Economics

Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” Narrowly Passes House In 215–214 Vote

President Donald Trump’s multi-trillion-dollar tax package—also known as the “Big, Beautiful Bill”—cleared the House in a last-minute 215–214 vote on Thursday morning. The bill now moves to the Senate, where Republicans are calling for major revisions ahead of an expected vote in August. It aims to prevent a year-end tax hike and a potential debt default but would significantly increase the near-term federal deficit.

🚨 #BREAKING: The House of Representatives ERUPTS in cheers and applause as President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill officially PASSES
CONGRATULATIONS, 47! 🇺🇸🔥
✅ No tax on tips or overtime
✅ $175B for deportations and the wall
✅ Tax relief for seniors
✅ Making his 2017 tax… pic.twitter.com/HtchiQqvCx
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 22, 2025
The 215-214 House vote, with one abstention, was met with loud cheers by House Republicans. Some of the key provisions include:

Extension of Trump-era tax cuts and new relief, such as exempting tips and overtime from taxation.

The state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap will be increased to $40,000, with phase-outs for high earners.

Cuts to safety-net programs such as Medicaid and food stamps, alongside new work requirements starting in December 2026.

Rollbacks on clean energy tax credits, boosting fossil fuel incentives. 

Major increases in military and border security spending.

New taxes targeting elite universities (e.g., Harvard and other Ivy Leagues) and immigrant remittances.

The elimination of EV tax credits, replaced by interest deductions on U.S.-built vehicle loans

It is interesting to note that Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky were the only Republicans to vote against the Big, Beautiful Bill. They warned about mounting deficits that would result if the bill were passed. 

We provided Zero Hedge Pro Subs with an in-depth analysis of how the Big, Beautiful Bill would surge near-term deficits, adding about $5 trillion in debt.

Read more here…

The ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will “Massively” Increase Near-Term Deficits, Add $5 Trillilon In Debt https://t.co/M6h17IJglA
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 21, 2025
In the bond market, the US 30-year Treasury yield moved higher after the bill narrowly passed the House, hitting 5.12%, the highest level since October 2023. This level is nearing its highest point since 2007. 

With Treasury yields soaring, perhaps it’s time for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to fire up the “big toolkit”…

Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R., Texas) stated: “This bill is our opportunity to deliver on the promises we made. At its core, the one big, beautiful bill is about more than dollars and cents. It’s about liberty and empowering the American people.”

The Wall Street Journal noted, “Republicans are aiming to get the bill to Trump’s desk by July 4. The real deadline might be a bit later.” 

Democrats blasted the bill as taking money away from the social safety net to fund tax cuts for the wealthy…

“It’s really one big broken promise,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene (D., Wash.), adding, “Republicans have spent months fighting over how many Americans they’re going to kick off Medicaid and how fast.”

*Developing…

Tyler Durden
Thu, 05/22/2025 – 07:30…

Two Israeli Embassy Staff Members Gunned Down Outside Jewish Museum In D.C.

Late Wednesday evening there is currently a massive ongoing police response in northwest Washington DC outside the Capital Jewish Museum, after gunfire erupted just outside which killed two staff members of the Israeli Embassy.

“Two Israeli Embassy staff were senselessly killed tonight near the Jewish Museum in Washington DC,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem confirmed in a post on X. “We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share.”

The shooting occurred across the street from the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which is located very near to the museum, and Israeli embassy officials are working with local law enforcement and the FBI.

It has further been confirmed that the Israeli ambassador is safe, and was not involved in the incident, and was not present at the time of the shooting.

Underscoring the seriousness of the killings, which appear to have targeted an event which took place at the Jewish Museum, US Attorney General Pam Bondi amd acting US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro are currently on the scene in the aftermath. 

🚨BREAKING: Israeli diplomat and companion fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish museum in Washington, D.C., gunman reportedly yelled “Free Palestine!” pic.twitter.com/nHMVK0fCcL
— Liberty Watch (@LibertyWatchHQ) May 22, 2025
Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee, has described that his organization was hosting an event at the museum and has issued an initial statement:

“We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue.”

