Thirty-nine days into his administration, President Donald Trump will address both houses of Congress on Tuesday night.
Trump aides have indicated the president will present an "optimistic" vision of America.
The president is expected to discuss immigration, the future of Obamacare and his budget priorities.
Watch the video below via YouTube:
U.S President-elect Donald Trump warned German car companies he would impose a border tax of 35 percent on vehicles imported to the U.S. market, a plan that drew sharp rebukes from Berlin and hit the automakers' shares.
In an interview with German newspaper Bild, published on Monday, Trump criticized German carmakers such as BMW, Daimler  and Volkswagen for failing to produce more cars on U.S. soil.
"If you want to build cars in the world, then I wish you all the best. You can build cars for the United States, but for every car that comes to the USA, you will pay 35 percent tax," Trump said in remarks translated into German.
"I would tell BMW that if you are building a factory in Mexico and plan to sell cars to the USA, without a 35 percent tax, then you can forget that," Trump said.
At 1155 GMT (6:55 a.m. ET), BMW shares were down 2.2 percent, while Volkswagen's (VW) and Daimler's were both down 2 percent.
Under pressure to deliver on campaign promises to revive U.S. industrial jobs, Trump has turned his fire on carmakers that use low-cost Mexican plants to serve the U.S. market. He has also warned Japan's Toyota it could be subject to a "big border tax" if it builds its Corolla cars for the U.S. market at a planned factory in Mexico.
All three German carmakers have invested heavily in Mexico, but also pointed out on Monday that they manufacturer in the United States as well.
BMW executive Peter Schwarzenbauer told reporters the company was sticking to plans to invest around $1 billion in a new plant in Mexico, which is due to go into production in 2019 and create at least 1,500 jobs.
SERIOUS WARNING
"The president's powers are considerable. He can legally impose tariffs of up to 15 percent for 150 days. Trump is not constrained by Congress," said Simon Evenett, professor of international trade at Switzerland's University of St Gallen.
"Even if foreign companies object and seek to challenge the legality of tariffs, it will take at least 18 months to get decided. Corporate strategies will be disrupted by then."
While investing in Mexico, German carmakers have quadrupled light vehicle production in the United States over the past seven years to 850,000 units, more than half of which are exported from there, Germany's VDA automotive industry association said.
"In the long term, the United States would be shooting itself in the foot by imposing tariffs or other trade barriers," VDA President Matthias Wissmann said in a statement.
German carmakers employ about 33,000 workers in the United States and German automotive suppliers about 77,000 more, the VDA said.
Speaking in tabloid newspaper Bild, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that rather than trying to penalise German carmakers, the United States should instead respond by building better and more desirable cars.
Norbert Roettgen, head of Germany's foreign affairs committee, said Berlin needed to take Trump's comments seriously. "He seems to be absolutely focused on short-term job interests and security interests ... not that he is looking for free trade so much, but more for protection," he told Reuters.
MEXICAN PLANS
Daimler's Mercedes-Benz and BMW already have sizeable factories in the United States where they build higher-margin sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for export to Asia and Europe.
Around 65 percent of BMW's production from its factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina is exported overseas. BMW builds the X3, X4, X5 and X6 models in the United States.
"It is surprising that Trump singles out the carmaker that exports more vehicles from the United States than any other manufacturer," Evercore ISI analysts said.
A BMW spokeswoman said the planned plant in the central Mexican city of San Luis Potosi would build the BMW 3 Series from 2019, with the output intended for the world market. The plant would be an addition to existing 3 Series production facilities in Germany and China.
In June last year, BMW broke ground on the plant, pledging to invest $2.2 billion in Mexico by 2019 for annual production of 150,000 cars.
Daimler has said it plans to begin assembling Mercedes-Benz vehicles in 2018 from a $1 billion facility shared with Renault-Nissan in Aguascalientes in Mexico. A spokesman for Daimler declined to comment on Trump's remarks.
Last year, VW's Audi division inaugurated a $1.3 billion production facility with 150,000 vehicle production capacity near Puebla, Mexico. Audi said it would build electric and petrol Q5 SUVs in Mexico.
Audi declined to comment on Monday. VW also declined to comment on Trump's remarks but noted it was investing another $900 million in its U.S. plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Trump called Germany a great car producer, saying Mercedes-Benz cars were a frequent sight in New York, but claimed there was not enough reciprocity. Germans were not buying Chevrolets at the same rate, he said, calling the business relationship an unfair one-way street.Â
Chevrolet sales have fallen sharply in Europe since parent company General Motors in 2013 said it would drop the Chevrolet brand in Europe by the end of 2015. Since then, GM has focused instead on promoting its Opel and Vauxhall marques.
