Trump Says Walmart Will Slash Ground Beef Prices In “Huge Deal” For Consumers
President Trump said retail giant Walmart will slash prices on a range of products at his administration’s request, including a 15% reduction in ground beef prices. The move comes on top of falling gasoline and diesel pump prices as the administration intensifies its affordability push and makes it clear that capitalists, not socialists, will solve the cost-of-living crisis.
“Walmart will, in particular, be dropping the price for a pound of ground beef by almost 15%, among many other products. This is a huge deal for the many millions of Americans who, smartly, shop at Walmart, which is truly patriotic,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump continued, “My Administration is lowering prices that Joe Biden incompetently raised with the worst inflation crisis in history, a total disaster along with the Southern Border, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, and many other failures.”
Ground beef prices have skyrocketed in recent years, reaching a national average just below $7 per pound, according to USDA data.
Prices have jumped from roughly $4 to nearly $7 over the last six years as a shrinking U.S. cattle herd tightened supplies, turning beef prices and the broader supermarket bill into politically charged topics for both Democrats and Republicans.
President Trump is attempting to solve the affordability crisis through normal market forces, including finding additional supplies wherever possible to lower energy and food prices. The administration has already shown a playbook for curbing food inflation, such as finding new supplies to bring down egg prices.
Socialists, meanwhile, have no serious medium- or long-term supply-side fix. Their answer is usually government-run grocery stores, price controls, or the seizure of production under the fantasy that food can simply be made free for everyone.
But without solving the underlying supply problem, those socialist policies only create shortages, rationing, and empty shelves – the same failed economic model seen in Cuba and other socialist hellholes.
The Trump administration is likely to remain hyperfocused on affordability through the summer and into the midterms, as it seeks to show voters that market-based capitalism, not government intervention or socialist experiments, is the best path to lowering prices and easing household financial pressure.
Another source of the Biden-Harris regime’s inflation was right in front of us the entire time: the millions of illegal aliens the previous administration allowed to invade the country. This was detailed in a new Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas report, which found that the influx of illegals contributed to a 30% increase in home prices and a 20% rise in rents over the period from 2021 to 2024.
Ramping up deportations may be one path towards achieving affordability.
NorCal Couple Scammed Of $18,000 From Fake Checks And Online Payments
A retired Northern California couple is speaking out after scammers allegedly drained nearly $18,000 from their checking account through a combination of counterfeit checks and unauthorized online payments, setting off a weeks-long battle to recover their money, according to ABC 7.
The couple first realized something was wrong after stopping at an ATM and noticing that their account balance was far lower than expected. A review of their bank records uncovered three checks they say they never wrote, along with 17 electronic transactions they did not authorize. The fake checks totaled more than $6,500, while the online payments added another roughly $11,400 in losses.
According to the couple, many of the payments were directed to accounts with Verizon, Capital One, and Wells Fargo that had no connection to them.
The report says that they immediately reported the fraud to Chase and closed the compromised checking account. The bank quickly reimbursed the counterfeit checks, but the dispute over the electronic payments proved much more difficult. The couple says they were initially asked to provide documentation showing they did not own the recipient accounts, a process that became frustrating because the other financial institutions could not discuss accounts belonging to other customers.
After filing a report with the local sheriff’s office, they were informed their fraud claim had been denied due to insufficient evidence.
The case eventually drew the attention of a local consumer advocacy news team, which contacted Chase on the couple’s behalf. After reviewing the matter again, the bank reversed course and refunded the remaining disputed funds, stating that it was able to credit the full amount after receiving the appropriate documentation.
Although the exact source of the breach remains unclear, the couple believes the fraud may have originated after they ordered new checks from a third-party printing company that required them to mail in a voided check. They suspect someone obtained their account and routing numbers during that process and used the information to produce counterfeit checks and submit fraudulent bill payments. The incident highlights how easily criminals can exploit the banking information printed on a paper check if it falls into the wrong hands.
