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From the Politics Desk

An evening newsletter featuring the NBC News Politics team’s most recent reports and insights from the White House, Capitol Hill, and the campaign trail.

Today’s issue features an analysis by Sahil Kapur on President Donald Trump’s hesitance to collaborate with Democratic legislators when crafting policies that have potential for broad political backing. Additionally, we examine the surge in market performance following the easing of tensions in the trade dispute between the U.S. and China—though lingering uncertainties persist.


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— Adam Wollner

Trump’s approach to drug pricing indicates his hesitance to pursue bipartisan efforts in his potential second term.

By Sahil Kapur

President Donald Trump’s

executive order on Monday

to cut prescription drug costs by imposing a “most favored nation” pricing model drew a pithy retort from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Washington’s most outspoken proponent of taking on Big Pharma.

“[A]s Trump well knows, his executive order will be thrown out by the courts,” said Sanders, the ranking member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. “If Trump is serious about making real change rather than just issuing a press release, he will support legislation I will soon be introducing to make sure we pay no more for prescription drugs than people in other major countries. If Republicans and Democrats come together on this legislation, we can get it passed in a few weeks.”

Trump’s order is a directive to the Health and Human Services secretary to act on the goal — achieving parity with other developed countries on what Medicare and Medicaid pay for drugs — within 30 days. But the bigger problem is that a version of the idea was attempted by Trump in his first term, and blocked in court. The new order may run into the same brick wall before it can deliver any benefits.

This seesaw pattern highlights a distinctive trait of Trump during his second term—a hesitance to pursue bipartisan efforts, despite considerable agreement with Democrats on certain objectives.

Rather than seeking collaboration, Trump consistently aims to act independently—despite the potential for setbacks. This so-called “deal maker” is bypassing chances for an agreement, preferring not to split the credit for success with his political adversaries.

This departure marks a shift from established norms. Generally, presidents strive to gain support from Congress for their objectives, recognizing that passing laws is crucial for policies to navigate legal challenges and — particularly when they have cross-party backing — endure over time. However, Trump is opting for an alternative path, using executive orders and majority-party-driven legislation to push forward with his initiatives.

The initiative regarding drug pricing is merely the most recent instance. In recent weeks, Trump has taken action.

has hinted at support

for raising taxes on upper earners, a goal that has virtually unanimous Democratic support and could turn into a bipartisan victory. Instead, he has repeatedly offered it up as a trial balloon for his party-line agenda bill, only for Republicans to shoot it down each time (and to question whether he’s even serious about it).

Another example is Trump’s campaign promise of government-funded IVF treatments, a goal that Democrats are more supportive of than Republicans. Indeed, GOP lawmakers say they have no intention of advancing IVF funding in their bill. Yet there has been scant effort by Trump at a bipartisan deal that could deliver on the promise.

The tendency helps explain why Trump signed

fewer bills into law

than any president since the 1950s during his first 100 days in office. Trump’s GOP trifecta includes a paper-thin House majority and a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate to pass most legislation, making his task of signing new laws even more complicated without any Democratic support.

House Republicans still have a lot of work ahead of them to reach consensus on their massive bill for Trump’s agenda, even as they start releasing key parts of legislative text for the package. Here’s the latest from Capitol Hill:

U.S. and China take major step toward easing trade war

By Jennifer Jett, Peter Guo and Rob Wile

The U.S. and China declared a 90-day halt on many of their recently imposed tariffs against one another, which sparked optimism on Wall Street regarding a potential easing of tensions in the trade dispute between the globe’s biggest economic powers.

The aggregate U.S. tariff rate on Chinese goods will be reduced to 30% from 145%, whereas China’s duties on American imports will be lowered to 10% from 125%, as stated jointly by both nations.

The initial announcement was made early in the morning following meetings between officials from both nations in Geneva during the weekend. These were the first direct discussions regarding the tariffs since President Donald Trump’s unexpected “Freedom Day” declaration the previous month, which introduced 84% duties on Chinese goods before these rates increased to 125%, and then jumped to 145% just one day later.


The math:

The revised 30% rate combines the initial 20% levy introduced early in his second term due to purported lack of action from China regarding fentanyl trafficking, with an additional blanket 10% tariff that Trump applied universally.


How the markets responded:

The DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average)

climbed over 1,100 points

With these increases, the Dow has essentially broken even for the year after dropping by up to 11%. Nevertheless, it still stands at 5.5% less than its peak in February. Meanwhile, the S&P 500, which covers the widest range of stocks, rose by 3.3%.


Note of caution:

Several experts have advised prudence, pointing out that duties are still significantly elevated compared to levels prior to Trump’s return to the presidency. This indicates that numerous everyday items—ranging from vehicles and foodstuffs to festive explosives—are likely to experience cost increases. Official statistics are scheduled to offer an updated perspective on inflation early Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs analysts stated in a client memo on Monday, “The complete range of U.S. tariffs will likely remain significantly more extensive and elevated compared to what the market anticipated at the beginning of the year.” They also pointed out that the 90-day period should maintain a high level of ambiguity for both investors and companies.


Read more →


🗳️ Midterm roundup

With roughly 540 days left before the 2026 elections (does anyone really keep track?), there has been a sudden surge of people entering into candidacy — as well as some deciding not to run — for important contests across the nation within just the last 72 hours.

Here’s the latest from the campaign trail:


  • Georgia Senate:

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.,

    passed on a run

    against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, while state Insurance Commissioner John King became the second major Republican to

    enter the race

    .

  • Michigan Senate:

    Former state House Speaker Joe Tate joined the state’s

    crowded Democratic primary

    for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters.

  • Iowa governor:

    Rob Sand, who serves as Iowa’s state auditor and is the sole Democratic official elected statewide in the state,

    launched a campaign for governor

    And on the Republican Party side, Representative Randy Feenstra

    filed paperwork

    for his campaign.

  • Florida governor:

    Fresh from his prominent split with the Democratic Party, State Senator Jason Pizzo is

    running for governor

    as an independent.

  • Michigan’s 13th District:

    In the meantime, Representative Rashida Tlaib from Michigan supported State Representative Donovan McKinney.

    primary challenge

    To her colleague, Representative Shri Thaneder.

That concludes all the news from the Politics Desk for now. This newsletter was put together by Adam Wollner and Ben Kamisar.

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