(Reporting by Edward Taylor, Ilona Wissenbach, Andreas Rinke and Andreas Cremer; Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter)
CNBC host John Harwood said Tuesday that the Democratic Party's plight was due in part to white Americans who feared cultural change.
In a series of tweets, the veteran reporter said economic woes, opposition to the Affordable Care Act and Obama's race had all contributed to Democratic losses in recent years.
The Democrats have 63 fewer House seats, 10 fewer Senate seats and 12 fewer governorships since Obama became president.
A group that gave more money to one of Trump’s fundraising efforts than any other political action committee failed to disclose its donors before Election Day and exceeded caps on contribution amounts. America Comes First PAC was created in early August. But for the next three months, it disclosed nothing about how much it raised, who…
A New York City history museum that celebrates immigration to the United States is giving its guides new training to help them deal with an increase in hostile remarks among visitors about immigrants.
New York's Tenement Museum has long organized tours for small groups with the stated mission of enhancing the public's appreciation for the role immigration plays in shaping the United States' national identity.
But with elections having stirred passions nationwide over the topic of immigration and refugees, museum employees say they are confronted with an unprecedented number of negative comments by visitors about today's migrants.
The previously infrequent incidents now occur every day, museum officials say.
On Nov. 8, Donald Trump won a surprise victory in the U.S. presidential election after a campaign that featured hardline immigration proposals. Meanwhile, the admission of refugees from war-torn Syria into the country has divided the American public.
"People will now share stronger opinions about whether or not they think immigrants are sort of bleeding (the country), they're taking too much that other people should have, or they're taking our jobs," said Miriam Bader, the museum's director of education.
"You'll hear much more blanket comments, or comments like 'You know, the immigrants of the past aren't like those of today'."
Located in New York City's Lower East Side, the museum tells the stories of generations of destitute Italian, Irish or German families who came in waves to the United States only to face marginalization in their new communities.
Visitors stroll through historical reconstructions of cramped apartments, imagining the lives of their previous tenants such as the Moores, Irish immigrants struggling with prejudice, or the Baldizzis, who emigrated from Italy during the Great Depression.
But where guides used to have to prod visitors toward drawing parallels between past and present, today's visitors need no encouragement, said Bader.
One tour on early Irish immigrants made outcasts by their host country often spurs comparisons with Muslim and Hispanic newcomers, Bader said.
Another, in which visitors learn about a 1924 law imposing strict restrictions on European immigration - the Johnson Reed Act - will draw remarks about today's anti-immigration rhetoric, said Jon Pace, the museum's communications manager.
"We've always been a dialogue-oriented museum that invites visitors into the conversation and engages them in co-constructing the story," said Bader.
But, she added, "The political climate has created a need for new skills or superpowers to facilitate the conversation."
HEATED DEBATES
Cherrye Davis, a 30-year-old guide, said during election season she has seen more heated debates among visitors comparing immigrants from centuries past with today's newcomers.
Davis recalled how a tour that features the story of an early 20th century Italian immigrant overstaying her visa thrust the room into the modern national conversation about the country's current 11 million undocumented immigrants.
"I could see people take a deep breath," she said about the episode that took place a few weeks before the election.
One visitor, a woman in her 50s, interjected: "It was different back then, immigrants back then were different," according to Davis. A younger visitor shook her head in disapproval.
Davis' colleague Victoria Marin, 33, has also had her share of testing experiences while guiding visitors, she said.
"People tend to bring up the refugee crisis quite a bit," she said.
Earlier this year, while giving a tour on German and Italian immigration, discussion steered toward refugees fleeing Syria and other war-torn countries for the United States.
A Honduran man spoke up, Marin said, likening his own ordeal to that of the Irish of the past. His desperate relocation to the United States from his violent homeland had separated him from his wife, who had remained there, he had said.
Another visitor later remarked: "Look, I feel bad (for today's refugees) but we have to watch out for our security first," the visitor said, according to Marin.
NO SHORTAGE OF MATERIAL
With such situations increasingly common, the Tenement Museum's management put in place a new compulsory training program in September.
Since then, guides have begun meeting informally to address challenging remarks that leave them struggling for a response.
"The needs for them have changed and magnified in this current political climate," said Bader.
"Even though the same situation won't necessarily happen again, then you'll have more tools so as not to be caught as off guard if someone makes a comment about, you know, 'immigrants are not like the ones of the past'."
There should be no shortage of material, said Davis.
A new exhibit on more recent waves of migrants from China, Puerto Rico and Jewish Holocaust survivors is set to open in July 2017.
"It's going to bring the conversation far closer," said Davis. "Considering the political climate and the recent election, I hope that the conversation can open up in a very empathetic way."
(Reporting by Sebastien Malo, Editing by Ros Russell)
While Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is holding a star-studded rally in Philadelphia, Donald Trump takes his show on the road to Manchester, New Hampshire.
