President Donald Trump on Friday announced a deal aimed at lowering the price of ground beef for American shoppers by easing beef tariffs to import more from abroad.

Trump made the announcement on the Truth Social social media platform as beef prices remain near record highs.

“Today, I concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families,” Trump wrote.

“As everyone knows, under President Biden, beef prices soared at their fastest rate and the American beef herd fell to its smallest size in modern history.”

President Trump just announced a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for American families. . The move aims to give relief at the grocery store while the American beef herd rebuilds. Another concrete step to bring costs down for working families. pic.twitter.com/9pYC5VJYp2

— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 21, 2026

Trump wrote that an additional 300,000 metric tons of ground beef will be allowed to be imported into the country without facing an “out-of-quota tariff.” An “out-of-quota” tariff is an added charge the federal government places on some goods when their imports exceed allowed levels.

For beef, quota limits vary with individual countries, according to CNBC.

Trump did not identify the countries or exporters he was dealing with. However, he wrote there is also a commitment that the imported beef will be sold “25 percent below current market prices.”

“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” Trump wrote.

However, U.S. cattle producers and elected officials representing cattle-producing states were not happy with Trump’s move, according to CNBC.

Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Montana Republican, took to the social media platform X to criticize the action.

I’ve advised President Trump against this course of action for a year because American ranchers have been struggling against the packer monopoly for decades, and this will further harm them – most of whom are MAGA Republicans.

The President’s heart is in the right place on… https://t.co/CitifFJr8R

— Tim Sheehy (@TimSheehyMT) August 21, 2026

“I’ve advised President Trump against this course of action for a year because American ranchers have been struggling against the packer monopoly for decades, and this will further harm them – most of whom are MAGA Republicans,” he wrote.

The move is intended to lower costs for consumers facing historically high beef prices.

On Aug. 12, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis noted that ground beef averaged $6.89 per pound in July, a 57 percent increase from five years earlier.

A federal price chart shows ground beef averaged $3.96 per pound 10 years ago. The price surged to $4.74 per pound during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-2020.

By the end of that summer, the average had fallen to $3.95 per pound.

Prices then rose steadily, climbing fast under the administration of former President Joe Biden and reaching $6.89 per pound average this month.

The same Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data show beef prices took from 1984 to 2011 to double.

CBS News reported ground beef prices rose 9 percent in July from a year earlier.

The Agriculture Department said Trump’s action to ease tariffs will “help address the affordability of beef.”

The department also said Trump is cutting regulations for farmers and ranchers while rebuilding the nation’s cattle supply.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post Trump Announces Deal to ‘Substantially Lower the Price of Ground Beef’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The Pentagon moved Friday to fire three senior employees at the taxpayer-supported military newspaper Stars and Stripes, accusing them of “insubordination” amid an escalating battle over the publication’s direction.

Publisher Max Lederer, Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin, and Middle East reporter Lara Korte were each served with separation notices and given five days to appeal, according to CBS News⁠.

The stunning shake-up comes as the Trump administration works to overhaul the military publication, drag it into the 21st century, and eliminate the “woke distractions” that have infected institutions across the federal government.

Slavin and Korte claimed they were targeted over interviews they gave to CBS News without authorization for a segment that aired in July.

Slavin told CBS that the Pentagon accused him of insubordination after he publicly declared that any effort to control the newspaper’s reporting would cross a “red line.”

“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line,” Slavin said.

“The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination. I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies.”

During the CBS interview, Slavin described the hypothetical scenario that he said would be unacceptable.

“‘Don’t run a perfectly accurate story, run this instead. Here it is, written by the Pentagon.’ That would be a red line,” he said.

Korte, who covers the Middle East, similarly insisted that she does not work for the Pentagon—even though the outlet operates within the Department of Defense and receives millions of dollars from American taxpayers.

“I’m working for Stars and Stripes. Not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker,” Korte said during the CBS segment. “I’m here to cover the military community.”

Korte later called the dismissals “a shame for the institution and service members.”

Lederer, who had led the publication for 19 years, announced earlier in the week that he planned to retire on September 30 because of what he described as “fundamental” disagreements with the Trump administration’s vision for the outlet.

The Pentagon apparently decided not to wait.

