains safe amid violent crime spree

BOSTON — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu stood by her “safest” city claim when asked about this summer’s downtown violence. She said the city’s core remains safe, but acknowledged back-to-back “isolated” incidents can make people feel unsafe.

Wu addressed the violence that began to plague downtown Boston again this summer for the first time late Wednesday night through a spokesperson. Her office’s comments came after Wu held a closed-door City Hall meeting that afternoon to strategize with the police commissioner, elected officials, business leaders and community stakeholders.

“Our city teams and community partners work every day to deliver the highest quality of life across our neighborhoods, for every resident to feel a sense of safety and belonging,” Wu spokesperson Marcela Dwork said in a statement.

“Even as our violence prevention and community safety efforts have driven down violence to historic lows in recent years and downtown continues to build on that progress, any incident is one too many and isolated incidents in close succession can have a real impact on the feeling of safety across a community.

—Boston Herald

Progress reported in Cairo talks on Hamas disarmament

CAIRO — Talks in Cairo on the disarmament of Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip have made progress, Hamas sources said on Thursday, with an official statement potentially due by Friday.

The sources said negotiators had reached broad agreement on a 15-point road map during discussions in the Egyptian capital. Israeli media also reported progress in the talks, although there was no official confirmation from Israel or the international mediators: Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.

Under the reported framework, Hamas would place its weapons under the supervision of the Palestinian transitional administration and international mediators rather than hand them over to Israel.

In return, Israel would be required to withdraw all of its troops from the Gaza Strip and halt targeted killings in the Palestinian territory, the sources said.

—dpa