UAE Crude Output Nears Record High Following OPEC Exit Amid Surge In Chinese Buying
The United Arab Emirates raised its crude output to near record highs above 3.8 million barrels per day in June, after the Gulf nation quit OPEC to escape production caps, Reuters reported citing two sources familiar with production data said on Monday. Bloomberg data showed even higher UAE exports, rising to 3.94mmb/d, just shy of the record hit in late 2025.
June’s output was the highest since April 2020, according to Reuters estimates, exceeding levels seen before the Iran war and providing an early vindication of the UAE’s decision to leave OPEC and OPEC+ on May 1 to free production from quota restrictions.
The UAE told OPEC it pumped 2.11 million bpd of crude in May at the height of the conflict shut-ins, down from about 3.40 million bpd in February. The International Energy Agency, however, assessed a much higher production level for both months, seeing May output at 2.8 million bpd and February at 3.64 million.
Underscoring the supply surge, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has been selling crude through tenders at discounted prices, traders told Reuters. The rebound has outpaced that of other Gulf producers, many of whom have restored exports through the Strait of Hormuz but remain well below pre-conflict production levels.
Abu Dhabi has argued that years of investment in production capacity justified greater freedom to produce oil, with Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei saying at the time of the OPEC exit that the UAE owed it to investors to supply what global markets required “without restrictions”.
The jump in output comes as oil markets have shifted from concerns over severe supply disruptions during the Iran war, to worries about surplus supply. Brent crude, which hit a four-year high above $126 in late April, was trading at about $72 a barrel on Monday, around levels seen before the outbreak of the Iran war in late February.
Other Gulf nations also saw a surge in output: combined crude and condensate exports from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran rose by more than 3.5 million bpd from May to 10.07 million bpd, Kpler data shows. Vortexa, another cargo analytics company, estimated June flows at 10.2 million bpd, up from 7 million bpd in May but still way short of the 16.5 million bpd a year earlier.
Saudi crude exports averaged 4.32 million bpd in June, according to Vortexa data, around 3 million bpd below February levels.
Kuwaiti output rose to 1.65 million bpd in June, roughly triple May levels but still nearly 1 million bpd short of pre-conflict production.
Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, exported about 780,000 bpd in June, roughly one-fifth of volumes shipped before the conflict, Vortexa data showed.
Since the June 17 agreement between the U.S. and Iran to halt the conflict and restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the backlog of crude stranded in the Gulf cleared more quickly, leaving about 23 million barrels still to transit the waterway, said Kpler analyst Johannes Rauball.
Meanwhile, in a curious twist, Sparta senior oil market analyst June Goh said that Chinese teapot refineries have emerged as buyers in Adnoc’s latest oil tender, drawn by wider discounts amid a short-term glut. Adnoc sold about 18 million barrels of crude via in fifth tender for loading through August; Upper Zakum was the main grade sold, while some Das also changed hands.
The observation in this tender is that the Chinese teapots are now out buying, whereas in previous tenders they were not even in the buyer list, indicating that the current discounts are now at a level that competes with Iranian and Russian alternatives.
According to Sparta, the current ‘mini-glut’ reflects mismatch of prompt availability vs usual trading window two months ahead, where Mideast barrels should now be trading for September loading instead. However, unless Asian buyers pile up to refill empty SPRs, these extra barrels will need to first fill up commercial storage and then relieve the pressure in arbitrage trades to the West.
It wasn’t just China: California is also buying UAE oil – some cargoes of Adnoc grades moved to US buyers via private negotiations, with likely destinations to US West Coast refineries.
Brent-Dubai EFS doesn’t necessarily need to widen that much more because diving crude differentials are doing most of the heavy lifting to keep the arbs open into northwest Europe
Has The Breakthrough Moment For Soccer In America Arrived?
The World Cup is turning into a major ratings boom for US broadcasters, with Fox Sports, Telemundo and Peacock drawing record audiences.
The US Men’s National Team (USMNT) is currently 1-0 down against Belgium in a Round 16 match, a game that could mark a breakthrough moment for soccer in America.