Lederer was reportedly asked to fire Slavin and Korte over their unauthorized CBS appearance but refused, according to people familiar with the dispute cited by The Washington Post⁠. He was subsequently issued his own separation notice.

White House adviser Stephen Miller defended the administration when asked about the controversy Friday.

“If anybody was fired, it was for just cause,” Miller said.

The firings follow months of tension between Pentagon officials and the newspaper’s entrenched leadership.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell previously announced plans to bring Stars and Stripes “into the 21st century” and refocus the outlet away from “woke distractions that syphon morale.”

Following Friday’s purge, Navy Capt. William Urban, recently appointed military deputy to the publisher, released an open letter calling for modernization while pledging that the paper would continue producing independent reporting.

Urban said the outlet must improve its digital operation, increase advertising revenue, and “embrace a culture of change.”

In other words, the taxpayer-funded publication is finally being told that the status quo is no longer acceptable.

The corporate media will predictably portray the personnel shake-up as another attack on journalism. But the Pentagon maintains that the three employees were disciplined for insubordination, not for publishing a particular story.

And now they will have five days to make their case.

The post Pentagon Fires Stars and Stripes Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, and Reporter for “Insubordination” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that President Trump did not have the authority to appoint Acting US Attorney for the Northern District of New York, John Sarcone.

A three-judge panel in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 vote, said John Sarcone was unlawfully appointed when he subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The three-judge panel included: Judge Guido Calabresi (Clinton), Judge Michael Park (Trump), and Judge Maria Kahn (Biden).

Earlier this year, a federal judge disqualified the Trump-appointed US Attorney for the Northern District of New York overseeing investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James.

US District Judge Lorna Schofield, an Obama appointee, disqualified acting US Attorney John Sarcone and quashed two subpoenas issued to Letitia James.

John Sarcone was investigating Letitia James’s lawfare civil suit against President Trump and her lawsuit against the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Letitia James asked the judge to quash two subpoenas, arguing that Sarcone was unlawfully appointed and given a “special attorney” status.

The judge lashed out at then-US Attorney General Pam Bondi for making Sarcone an Acting US Attorney after his 120-day interim role expired.

“Instead, on the same day that the judges declined to extend Mr. Sarcone’s appointment, the Department took coordinated steps — through personnel moves and shifting titles — to install Mr. Sarcone as Acting U.S. Attorney. Federal law does not permit such a workaround,” the judge wrote, according to CBS News.

Sarcone is the fifth Trump-appointed US Attorney to be disqualified by a rogue judge.

CBS News reported:

A federal appeals court on Friday said the top federal prosecutor in the Northern District of New York was unlawfully serving in his role when he subpoenaed New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of two investigations into her last year.

A Justice Department spokesperson quickly said the Trump administration intends to appeal the ruling directly to the Supreme Court, setting up a showdown over the Trump administration’s repeated attempts across the country to make an end-run around federal law to keep their choice of prosecutors in office without Senate confirmation.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled against John Sarcone, who has been leading the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albany for more than a year.

The two judges in the majority said Sarcone’s appointment in 2025 did not conform with a federal law known as the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, meaning he was not lawfully serving as the acting U.S. attorney when he secured the subpoenas targeting James.

The post Appeals Court Rules Trump Didn’t Have Authority to Appoint Federal Prosecutor Who Subpoenaed Letitia James appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Arizona’s Democratic attorney general has declined to charge Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs over explosive allegations that a major state contractor poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Democratic political coffers before receiving a lucrative 30 percent rate increase.

Far-left Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Friday that her office would bring no criminal charges against Hobbs over her administration’s dealings with Sunshine Residential Homes.

The numbers behind the investigation were eye-popping.

Sunshine donated $200,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party ahead of Hobbs’ disputed victory over Republican Kari Lake back in 2022.

It then contributed $100,000 to Hobbs’ inaugural fund and another $100,000 to the state Democratic Party in August 2023.

Company founder Simon Kottoor and his wife also donated a combined $10,000 to Hobbs’ gubernatorial campaigns.

At the time of the donations, Sunshine had been pressing the state for a substantial increase in the rate it was paid for each foster-care bed.

After their initial requests were rejected, the company received a 30 percent increase in May 2023, taking its reimbursement from $149 to $195 per bed.

This was less than six months after Hobbs took office.