“At this moment, as we await more information from the police about exactly what transpired, our attention and our hearts are solely with those who were harmed and their families.”

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, has also issued a statement calling it a “depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism”:

The fatal shooting that took place outside the event that took place at the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. is a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism. Harming the Jewish community is crossing a red line. We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against… pic.twitter.com/mVyXHjGyxU
— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) May 22, 2025
Reports say that a suspect may be in custody, but it is unclear as the security situation is fluid amid the ongoing emergency response.

One man and one woman were shot and killed outside of an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The suspect in the shooting has been identified as a 30-year-old man from Chicago, Washington, D.C. Police Chief Pam Smith said.

“Two staff members of the Israeli embassy were shot this evening at close range while attending a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC,” the spokesperson at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Tal Naim Cohen, said in a statement on Wednesday night. –ABC News

There are unconfirmed reports that a gunmen screamed “free Palestine” and opened fire:

❗️Suspect opened FIRE before screaming ‘Free Palestine’ — reports
Police have suspect in custody https://t.co/bWKjii0Hon pic.twitter.com/6F8v9S7e0x
— RT (@RT_com) May 22, 2025
Houman David Hemmati, who…

Watch: Tourists Scramble As Ancient Chinese Tower Partially Collapses 

China’s largest remaining drum tower partially collapsed on Monday, and the entire incident was captured on camera. 

NEW: The roof of a 650-year-old drum tower in Anhui, China, collapses.
The incident happened at the Fengyang Drum Tower in eastern China. Officials have since launched an investigation.
The structure was first built in 1375 during the Ming Dynasty.
Part of the building was… pic.twitter.com/5Py0YJOGak
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 20, 2025
The video above shows hundreds of roof tiles sliding off the historic Fengyang Drum Tower in eastern China at the start of the week. Local media reports no injuries.  

“The tile falling lasted for a minute or two,” one eyewitness told the state newspaper Yangcheng Evening News. 

Tiles fell from the ancient Drum Tower in Fengyang, #Anhui Province, on May 19. The tower, originally built in 1375 and rebuilt in 1995, had been under renovation since late 2023. Local authorities are investigating the incident. #architecture #China pic.twitter.com/h5U2ABXZLn
— Shanghai Daily (@shanghaidaily) May 20, 2025
Another witness told state media outlet The Beijing News that “no one was in the square and no one was injured” at the time of the incident. 

Located in Anhui province, the drum tower was constructed in 1375 during the Ming Dynasty, with a reconstruction phase in 1995 after it was destroyed in 1853.

China’s local culture and tourism bureau reported no casualties and said the “situation is under investigation.”

Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/21/2025 – 18:00…

Nvidia CEO Calls Biden-Era AI Curbs A “Failure” With China 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called U.S. export controls on artificial intelligence chips to China under the Biden administration’s AI diffusion rule a “failure” that risks ceding the $50 billion Chinese AI chip market to rivals like Chinese tech giant Huawei. 

Huang delivered a keynote speech at Computex in Taipei, Taiwan, earlier today in which he said, “All in all, the export control was a failure,” adding, “The fundamental assumptions that led to the AI diffusion rule in the beginning, in the first place, have been proven to be fundamentally flawed.”

Huang was referring to the Biden-Harris regime era, where the U.S. blocked sales of advanced AI chips to China, which only forced companies to buy advanced chips from its competitor, Huawei. This also sparked a domestic wave of investment to build out supply chains for advanced AI chipmaking to reduce reliance on outside manufacturers. 

He said China alone will account for a $50 billion opportunity in 2026, warning that if U.S. tech companies were still cut off from the Chinese market, this would only suggest that local players would buy from competitors. 

“China has 50% of the world’s AI developers, and it’s important that when they develop on an architecture, they develop on Nvidia, or at least American technology,” Huang pointed out. 