About a month into the 39-day tournament, top matches featuring the US, Mexico, England, France and Argentina have helped drive viewership levels rarely seen outside NFL games, according to Fox Sports analytics chief Michael Mulvihill.
“The U.S. matches have out-delivered expectations, but what’s been more surprising is some of these matches that are between nations where the American sports fan doesn’t know a lot of players and they don’t even have that much familiarity with the country itself. A lot of those matches have done really well,” Mulvihill said, who was quoted by Variety.
The tournament’s broadening appeal has been a boon for advertisers, with unusually strong multi-generational viewing.
The question now is whether the USMNT can secure another win and continue the momentum.
Even before tonight’s USMNT results, UBS analyst Robert Krankowski believes that the breakthrough moment has already arrived.
America’s youth appears to be highly engaged in the sport.
“Reaching A Climax”: Hedge Funds Turn Most Bearish On Yen Since 2007, As Former FX Czar Sees 20% Undervaluation
For much of the past year, when the USDJPY disconnected – initially playfully and then terminally – from 2Y yield differentials, FX traders have been asking when and how will this gaping divergence finally converge. Alas, that answer remains elusive still, even as the collapse in the yen has pushed the currency to a generational low, and become an increasingly political topic leading to a surge in Japanese bankruptcies, and a relentless battering of what little is left of Japan’s middle class.
And yet, despite the yen’s push into what until just two months ago were seen as unthinkable lows by the BOJ no less (which promptly spent $50BN to prop up the currency this April when it touched 161), the fact that the Japanese central bank allowed the yen to resume its descent through the July 4th holiday despite the unprecedented divergence from fundamentals, where it is now about 25 big figures too cheap…
… has encouraged hedge funds to keep piling on yen shorts seemingly encouraged by a theory proposed by Mizuho’s Jordan Rochester that the USDJPY has become negatively correlated to yield differentials, essentially representing the EM-ification of Japan (as Bloomberg reminds us,veteran currency traders will recall that we have seen this sort of thing before, via the “Japan premium” applied to short rates and swap yields around 1997-98 as the country’s banking sector was in the process of imploding).
Another source of pressure on smaller businesses may be foreign-exchange hedging, including the use of so-called reverse knockout options, according to Yuji Saito, executive adviser at SBI FXTrade. Such products are widely sold by regional banks as structured hedging products, particularly to small and regional importers seeking to minimize upfront option premiums.
Once the exchange rate reaches a preset knockout level, the option expires and the hedge ceases to provide protection. Companies needing dollars must then either purchase them in the spot market, enter into a new hedge – often at less favorable levels – or leave themselves exposed to further currency moves.
“The weaker the yen gets, the more importers roll into increasingly risky option structures,” Saito said. “Once the knockout level is breached, they are forced to buy dollars in the spot market, creating a negative spiral that puts even more downward pressure on the yen.”
Analysts estimate that remaining reverse knockout levels are clustered between 163 and 170 yen per dollar, territory that many firms didn’t think the currency would reach as intervention from the central bank would likely be forthcoming due to the adverse economic impact of such unprecedented currency collapse.
“The number of knockouts could increase if the yen weakens further,” said Hiroyuki Machida, director of Japan FX and commodities sales at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group. “The situation is becoming significant for companies that are unable to pass on higher costs.”
And yet, despite the clear adversely consequences to both Japan’s economy and society, the perception that Japan’s new PM Takaichi doesn’t want higher rates or a stronger yen, is leading to ever greater pile ups inside the short yen trade, which was clearly visible today when the latest CFTC Commitment of Traders data showed that hedge funds are most bearish on the yen since 2007, just before the housing bubble burst.
An even more remarkable CFTC chart is the one showing non-commercial spec net positioning in the yen, which over the past two years has completed one of the most dramatic swings in history, from record bearish, to record bullish, and back to record bearish again!
