Despite the ceasefire, Trump’s war in Iran is far from resolved
Photo: Getty Images
Trump’s war of choice of Iran has been a failure: Iran retains its enriched uranium, the Islamic Republic remains in power, and the global economy remains in crisis.
Despite having announced a two-week “ceasefire” on April 7, the Trump administration has made little progress toward a resolution of the conflict. Vice President JD Vance left high-level negotiations in Islamabad this past weekend with little to show for the talks.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s announcement of a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz risks a return to hostilities, and the move has kept Brent crude prices elevated at around $100 a barrel. Ultimately, American families are bearing the brunt of the Trump administration’s reckless actions—which have left the United States less prosperous and less secure.
Orbán’s defeat in Hungary signals a blow to authoritarianism globally
Photo: Getty Images
On Sunday, April 12, Viktor Orbán and his far-right populist party, Fidesz, quickly conceded defeat in Hungary’s parliamentary election, ending his 16-year rule and marking the most significant electoral defeat yet for the authoritarian-nationalist model he spearheaded inside the European Union. Orbán’s model was one that leaders around the world, including President Donald Trump, have adopted to hasten democratic erosion and consolidate political power.
Trump and Orbán have been politically intertwined for more than a decade, rising in parallel as champions of nationalist grievance, attacks on liberal institutions, and a politics of personalist strongman rule.
Internationally, this amounts to a strategic defeat for the global far right, a major setback for Moscow’s most reliable partner inside the European Union, and a stunning rebuke to the Trump-Vance effort to boost Orbán in the race’s closing days.
A single corporation with so much control over the media—and one that is answerable to the Trump administration—is a danger to our democracy. Hear from CAP Senior Fellow Michael Sozan:
“Not only would this merger result in higher costs, job losses, and fewer entertainment choices for Americans, it would gravely threaten the freedom of the press by putting CNN and CBS News under the control of Donald Trump’s allies.”
– Neera Tanden, President and CEO, Center for American Progress
Read CAP’s joint statement with a large pro-consumer coalition fighting against the merger:
President Trump overpromised and underdelivered this Tax Day
In a predictable turn of events, the Trump administration appears to have fallen far short of its promise to increase American taxpayers’ tax refunds “by $1,000 or more” this filing season.
Recent data show the average refund falls short of that by $665, with little prospect remaining for a significant increase. The small increase seen in the average tax return is driven by larger refunds for the highest earners and is not representative of most working Americans’ experience.
Americans have been suffering under higher prices induced by the Trump administration’s tariffs and war in Iran. Americans are also facing higher health insurance costs due to cuts to health insurance tax credits overseen by the Trump administration. For all but the richest Americans, these cost increases greatly outweigh the small increased tax refunds they can expect this year.
Rather than seeing the harmful effects of other policies counteracted with $1,000 refund checks, this tax refund season underscores the broken promises Americans are encountering from this administration.
Earlier this week, President Trump used escalating rhetoric against Pope Leo XIV on social media and then posted a heavily criticized meme image portraying himself as Jesus.
