Donald Trump’s tariffs will end up hurting most Americans, acting as a tax increase for nearly every income group, with a minimal impact on the top one percent of earners.

Those are the findings of an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released Wednesday. The study found that if Trump’s tariffs of 10 percent on most countries, 25 percent tariffs on certain sectors for specific countries like Mexico and Canada, and 145 percent tariffs on China were still around in 2026, the poor would be hit the hardest.

Specifically, the bottom 20 percent of Americans making less than $29,000 per year would in effect have a tax increase of 6.2 percent on their yearly income. The middle 20 percent of Americans, with incomes between $55,000 and $94,000, would see the equivalent of a tax hike of 5 percent of their yearly income. But the top one percent of Americans, making more than $915,000 per year, would only see a relative tax increase of just 1.7 percent.

Even before the 2024 elections, Trump’s tariff idea was painted as a giveaway to the richest Americans, benefiting those with major assets. Small businesses are already seeing negative effects from Trump’s moves, unable to keep up with higher prices from suppliers. At one point, even the government wasn’t making any money off of the tariffs—a glitch at U.S. ports prevented their collection.

Even aside from glitches, the government’s tariff revenue is far below the billions promised by Trump. And his constant flip-flops smack of market manipulation—Trump even bragged about how much money his wealthy executive friends made when stocks jumped after he announced a pause in most of his tariffs earlier this month. The president also has his own scheme to personally cash in.

But the markets are still sliding lower each day the tariffs are in effect. Trump has backed off of his attacks on China and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for now. However, until there’s some kind of deal with China and other countries that allows Trump to save face on an obviously ill-though out concept of a plan, the economy will continue to suffer as Americans are forced to live under a tax hike.

Vice President JD Vance thought it was “crazy” that he was one of the last people to see Pope Francis before he died early Monday morning.

“I thought a lot about that, it’s pretty crazy actually,” Vance told reporters while on a visit to Agra, India, on the tarmac on Wednesday. 

“Obviously I was able to see him very briefly the morning of Easter Sunday. I knew he was very ill, I didn’t realize how sick he was. The thing that I will always remember Pope Francis for is that he was a great pastor. People on the margins, poor people, people suffering from diseases, they saw in Pope Francis an advocate, and I think a true expression of Christian love.”

Pope Francis has had a tenuous relationship with Trump, Vance, and the Christian right in America for the entirety of his papacy. He was a noted environmentalist who often chastised the Trump administration for its lack of humanity on immigration and climate change and its misuse of Catholic Social Teaching.  

Pope Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday, according to the Vatican.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right security minister who openly supports the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, said on Wednesday that the Republican leaders he met with in the United States were in full support of his plans to bomb Gaza’s humanitarian aid stations.

“I had the honor and privilege of meeting with senior Republican Party officials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X. “They expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that the food and aid depots should be bombed in order to create military and political pressure to bring our hostages home safely.”

This is par for the course for a government that has massacred likely hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the name of self-defense. Ben-Gvir doubled down on his hatred shortly after.

“I see the reports about the debate over who should bring ‘humanitarian’ aid into Gaza: Well, it’s a fundamentally stupid debate, because the entire Strip should not receive any ounce of aid as long as our hostages are being held there,” he said.

Ben-Gvir was welcomed to Florida with open arms. He met with the Miami Police Department, spoke at a Jewish school in Fort Lauderdale, and stopped by an Israeli-Russian-owned gun store. He also had dinner at Mar-a-Lago, which President Trump was not present for. Ben-Gvir will be in New York City on Thursday.

Ben-Gvir has a long history of cruel, racist, anti-Arab sentiments that has led him to be convicted of eight charges related to incitement of racism and support for Israeli terrorism against Arabs. Multiple protests have erupted around his visit to the United States.

Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky is planning to announce her retirement next month, leaving the Democratic primary for her district wide open.

“I’m going to announce my plans on May 5th. Stay tuned,” Schakowsky said, Politico reported Wednesday. That’s the day that Schakowsky’s annual Ultimate Women’s Power Lunch is........

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