The cherry on top was the overnight reco by the Goldman Sachs FX team which capitulated on its bullish yen bias, but instead now sees the currency dropping to a new 40 year low of 165 next. This is how the bank explained it:
With USD/JPY near its weakest level in 40 years, intervention risk is elevated. But it can only have a short-lived impact if macro fundamentals continue to push in the other direction (as we’ve already seen this year). We think the trend higher in USD/JPY should extend, barring a negative US growth shock or a BoJ pivot towards more aggressive policy tightening—neither of which appears likely over the coming year. Therefore, we are revising up our USD/JPY forecast path to 162, 163, 165 (vs. 160, 158, 155 previously). Without rising recession risk or a pivot towards aggressive BoJ tightening, we think the trend higher in USD/JPY should extend and continue to favor it as a funder for high-carry EM expressions
So with the bulls capitulating and everyone already bearishly positioning, what happens next? Usually precisely the opposite of what everyone expects, since there is nobody left to add to the bearish side.
Which brings us to the rare contrarian view: pushing back against those speculating that the currency might continue its slide – which as we showed above is pretty much everyone – Japan’s former top FX official said the yen should be as much as 20% stronger than it is, or around 130 per dollar
“This isn’t about fundamentals anymore — it’s about how people’s expectations have shifted,” Tatsuo Yamasaki, who served as vice finance minister for international affairs a little over a decade ago, said in an interview Monday with Bloomberg. “But we are reaching a climax.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the yen were around 130 to the dollar. That’s honestly how it looks to me,” he told Bloomberg, an outcome that would lead to the liquidation of countless FX trading desks.
Yet, as noted, he remains a lone hawk in a world full of yen bears. The slide along with a relatively tepid response from Japanese authorities has some speculating the rout may have room to run. Jesper Koll, expert director at Monex Group, and Calvin Yeoh at Blue Edge Advisors consider 200 and beyond within the realm of possibility should the Bank of Japan fall further behind in tightening policy.
Yamasaki, now a senior professor at the International University of Health and Welfare, doesn’t see that happening. The BOJ is likely to continue raising rates, while the odds of another Federal Reserve rate hike remain roughly 50%, making a further widening in the Japan-US rate gap far from certain, he said.
“As far as interest rate differentials, yes, the BOJ’s next move is definitely a rate hike, maybe followed by several rate hikes, while the Fed’s next move is still uncertain,” he said. Even if the Fed hikes, it will likely be a one-off move, he said.
“They’ve already issued the warning, and anyone who is still holding short yen positions knows that they risk being punished by an intervention – that is, being forced to unwind those positions,” Yamasaki said. “The finance ministry has already moved beyond the warning stage, and the authorities have demonstrated they’re willing to act.”
Yamasaki also downplayed concerns that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s latest economic and fiscal policies point to a worsening of Japan’s fiscal position. Last month, Takaichi unveiled a growth plan featuring a 14-year, ¥370 trillion investment program combining private- and public-sector outlays, while projecting that Japan’s debt-to-GDP ratio will continue to decline even as the government commits ¥10 trillion in annual spending. The plan appears designed to pair an ambitious investment agenda with assurances of fiscal discipline.
Yamasaki said the market will have a much clearer picture of Takaichi’s fiscal and monetary policy stance later this year as the government compiles its budget for next year. “At that point, I think the market will recognize that there wasn’t a fundamental case for such a weak yen in the first place,” he said.
Until then, however, Yamasaki said authorities should be prepared for a prolonged battle with speculators.
“If you’re facing a long fight, spending tens of trillions of yen every time the market moves isn’t the answer, because the currency will simply move back again,” he said. “The priority should be to prevent the yen from weakening much further. Once people come to believe that the fundamentals actually point to a stronger yen, I think the currency will appreciate on its own.”
Yamasaki added that “stealth intervention” — small-scale operations that avoid drawing immediate market attention — could be an effective way to keep speculators off balance. Having said that, Tokyo isn’t likely to get any help from its counterparts. He said it would be politically difficult for the US to join such efforts while maintaining its standard opposition to currency manipulation by other nations.
