Apple News Today: Detailed Summary of "Inflation helped Trump win. Now it’s becoming a headache"

Release Date: February 26, 2025 | Host: Shemitah Basu

1. House Republicans’ Narrow Passage of Budget Framework Bill

Shemitah Basu opens the episode by reporting on the House Republicans' narrow passage of a budget framework bill, which passed by a margin of 217 to 215 votes. This vote is crucial as it marks the first step in a complex legislative process aimed at advancing former President Trump's policy agenda.

Jacob Bogage, Washington Post's congressional economic correspondent, provides insight into the internal conflicts within the Republican Party:

“You’ve got folks who want these really, really steep budget cuts. They want to go after different kinds of social safety net programs. Then you have moderates who are saying, over my dead body, you can’t do that. Then you have super hardline conservatives saying, I want more. And because the margins are so slim in the House, every member can demand very specific policy.”
(01:22)

The proposed budget resolution aims to reduce federal spending by approximately $2 trillion over the next decade, potentially increasing the national debt by over $11 trillion. While the resolution directs committees to identify spending cuts, the specifics remain contentious, particularly regarding Medicaid. Despite President Trump's assurances that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid would remain untouched, Speaker Mike Johnson indicated that reducing Medicaid costs would be necessary to pass the budget:

“Social Security won’t be touched other than fraud or something. We’re going to find it’s going to be strengthened but won’t be touched. Medicare, Medicaid.”
(02:34)

Bogage warns that cutting Medicaid could have severe repercussions for Republican-held districts reliant on these programs:

“There are districts in this Republican majority where more than half of the population are on Medicaid, and those are districts Republicans need to keep in the midterm elections if they want to continue governing with a majority.”
(03:07)

The Republicans aim to pass their agenda through a process called reconciliation by March 14, failing which the government risks a shutdown.

2. Economic Concerns: Inflation and Consumer Confidence

The episode shifts focus to the state of the US economy, highlighting declining consumer confidence—falling for the third consecutive month in February, the largest decline since August 2021. Concerns over inflation and the impact of Trump's tariffs are prominent.

Greg IP, chief economics commentator for the Wall Street Journal, discusses the limited role of the president in controlling inflation:

“Whatever is happening in the economy, do not blame or thank the president because there is so little that a president can do. Most of these things are driven by really complex, multifaceted phenomena that have to do with the quality of the workforce, the level of technology, big global shocks like the financial crisis from 15 years ago or the COVID pandemic.”
(05:07)

Despite Trump’s initial promise to lower costs from day one, officials now acknowledge that reducing prices for essentials like groceries is unlikely in the near term. Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum have led to increased prices, as Greg IP explains:

“The president has promised 25% tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum to take effect in a few weeks time. And we have already seen US Steel companies raising their prices because now they can compete better with imports. And we’ve seen prices on markets go up and that will find its way into a variety of products that Americans consume.”
(05:43)

Polls reflect growing voter dissatisfaction with Trump's handling of inflation:

“A recent Reuters Ipsos poll found that only 32% of respondents approved of the job Trump is doing so far on inflation. And a recent Gallup survey found that 20% of people rated the economy as excellent or good, which is lower than any point during Trump’s first term.”
(06:02)

Greg IP adds that Trump's influence wanes as the inflation issue persists:

“He and his advisors are also very aware that if the inflation problem persists beyond a few months, the ability to blame this on Biden starts to ebb away and people are going to hold him responsible for it.”
(06:32)

3. Trump’s Executive Order on Gender Affirming Care for Minors

Another significant topic covered is President Trump’s executive order titled "Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation," which bans federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors. This policy has led major hospitals in liberal cities to cancel appointments for such treatments, despite temporary judicial blocks.

Emily Witt, a staff writer for the New Yorker, explains the precarious position hospitals find themselves in:

“A hospital like NYU Langone receives government grants for research. They receive probably more than a billion dollars a year in Medicaid reimbursements. They have Trump on the one side saying that he’ll withdraw federal funding for their hospitals if they continue certain forms of treatment, and then the state saying that they’ll sue.”
(07:53)

The cancellation of appointments has caused significant distress among parents and trans youth. Witt shares the poignant story of a 14-year-old girl who benefited from gender-affirming care:

“This is a child that lives as a girl. Her friends don’t even necessarily know that she’s trans. And so for the parents, it’s really scary because it would be a very violent adjustment. And it’s scary also thinking about the future of this child and what her life might look like and the discrimination she might face and the difficulties in getting the care that she’s been used to getting for all these years.”
(09:35)

Parents are experiencing panic and anxiety over the potential loss of essential medical care for their children, exacerbated by conflicting federal and state directives.

4. Additional News Stories

In the closing segments, Shemitah Basu touches on several other noteworthy developments:

• Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency Resignations: Twenty-one employees resigned, refusing to aid in dismantling core government services and risking Americans' sensitive data. Musk characterized the resignations as actions by "Dem political holdovers."

• Trump Administration’s Foreign Aid Payments: A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release funds to foreign aid contractors by midnight, marking the third such directive amid paused foreign spending initiatives.

• White House’s Control Over Press Pool: In an unprecedented move, the White House announced it will determine which reporters join the presidential press pool, diverging from the long-standing tradition managed by the White House Correspondents Association. This decision follows a legal dispute where the Associated Press was denied access over terminology disagreements regarding the Gulf of Mexico.

For comprehensive coverage of these stories and more, listeners are encouraged to access the Apple News app. Upcoming content includes an in-depth look at the Chinese e-commerce giant Temu and the implications of US trade policies on its operations.

Stay informed with Apple News Today as Shemitah Basu continues to deliver the most compelling stories shaping our world.