In Philadelphia, Clinton was to be joined by President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and rockers Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi
Trump will be joined by his running mate Mike Pence.
Watch the video below via YouTube:
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump makes yet another appearance in battleground Florida where he is running neck and neck with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Trump is speaking at at Florida State Fairgrounds in the Special Events Center, with the rally scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM ET.
Watch video below via YouTube:
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is holding yet another rally in Florida -- one of five between Sunday and Tuesday -- speaking in Tampa Monday evening.
According to polls, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton holds a slight lead in a state that Trump needs to win to have any chance at gaining the White House.
Watch the video below via YouTube:
Stephen Colbert is bringing President Obama onto The Late Show on Monday night, and a preview video shows they're going to make a lot of jokes at the expense of -- you guessed it -- Donald Trump.
In a preview clip posted by CBS, Colbert presents Obama with two different options for snacks and asks him to choose which one he'd rather have.
The choices -- which are clearly meant to represent Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump -- are an "Extra-Fiber Nutrient Bar, which has traveled to more than 100 countries" and a "shriveled tangerine, covered in golden retriever hair, filled with bile, that I wouldn’t leave alone with the woman I love."
Obama understandably decides to go with the nutrient bar, even though it's not the most exciting snack out there.
Check out the full clip below.
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump will hold a rally at the Prescott Valley Event Center in Arizona on Tuesday.
Trump was expected to introduced by former Gov. Jan Brewer as well as embattled Sheriff Joe Arpaio who is currently being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department.
Watch the video below:
After a dramatic week of beauty queens, sex tape allegations and tax leaks, the upcoming US vice presidential debate could feel like a throwback to simpler times.
Watch live video at 9:00 p.m. (EST), courtesy of PBS Newshour, below:
Featuring low-key career politicians, the match-up between Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence in Farmville, Virginia likely won't exude the reality show drama Americans have come to expect in the 2016 presidential election.
Both VP picks have said their respective running mates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump set a high bar in the first of three presidential debates, which drew a record 84 million viewers.
A showdown between two middle-aged white men that some Twitter users predict will be akin to "watching paint dry," the goal of this debate is to go easy on the zingers and woo undecided voters.
"Given the polarizing nature of the two major-party nominees and the incredible attention paid to each of them, the vice presidential debate in 2016 may be even more of a sideshow than it normally is," said Geoffrey Skelley of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
- Second in line -
Easily overshadowed by experienced diplomat Clinton and bombastic real estate mogul Trump, the vice-presidential candidates remain important considering that either could be commander-in-chief should the future president die or resign.
Nine of the 44 US presidents became the nation's leader by succession.
Clinton is approaching 69 and Trump is 70 -- among the oldest people ever to run for the presidency -- and the health of the White House hopefuls has been a top theme of the campaign.
Kaine and Pence also have the chance to compensate for the excesses and weak spots of their running mates.
As Trump wraps a week of campaign bombshells -- including his abusive comments about a Venezuelan-born beauty queen -- "Pence may try to provide a more respectable face for the Republican ticket," said Joel Goldstein, a constitutional law professor at St Louis University.
Democrat Kaine will "certainly present himself and Clinton as policy-oriented people committed to helping the less fortunate and the middle class," Goldstein said.
"I would expect most of the discussion to be about the presidential candidates and their policies, not about the vice presidential candidates."
- Convince the fringes -
Both considered safe picks, Kaine and Pence will wield their nice-guy, workmanlike demeanors to entice voters turned off by the circus-like atmosphere of the campaign.
Clinton said she chose senator Kaine because she wanted someone with enough experience to "literally get up one day and be the president of the United States."
"He has never lost an election," she said of the folksy but experienced foreign policy hand from the battleground state of Virginia.
Kaine, 58, is seen as helping Clinton garner support among independent male voters, and the senator's strong Spanish could help cement Clinton's popularity among Hispanic voters.
When he introduced Pence as his running-mate, billionaire Trump called the Indiana governor a "solid" man and a unifying figure.
The 57-year-old conservative evangelical Christian and former congressman could take on the seemingly herculean task of reassuring voters alarmed by Trump's incendiary rhetoric.
"Since so few visible Republicans are supporting Mr. Trump with any enthusiasm, Governor Pence has served as an important surrogate for Trump," Goldstein said.
A Gallup analysis done before Joe Biden and Paul Ryan squared off in 2012 showed that vice-presidential debates rarely have much impact.
Even after the 2008 debate that pitted Biden and the high-wattage Sarah Palin against each other -- drawing nearly 70 million viewers -- voter preference remained relatively unchanged.
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has taken his road show to Loveland, Colorado on Monday night, following in earlier rally in the state.
This afternoon, Trump declared himself a "brilliant" for using a massive $915 million tax loss in 1995 to his financial advantage.
Watch the video below via NBC:
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