Tag Archives: CNBC

Judge denies Trump admin bid to unseal Jeffrey Epstein grand jury transcripts in Florida

A federal judge denied a request by the Trump administration to unseal the transcripts of grand jury proceedings related to a criminal investigation of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in Florida in the mid-2000s. The ruling does not affect other pending requests by the Department of Justice that seek to obtain transcripts of grand jury proceedings Read More…

Trump administration ramps up its campaign against colleges

Both the State Department and the Department of Education announced new investigations into universities. Harvard University, a frequent target of the Trump administration, is the subject of a new evaluation of its eligibility to participate in the Exchange Visitor Program, the State Department said. The University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University Read More…

Sen. Mike Lee posts, deletes fake resignation letter by Fed Chair Powell: Reports

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reportedly shared a fake, apparently AI-generated letter purporting to show Jerome Powell resigning as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The phony letter — addressed to “The President” — featured a garbled Fed seal with non-English characters and a slightly misshapen depiction of an eagle, as well as some unusual text spacing. Read More…

Trump makes gains on economy, policy with small business owners, even among Democrats

Join us for Small Business Playbook Virtual Event on August 6th! Register now! Small Business Playbook Events Small Business Playbook Event 2025 Concerns about inflation and tariffs are still relatively high on Main Street, but small business owners are more confident in the economy and business outlook than earlier in 2025. President Trump’s approval ratings Read More…

Trump says U.S. struck trade, military deal with the Philippines; Manila has not confirmed

President Donald Trump said the U.S. has “concluded” a trade deal with the Philippines that includes a 19% tariff on goods imported from the southeast Asian country. “In addition, we will work together Militarily,” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the deal, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. has “concluded” a Read More…

Judge in Trump Murdoch libel case handled lawsuit president dropped against Michael Cohen

President Donald Trump’s $10 billion libel lawsuit against media baron Rupert Murdoch over a Wall Street Journal article about Jeffrey Epstein was assigned to the same Florida federal judge who presided over Trump’s prior breach-of-contract suit against his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen. Trump dropped that $500 million lawsuit against Cohen shortly after Judge Darrin Read More…

Bessent: Imposing Aug. 1 tariffs ‘will put more pressure’ on trade partners for deals

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that implementing a “higher tariff level” on countries would put more “pressure on those countries to come with better agreements.” “The important thing” with President Donald Trump’s trade negotiations, “is the quality of the deal, not the timing of the deals,” he told CNBC. Trump has postponed his country-specific tariff Read More…

Bessent tried to dissuade Trump from firing Powell: WSJ

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly told President Donald Trump not to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, The Wall Street Journal reported. Bessent, who cited the possible legal, political and economic fall-out, mark a departure from other top Trump administration officials, who have increased their public criticism of Powell. Powell has repeatedly resisted Trump’s demands Read More…

Trump says releasing Epstein files wouldn’t satisfy ‘troublemakers,’ as pressure mounts

President Donald Trump said that “even if” the courts release the grand jury transcripts in the cases of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, “nothing will be good enough.” Trump’s post comes one day after the Department of Justice asked federal judges to unseal the grand jury testimonies in the criminal cases, following a request by Trump. Read More…

Justice Department asks court to unseal Epstein, Maxwell grand jury transcripts

The Department of Justice asked federal judges to unseal grand jury transcripts in the criminal cases of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The formal requests came one day after President Donald Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to “produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval.” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche Read More…

Trump’s tax bill could end popular ‘SALT’ deduction workaround for certain business owners

Currently, many pass-through businesses use a workaround — the pass-through entity, or PTE, tax — to bypass the $10,000 limit on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT. The House-approved bill could block certain pass-through businesses from using the popular state-level tax break. However, this provision could still face changes amid Read More…

House Republican budget bill calls for bigger ‘pass-through’ business tax break. Who could benefit

For 2025, the Section 199A deduction for qualified business income, or QBI, is worth up to 20% of eligible revenue, with some limitations. This applies to so-called pass-through businesses, including sole proprietors, partnerships and S-corporations, along with some trusts and estates. The House Republican bill would make the deduction permanent, raise the maximum tax break Read More…

China tariff ‘stacking’ pushes true cost of import taxes well above 30% on many consumer products

The Trump administration trade deal with China which paused the steepest tariffs on Chinese goods is not offering much relief to importers that face “stacking” of multiple import taxes sending the true cost well above 30%. From apparel to footwear, swimsuits to backpacks, tariff bills range from 40%-70%. Walmart said this week that prices will Read More…

Women small business owners are more worried than men about Trump’s tariffs and the economy

Small Business Playbook Events Women business owners express more concern about inflation, the economy, and a potential recession than male counterparts, according to the latest CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey for Q2 2025. Approval ratings of President Trump and his tariffs policy are both much lower among women who own businesses than among male small business Read More…

America’s small businesses preparing for recession with Trump tariffs: CNBC|SurveyMonkey survey

Founding Members CNBC CFO Council Just 30% of small business owners said they would rate the current state of the economy as excellent or good, according to the latest quarterly CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey. While inflation and consumer demand continue to roil small business owners, it’s the threat of the potential Trump tariffs that is Read More…

Trump tariffs will lead to abandoned freight at ports as cash-strapped businesses reject orders

President Trump’s new country-specific tariffs, on top of existing trade levies, will raise the cost of imports for U.S. businesses by an exponential amount, though in an announcement during the day Wednesday Trump said some countries, excluding China, would receive a 90-day reprieve. Rick Muskat, president of family-owned shoe retailer Deer Stags which imports its Read More…

Trump’s Canadian tariffs are having a chilling effect on Vermont’s small business owners

President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian products, along with the escalating trade war and rhetoric between the two nations, is starting to squeeze some small businesses in Vermont. Concerns for those small businesses include a decline in merchandise shipments to Canadian customers, a drop off in Canadian tourism and higher prices from imported products. “I Read More…

Treasury Department suspends enforcement of ownership information reporting for millions of businesses

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Sunday said it won’t enforce the penalties or fines associated with the “beneficial ownership information,” or BOI, reporting requirements. Previously, the Treasury set a March 21 deadline for businesses to comply or risk fines of up to $10,000. The Treasury will also propose regulation to apply the BOI Read More…

In wake of Southern California wildfires, a diverse small business community looks to rebuild

Expanding Opportunity While many in Altadena’s entrepreneurial community remain optimistic about a recovery, multiple business owners described lengthy and difficult roads ahead. Some businesses were burned entirely to the ground, while others face long-term displacement due to damage or smoke. For those fortunate enough to have brick-and-mortar properties still standing, they’re surrounded by what some Read More…

Treasury sets March 21 deadline for millions of businesses to report ownership information or risk fines of $10,000 or more

The Treasury Department set a March 21 deadline for businesses to report “beneficial ownership information” or risk civil and criminal penalties. It delayed the prior deadline by 30 days. The delay comes after a Texas district court struck down a nationwide injunction on enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act. The Treasury Department left open the Read More…

Op-ed: Amid DEI retreat, America’s small businesses are not caving like big corporations

Small Business Playbook Events CNBC and SurveyMonkey’s latest quarterly polling of America’s small business owners finds majority support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts at a time when many national corporations are scaling back or ending DEI programs. Small business owners say they see positive impacts on the business from DEI goals, such as Read More…