Sunshine was also one of only two providers granted an increase during that contracting period.

More evidence Kris Mayes and Katie Hobbs are corrupt.

They actually found MORE evidence of Pay-to-play in the investigation and refused to do anything. https://t.co/8kkQahyxl4

— Tyler Bowyer (@tylerbowyer) August 21, 2026

Hobbs has denied any wrongdoing and says she played no role in approving the increase.

She declined to sit for an interview with investigators, instead submitting written statements through her attorneys.

The fake news propaganda media at the Arizona Republic is at it again. Look at this framing. Wasn’t it Katie Hobbs that was subject to the investigation? No mention of her in the headline, just a random photo. They do this to protect her knowing full well most people never even… pic.twitter.com/3zNSyvPp4K

— Abe Hamadeh (@AbrahamHamadeh) August 21, 2026

Mayes insists there was insufficient evidence of the quid pro quo necessary to establish bribery.

“After two years of investigation, consisting of multiple interviews, reviews of campaign-finance records, procurement records, bank documents, and State emails and chats, totaling over one terabyte of data, including more than 100,000 documents, the investigation has not uncovered any evidence of the necessary quid pro quo to support a bribery charge,” Mayes said in a statement.

Investigators claim that Sunshine possessed substantial bargaining power because it was Arizona’s largest provider of certain foster-care beds and had threatened to reduce capacity unless the state paid more.

The Democratic attorney general’s decision does not end Hobbs’ legal headaches.

A separate investigation involving Republican Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and Arizona’s auditor general remains underway.

Hobbs is seeking re-election for a second four-year term. She will face off against Republican Rep. Andy Biggs in November.

The post SHOCK! Democrat Arizona AG Declines to Charge Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs in $400K Bribery Case appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Recently, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that he was making good on his campaign promise to bring down food costs by opening state-sponsored grocery stores that would sell goods at below cost. The stores will also not be required to pay taxes or rent.

By establishing these state-sponsored stores, Mamdani is not reducing food costs. He is reducing the price for consumers while placing a larger burden on taxpayers, most of whom will not be able to access the city stores.

To make matters worse, these stores are required to pay a “living wage,” which is estimated at more than double the minimum wage. Furthermore, they are required to provide healthcare and other benefits for employees. So, not only will the government have to supplement the lower prices of goods, but it will also have to support dramatically higher operating costs.

Apart from the fact that selling goods below cost in stores that cannot cover their operating expenses is an unsustainable model, the other problem with state-sponsored grocery stores is that they make it difficult for the private sector to compete. Private grocers and bodega associations have protested the decision. A bodega trade group, the United Bodegas of America, representing roughly 14,000 businesses, is preparing a lawsuit arguing that the taxpayer-subsidized stores create unfair competition, both on pricing and through the use of rent-free city land.

John Catsimatidis, CEO of Gristedes and D’Agostino’s, has threatened multiple times over more than a year to close, sell, or relocate his stores. Before the election, he told Fox Business, “If the city of New York is going socialist, I will definitely close, or sell, or move or franchise the Gristedes locations,” adding that he would also consider moving his corporate offices to New Jersey.

After Mamdani won the election, Catsimatidis predicted the plan “would collapse our food supply, kill private industry, and drag us down a path toward the bread lines of the old Soviet Union.” More recently, he has said he might relocate operations to Florida instead, citing declining sales and increased shoplifting that he attributes to city policy. He also said profitability has suffered for two years, making layoffs and operational scale-backs more likely. He has not announced a definite timeline for relocation or layoffs and is still evaluating his options.

On the unfair-competition point specifically, Catsimatidis told Fox News Digital, “The people that are going to run those five stores are not going to pay any real estate taxes, not going to pay any rent,” adding, “If I don’t pay any rent or real estate taxes, I can bring down the cost of a product 20% across the board.”

In true socialist form, in order to avoid disrupting the free market, the Mamdani government is now considering subsidizing for-profit, private-sector grocery stores to help make up for the business they will lose to the government shops.

Waverly Neer, an NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) senior vice president overseeing the NYC Groceries rollout, said this week that one proposal under consideration would let nearby grocers apply for grants to offset revenue lost to the city’s subsidized stores. She described the proposal as “policies and programs, grants, incentives that can come alongside these grocery stores to support other local independent businesses.”