“Basically it’s not going to happen,” he said.
There is another reason why the BOJ will have no choice but to tighten soon: the 20Y JGB yield just hit a new record high overnight, rising 4bps to a new all time high 3.816%. It was 0 in 2019.
Ironically, Yamasaki headed the Finance Ministry’s foreign-exchange market division during a period when Japan was attempting to prevent the yen from doing the opposite, namely strengthening. Authorities spent about ¥35 trillion on intervention between 2003 and 2004 in that campaign.
Even with Washington unlikely to jump into the market, Yamasaki doesn’t expect any pushback if Japan intervenes.
“I don’t recall a time when the US was on board with Japan’s intervention intentions as much as it is now,” he said, reiterating comments made recently by current forex chief Atsushi Mimura. In a Bloomberg interview last week, Mimura highlighted what he described as “closer-than-ever” communication between Tokyo and Washington on currency matters.
More recently, when the yen was foundering in September 2022, Yamasaki warned of intervention risk. Two days later authorities intervened to support the yen.
A White House report accused leaders of the Smithsonian Institution of adopting an ideological framework that shifted the National Museum of American History away from its mission of historical education toward what it called an “extreme political activism.”
The 162-page report, released by the White House Domestic Policy Council on July 4, alleges that the National Museum of American History – which is run by the Smithsonian Institution – “fails to substantively present America’s founder and founding” in its exhibits.
The report states that the Smithsonian Institution, particularly the National Museum of American History, “cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.”
“By the intention and at the direction of current museum and Smithsonian leadership, [National Museum of American History] has become the subject to institutional capture by a radical, activist ideology that is fundamentally opposed to telling the noble, honest story of the great country we know and love,” it stated.
The council said the museum has not established any exhibit specifically dedicated to the Founding Fathers, the Second Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolutionary War, or the nation’s path to independence and the establishment of constitutional rule of law.
“Our central finding is not that the museum has simply added overlooked stories, corrected perceived errors, or broadened its historical scope,” the report stated.
“Rather, it is that museum leadership has explicitly adopted an ideological framework that no longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated, but as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.“
A Smithsonian spokesperson told The Epoch Times by email that the institution “has served the American public with nonpartisan and independent scholarship” for more than 180 years and will remain “committed to doing so.”
The National Museum of American History, located in Washington, was originally named the National Museum of History and Technology when it was opened in January 1964. The museum was renamed in October 1980 to better reflect its responsibilities.
According to its website, the museum’s collection includes more than 1.7 million objects representing the nation’s heritage in the areas of science, technology, society, and culture.
The White House report followed President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order directing the Interior Department to ensure that public monuments “do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
The order states that many national parks promoted what it described as “distorted narrative driven by ideology.”
“It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing,” Trump stated in the order.
2028 Democrat Presidential Hopeful Exposes Party Civil War Against Its Socialist Wing
Gov. Josh Shapiro sat down with Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union this weekend and said the quiet part out loud: his party is being overrun by its socialist and far left flank.
Bash pressed Shapiro on Darializa Avila Chevalier, who won the Democratic congressional primary in New York’s 13th congressional district last month while running as an open socialist.
Chevalier’s platform includes abolishing prisons, opening the borders, ending deportations, and granting mercy even to violent criminals.
Bash also noted that Chevalier attended a pro-Palestinian rally on October 8, 2023, one day after Hamas terrorists slaughtered, raped, and kidnapped their way across southern Israel.
According to Bash, that rally featured antisemitic rhetoric defending the attack. Bash asked Shapiro how he feels, as a Democrat, about someone with those views heading to Congress.
Shapiro tried to have it both ways.
“Well, her district voted for her,” he said. But that statement also came with a convenient disclaimer. “But I have profound differences from that particular candidate, based on the citations that you read there. And she’s not someone who, you know, seemingly, I would agree with on many things, or that we share similar values. She ran on the Democratic ticket, I guess as a socialist; her voters in that district determined that she was the one they wanted representing them.”