Huang praised President Trump’s move to scrap the previous administration’s AI diffusion rule: “President Trump realizes it’s exactly the wrong goal.” 

Under the Biden administration, Nvidia’s China market share collapsed from 95% to 50%. 

Last week, Huang joined President Trump on a Gulf States tour that resulted in massive Blackwell deals for Nividia in Saudi Arabia. 

Nvidia secured a deal to supply 18,000 of its cutting-edge Blackwell chips to Humain, an AI startup just launched by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Huang stated last week:

“There’s no evidence of any AI chip diversion. These are massive systems. The Grace Blackwell system is nearly two tons, and so you’re not going to be putting that in your pocket or your backpack anytime soon.

“The important thing is that the countries and the companies that we sell to recognize that diversion is not allowed and everybody would like to continue to buy Nvidia technology. And so they monitor themselves very carefully.”

“With the AI Diffusion Rule revoked, America will have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead the next industrial revolution and create high-paying U.S. jobs, build new U.S.-supplied infrastructure, and alleviate the trade deficit,” an Nvidia spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal last week. 

Reuters noted, “Trump administration officials are weighing discarding the tiered approach to chip export curbs and replacing it with a global licensing regime with government-to-government agreements, which could give the U.S. clout in trade talks.”

Given that the Biden-era AI diffusion rule was a “failure,” in the words of Nvidia’s CEO, one might question whether the policy ultimately benefited Chinese firms by sidelining Nvidia and allowing local competitors to gain market share.

Looking ahead, Nvidia will report earnings on Wednesday. 

Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/21/2025 – 07:20…

Trump Allows Massive New York Offshore Wind Project To Restart After NatGas Compromise

The Trump administration has lifted a month-old stop-work order on Empire Wind, a $5 billion wind farm project off the coast of New York, in a compromise with the state that will also see cancelled plans for a gas pipeline revived, officials said on Tuesday.

Norway’s Equinor said construction work on the project, which is expected to provide power for half a million homes from 2027 onwards, can now resume. Shares in Equinor, which is mostly reliant on oil and gas, rose on the news. 

Denmark’s Orsted, the world’s largest offshore wind farm developer, which is constructing two plants off the coast of the United States, saw its shares jump by 15%. 

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who had issued the stop order on Empire Wind on April 16, said he was encouraged that New York Governor Kathy Hochul will now allow new gas pipeline capacity to move forward. The deal could revive plans to build the proposed Constitution natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York, which was cancelled in 2020 after years of regulatory and legal battles over environmental and other concerns.

“Americans who live in New York and New England would see significant economic benefits and lower utility costs from increased access to reliable, affordable, clean American natural gas,” Burgum wrote in a post on X on Monday. Hochul in a statement said New York would work with the U.S. administration and private entities on projects that meet the legal requirements under New York law.

“The road ahead for the Constitution Pipeline remains bumpy, but the broad strokes of a logical deal could be a win-win for end users,” analysts at energy consulting firm EBW Analytics said in a note.

Officials at U.S. energy firm Williams Cos, one of Constitution Pipeline’s joint venture partners, were not immediately available for comment. With U.S. President Donald Trump back in office and voicing his support for the Constitution project, executives at Williams have said the company was looking at dusting off plans for the pipeline under the right circumstances.

Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, a former NATO chief who had discussed Equinor’s case with U.S. policymakers, said the deal to unblock the wind farm was ultimately a matter to be settled between U.S. authorities.
“This is an agreement about natural gas and wind made in the United States,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Oslo.
More broadly, he said the reversal was good news for investors in the U.S. as the stop-work order threatened to create uncertainty after permits had been granted by U.S. authorities.

Equinor had warned it stood to lose billions of dollars due to the order which sent shockwaves through the offshore wind industry, raising concerns that fully permitted developments representing billions in investment are not safe.

“This was an extraordinary situation where a fully concepted and approved project was stopped. I take it as a very positive sign that explaining the facts of this has changed the position,” Equinor CEO Anders Opedal told Reuters.
Officials from the U.S….