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Trump Administration Takes Action on Cuba, Faces Funding Impasse, and Battles Tax Leak Lawsuit
Washington D.C. – President Donald Trump took several significant actions on Thursday, including threatening tariffs on countries selling oil to Cuba, facing a potential government shutdown due to stalled funding negotiations, and filing a lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury Department.
Trump announced a plan to impose additional tariffs on countries that provide oil to Cuba, declaring a national security emergency regarding the island nation, according to ABC News. In an executive order, Trump stated that the "policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The order includes retaliatory tariffs on products sold in the U.S. from "any other country that directly or indirectly sells or otherwise provides any oil to Cuba," ABC News reported. Trump stated, "I think Cuba will not be able to survive." CBS News noted that this move could further cripple Cuba, which is already facing a deepening energy crisis fueled in part by strict U.S. economic sanctions. The order would primarily put pressure on Mexico, which has been providing oil to Cuba.
Meanwhile, the Senate faced an impasse in negotiations regarding government funding, increasing the likelihood of a partial shutdown with less than 24 hours until funding expired, ABC News reported. Senate Democrats announced they had reached an agreement with the White House to separate the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill from a package of five other bills. Programs funded by the five-bill package would be funded until the end of September, while DHS would be funded for two additional weeks, according to ABC News.
In other news, President Trump filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department for at least $10 billion, accusing the agencies of unlawfully allowing an IRS contractor to leak his tax returns and those of his sons and company, CBS News reported. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, alleges that mishandling of his tax returns led to their improper disclosure to media outlets in 2020. Trump's oldest sons, Eric and Don Jr., and the Trump Organization are also plaintiffs in the suit. "Defendants have caused Plaintiffs reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs' public standing," the lawsuit alleges, according to CBS News.
Adding to the political landscape, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., pledged her "full support" for a nationwide anti-ICE protest scheduled for Friday, but said her office would not participate, Fox News reported. Organizers of the "National Shutdown" campaign have called for "no school, no work and no shopping" on Friday, arguing that "enough is enough" in the wake of fatal shootings involving Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis amid a federal immigration crackdown across Minnesota, according to Fox News.
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