Note the hedge. Shapiro was describing someone who wants to shield violent criminals from deportation and who reportedly stood in solidarity with people cheering a massacre of Jews. Yet, the strongest word he could summon was “seemingly.”
Bash followed up by asking what Chevalier’s win says about the Democratic Party. Here Shapiro dropped whatever remained of the diplomatic pretense. “I think that what our party has to go through, that will be very healthy, and something that we’ve not really done since the 1992 elections, is to have a battle over what we believe in,” he said.
CNN: Abolishing prisons, opens borders, ending deportations of criminals…what does that say about the Democrat Party?
SHAPIRO: “What our party has to go through that will be very healthy…is to have a battle over what we believe in.” pic.twitter.com/lncogDmeXl
That’s a rather pointed reference because 1992 is the year Bill Clinton dragged his party toward the center with promises of welfare reform and law and order, and Shapiro seems to be arguing that’s the direction the battle needs to go again, which is clearly not the direction the party is going in.
Trump Derangement Syndrome has spent the better part of a decade radicalizing rank-and-file Democrats who once considered themselves moderates, and the party’s growing communist and socialist wing has capitalized on that fever by dragging positions on wealth, taxes, crime, and immigration further left with every election cycle.
The party has also grown more hostile toward Israel, with some pundits arguing it has grown outright antisemitic. That climate may explain why Shapiro sidestepped Bash’s question about whether his Jewish faith could complicate a 2028 presidential run. Meanwhile, fellow Pennsylvania Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman, has shown far more willingness to call out his party’s antisemitic drift.
Shapiro, being Jewish and a supporter of Israel, places him on a collision course with a Democratic base growing comfortable nominating candidates who marched in solidarity with people, justifying an attack that included the massacre of more than a thousand Israelis.
On paper, Shapiro is the strongest hand the Democrats hold: a two-time statewide election winner in a key swing state.
But the Democratic Party isn’t the same party it was in 1992, and Shapiro’s remarks on CNN made one thing clear: the party’s civil war is already underway.
Key Dems Pull Out After Platner Campaign Rocked By Sexual Assault Allegations
Update: That didn’t take long… key democrats including Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Rep. Ro Khanna have pulled their endorsements of Platner following the allegations, according to Fox News‘ Bill Melugin.
BREAKING: Sen. Gallego (D-AZ) withdraws his Platner endorsement shortly after Rep. Khanna (D-CA) does the same.
“These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement,” Khanna wrote on X.
I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.
Graham Platner’s Senate campaign was thrown into turmoil Monday after a woman publicly accused him of sexual assault in a detailed report published by Politico.
Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine woman, told reporters Jessica Piper and Adam Wren that Platner sexually assaulted her in late 2021, near the end of an on-and-off consensual relationship that began after the two matched on Bumble in 2019. Before publishing the allegations, Politico interviewed Racicot three times over two weeks, spoke with a man she dated after Platner, and reviewed therapist emails and years-old Facebook messages.
Racicot said she texted Platner that night, telling him not to come over. Then she heard footsteps on the stairs. Platner had let himself into her unlocked rural home, and by her account, he smelled of alcohol and hovered near blackout drunk. She said he climbed on top of her on the couch and kept grabbing her as she told him to stop, knocking over an antique sewing kit and scattering needles without pausing. When she tried to leave the room, he followed her into the bedroom and had sex with her against her will.
“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” she said. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.'”
He fell asleep in her bed. She said she considered forcing him out but feared a blackout-drunk driver on rural Maine roads might kill someone. The next morning, when he tried to put his arm around her, she pushed him away and asked if he remembered the night before. He said he did not. She told him to leave and never contact her again.
Racicot waited several weeks, making sure she was sure she was not pregnant from the assault, before sending Platner an Instagram message stating the encounter was not consensual. That message no longer exists because Racicot deleted her old texts and social media exchanges with him and could not recover them for Politico. Nor did she file a police report, citing shock, confusion, and fear of retaliation. Her therapist heard the account at the time, and emails Racicot shared with the paper show that she sought help to corroborate it. A man Racicot began dating in 2022 also said she described the incident in pieces before sharing the full account in 2023, and his version matched hers.