State-operated grocery stores are not the only socialist program the Mamdani city government is carrying out. He is also moving forward with rent freezes that critics warn will have damaging effects on the city’s economy, lowering the standard of living for many residents.

Beginning October 1, 2026, landlords of rent-stabilized apartments will not be allowed to raise rents on new one- or two-year lease renewals after the Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 for a 0% increase. It is the first two-year freeze in the board’s history, covering roughly 1 million apartments, about 27% of the city’s overall housing stock. Mamdani, who appointed six of the board’s nine members, has said he will seek a freeze every year of his term.

Board member Arpit Gupta, who voted against the freeze, warned that it produces deteriorating assets rather than affordable housing, while landlord groups warn of more foreclosures and disrepair. Experts cautioned that the freeze could tighten mobility further, as residents of rent-controlled apartments may be less likely to move, keeping those apartments off the market and pushing market-rate rents higher. Between 26,000 and 100,000 stabilized units currently sit vacant, and the city’s overall vacancy rate stands at 1.41%, the lowest since 1968.

Landlord trade groups, including the Community Housing Improvement Program and the Rent Stabilization Association, argue in federal court that the rent laws amount to an unconstitutional seizure of private property under the Fifth Amendment. The Supreme Court has so far declined to hear such challenges while leaving the door open to future cases, and the Second Circuit has consistently held that the law serves a rational purpose.

On cost, city spending on one-time payments covering tenants’ back rent rose from $102 million in 2022 to $555.8 million in 2025, with 62% of evictions last year occurring in rent-stabilized buildings.

Since Mamdani took office, market-rate rents have continued to climb. Manhattan’s median rent hit a record $4,965 in June 2026, up 5.1% year-over-year. The increase comes amid reduced supply, as people hold onto rent-stabilized apartments longer. At the same time, landlords facing rising costs on those units have to increase rents on market-rate apartments.

A similar problem could develop with food. Government-subsidized supermarkets could drive many private stores out of business, leaving residents increasingly dependent on an inadequate number of government stores. Meanwhile, the for-profit stores that remain could be forced to charge higher prices to cover their operating costs and keep their doors open.

The post Mamdani’s Socialist Government Considering Subsidizing For-Profit Grocery Stores to Compete With State-Supported Ones appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

In the latest example of leftist race-baiting professor bias Campus Reform is reporting “An Amherst College professor’s forthcoming book will argue that the same conditions that allow Asian Americans to prosper also lead to “xenophobic attacks” against them.”

The absurd book is titled “Success Won’t Save Us: How Asian Americans Can Fight White Supremacy”.

Among the radical and race-baiting claims this professor makes is “in the United States: they are both celebrated for their achievements and subjected to racialized violence.”

Another race-baiting and unfair claim this Amherst professor makes is “Asian American experience must be understood within a system of white supremacy and racial capitalism.”

This whole divisive and Marxist rhetoric dividing Americans by race and blaming “White Supremacy” for all woes is typical of the average liberal professor.

“Pawan Dhingra, the book’s author, is a professor of U.S. Immigration Studies, the chair of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies department, and the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion at Amherst College in Massachusetts. His research interests include “Asian America,” “race/gender/class intersectionality,” “white supremacy,” “sociology of immigration,” “education,” “work,” and “culture.”

The typical leftist professor continues to view America and the world through these lenses and, as such, is guilty of anti-White racism themselves.

Examples of this bias by professors include “two Stanford University professors argued that “white supremacy” was to blame for challenges to race-based affirmative action.”

”The ‘model minority’ trope supports the story we tell about ourselves as a nation that if you just work hard enough, you can move up the social ladder,” associate professor Eujin Park argued. “There’s this idea that our educational system is an egalitarian one based on merit, with Asian Americans held up as proof that the system works.”

These professors cause more racial division and strife by constantly pitting Americans against one another.

“Park also argued the idea has been “weaponized to delegitimize critiques of the U.S. as a white supremacist and anti-Black society.”

These types of statements and sentiments just set race relations back further and cause more division in American society.

America is the land of the free, home of the brave, not a victimizing White supremacist society, whatever that means, and it’s time professors conveyed that truth.

The post Insanity: Amherst Professor’s Book Argues Asian American Success Is Tied To “White Supremacy” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.