Politico also reviewed Facebook messages from 2023 in which Racicot warned an acquaintance against getting involved with Platner, telling her that he does not listen when he is drunk. A friend she confided in last summer recalled her describing him as very drunk and unwilling to accept no as an answer.
Platner’s campaign called the allegations a coordinated hit by outside political operatives and noted the story landed about a week before Maine’s ballot deadline, echoing the timing of allegations that surfaced before the primary. The problem is that Racicot’s politics align with Platner’s, and her hesitation to come forward stemmed from a conflict between supporting his platform and disapproving of him as a person; she wanted voters to have a full picture of who he is.
The New York Times contacted her in spring 2026, and she shared the assault claim off the record; the resulting article described his behavior in general terms while coverage centered on accuser Lyndsey Fifield, whose Republican ties gave Platner’s allies an angle to deflect the accusations, which ultimately did not impact his campaign. His candidacy had already survived offensive online comments and earlier claims he mistreated women, which he denied while attributing past behavior to mental health struggles and alcohol abuse. Prior to the New York Times story, Platner had assured Senate Democrats that no more scandals would come out about him.
Despite the damning allegations in the New York Times story, Platner raised more than $200,000 after the story came out, his best fundraising day since Gov. Janet Mills exited the race. After seeing Fifield’s account get minimized because of her politics, Racicot was convinced she had to come forward.
In a video statement posted on social media, Platner denied the allegations but said he was taking time off to reflect on the path forward.
“I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious, and false allegations against me,” Platner said. “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false.” He thanked supporters for building “the largest volunteer base in the history of Maine politics” before arriving at the sentence that counts. “So regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” he said. He closed with a vow that “you never turned your back on me, and I will not turn my back on you now,” and the sign-off, “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”
pic.twitter.com/9itIt4Mw25
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 6, 2026
Maine law gives Democrats until July 14 for Platner to drop out of the race and still legally replace him with another candidate.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have signed a memorandum to counter lawfare targeting rural communities, ranchers, farmers, and small businesses.
Lawfare refers to the strategic use of legal proceedings to hinder targets. The SBA’s agreement with the USDA gives producers a “direct line to report the regulations and rules driving up costs and impacting productivity,” the agency said in a July 2 statement.
It also enables the SBA and the USDA to “identify broader patterns of regulatory abuse to advance lasting deregulatory reform.”
The USDA will run a centralized portal that will receive lawfare complaints involving federal agencies, which will be shared with the SBA’s Office of the National Ombudsman. Any complaint involving the USDA will be handled by the department, while other complaints will be referred by the SBA to the appropriate agencies.
Under the agreement, the SBA is authorized to analyze complaint data to identify recurring lawfare practices, enforcement, or regulatory issues that are assessed as abusive or disproportionate. This is expected to provide insight that would guide deregulatory action for broader reforms.
In a July 2 X post, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the agreement between the USDA and the SBA lets “producers get back to what they do best: feeding, clothing, and fueling America.”
“Family farms should not have to spend time and resources they don’t have fighting crushing regulations or costly legal battles waged by radical anti-ag ‘environmentalists,’ whether they are inside or outside the government,” she said.
In its statement, the SBA said the memorandum is in line with a January 2025 executive order signed by President Donald Trump, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.”
Trump said in the order that the “ever-expanding morass” of complicated federal regulations was creating “substantial restraint” on economic growth and hampering the country’s global competitiveness.
For each new regulation issued by any agency, Trump ordered that at least 10 previous regulations be identified for elimination.
Commenting on the memorandum, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said: “This partnership with the SBA creates clear pathways for redress, ensures fairness in enforcement, and demonstrates that Washington stands with, not against, the hardworking Americans who sustain our country.
“Through the USDA Lawfare Portal and interagency collaboration, we are delivering real protection under the Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework.”
The Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework is a plan aimed at protecting and preserving American agriculture while ending “onerous regulations” and the weaponization of government against ranchers and farmers, according to a Feb. 11 statement from the USDA.
The plan seeks to defend farmers and ranchers from politically motivated enforcement actions, protect agricultural lands from unnecessary federal projects, and remove burdensome rules that stifle productivity.
It also seeks to reform environmental laws to strike a balance between conservation and common sense.
Deregulatory Actions
The action against lawfare is one of the latest relief efforts aimed at farmers undertaken by the Trump administration.
On Feb. 2, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued guidance to manufacturers of farm equipment, clarifying that American farmers have the right to repair their own equipment.
The guidance said that manufacturers can no longer use the Clean Air Act to justify limiting farmers’ access to repair tools or software.
“EPA is proud to set the record straight and protect farmers. For far too long, manufacturers have wrongly used the Clean Air Act to monopolize the repair markets, hurting our farmers,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
However, American manufacturers have opposed the right-to-repair rules. In a Sept. 22, 2025, statement, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers said that more than 50 companies met with lawmakers and congressional staff to push back against right-to-repair mandates.
They warned that legislation advancing such requirements stands to “hurt innovation, raise costs, and risk exposing sensitive trade secrets to competitors or foreign adversaries.”
Meanwhile, on March 27, the EPA announced another rule aimed at benefiting farmers, removing the Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) sensor system requirement for all diesel equipment. DEF is a solution injected into the exhaust systems of diesel vehicles to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.
The EPA said there have been concerns among farmers and other diesel vehicle or equipment operators about DEF system failures.
Shutdowns and speed losses caused by such failures compromise the safety and productivity of operators, which are “unacceptable and problematic,” the agency said, adding that removing the DEF sensor system requirement is expected to save farmers and truckers more than $13 billion annually.
An outbreak of serious pneumonia is growing in New York, officials said on July 5.
Eighteen cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been confirmed in several Manhattan neighborhoods, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said late Sunday, up from 14 earlier in the day and 10 on Saturday.
The cases are clustered in three zip codes, 10028, 10128, and 10075, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the department said.
We’re investigating a cluster of Legionnaires’ disease on the Upper East Side (ZIP codes 10028 & 10128). If you live or work in this area or visited the area since late June and are experiencing flu-like symptoms, contact a healthcare provider immediately: https://t.co/0rXv78p1V1pic.twitter.com/Z4i7iYnnaB
Legionnaires’ disease is a form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water. The disease shares symptoms with influenza, such as fever and chills, and can be fatal if left untreated.
No deaths have yet been reported with the current outbreak.
People who live in the zip codes, or who have recently visited the east side of Central Park, should monitor for symptoms, New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said in a statement.
People who experience symptoms should see a health care provider immediately.
Treatment for pneumonia typically includes antibiotics, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Certain individuals are more vulnerable to the disease, including individuals aged 50 and older and those who smoke or vape.
One way people can contract Legionnaires’ disease is by breathing in water vapor or mist containing Legionella bacteria. People cannot get the disease from other people.
The probable source of the bacteria is a water cooling tower in the area, according to health officials.
The systems, usually located on top of buildings, control the temperature of cooling systems, such as refrigeration and spray mist systems, which contain the bacteria.
The city’s health department is testing all the cooling towers in the area.
“This is not an issue with any building’s plumbing system. It is safe for you to drink water, bathe, shower, cook, and use your air conditioner,” health officials said in a notice to residents.
“Continuing to use your air conditioner is especially important when the city is experiencing extreme heat and temperatures reach dangerously high levels.”
There have been outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease in the past from plumbing systems in buildings, but there are no signs that this is the case with the current situation, according to officials.
Officials first reported the cluster of cases on July 2. They said at the time that any owners of buildings where cooling towers tested positive for the Legionella bacteria would be directed to carry out full remediation.
A Legionnaires’ disease cluster in central Harlem, also in Manhattan, sickened 114 people in 2025 and left seven dead.
