Trump’s billionaires

Donald Trump rose to political power eight years ago fueled by individual contributors who gave money to him in small increments. These days, it’s some of the richest people on the planet—including the richest person on the planet—who are mostly paying for the Republican’s third run at the White House. Miriam Adelson, widow of right-wing casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, along with Tesla co-founder Elon Musk are at the top of the list of underwriters behind Trump’s political operation. His campaign has raised almost twice as much money—$514.7 million—from donors giving $1 million or more compared with the $260 million from small-dollar donors. And while the richest of the richest 1% are pushing Trump’s run, an analysis of his policies warns that those small donors may be in for an unpleasant surprise come retirement. In particular, Trump’s proposals will make Social Security insolvent in six years, according to the new study. His plans for massive deportations, draconian tariffs and tax cuts would drain the program’s trust fund by 2031 and lead to a 33% cut in benefits for Americans. Unless Congress steps in that is—a prospect which raises the issue of America’s already-massive budget deficit, not to mention its $35.7 trillion national debt. —Natasha Solo-Lyons

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday criticized Trump for sidestepping a question during a McDonald’s photo-op about whether he would back increasing the minimum wage. Harris embarked on a blitz of three key election battlegrounds—Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—alongside former GOP congresswoman Liz Cheney, a vocal Trump critic, as part of an effort to win over disaffected Republican workers whose support could tip the balance in swing states. “I absolutely believe we must raise minimum wage and that hard working Americans, whether they’re working at McDonald’s or anywhere else, should have at least the ability to be able to take care of their family,” Harris said.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari repeated that he favors reducing interest rates at a slower pace, something markets have been coming to terms with thanks to the seemingly indestructible nature of the current US economy. Kashkari, speaking Monday at an event in Wisconsin, said he supported the larger-than-normal rate cut that policymakers delivered last month, but indicated he sees smaller cuts at future meetings. “Right now I am forecasting some more modest cuts over the next several quarters to get to something around neutral, but it’s going to depend on the data,” Kashkari said. Stocks fell today after notching their longest weekly rally this year as key earnings reports from Tesla, Boeing Co. and United Parcel Service Inc. loom. Here’s your markets wrap.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on his 11th visit to the Middle East in his so-far unsuccessful effort to engineer a ceasefire in a year-long war in Gaza that’s claimed close to 50,000 lives while expanding into a regional conflict. With Blinken planning stops in Israel and elsewhere in the region, it may be the last chance for the Biden administration to secure a pause in Israel’s multi-front conflict with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon before the US presidential election on Nov. 5. As Israel is said to be planning a retaliatory strike on Iran for an earlier missile attack, seven Israelis were arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Israeli police and security officials.

Over the past 19 years, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has carved himself a role outside of Apple as one of Nike’s closest advisers and is the company’s lead independent director. ⁣During that tenure, he’s been a sounding board on issues ranging from China to technology operations to appointing key new executives, according to current and former Nike and Apple employees. Now, Cook—through his director position—is helping steer Nike through its biggest upheaval in decades.

Germany’s brief experiment with a four-day workweek is over, but for many of the businesses that participated, there’s no going back. “I don’t want to work on Fridays anymore. I just don’t,” says Sören Fricke, co-founder of event planner Solidsense. “Friday has actually become the third day of the weekend. You only work if there is no other option.” Solidsense is one of 45 companies that participated in the six-month trial, during which employees worked fewer hours but still received their full paycheck. In the end, 73% of the participants said they’re prepared to make the change permanent or extend the experiment.

The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal that sought to give the president control over agencies that have long operated independently, potentially including the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission. The appeal, pressed by two research organizations in a case involving the Consumer Product Safety Commission, claimed that the Constitution gives the president broad power to fire the leaders of executive-branch agencies. The appeal was pressed by Consumers’ Research and By Two LP, whose lawyers include Don McGahn, the White House counsel under Trump.

Billionaire Marc Lasry sued a former employee alleging she attempted to extort him for $50 million by threatening to spread false information about the fund manager. Gina Strum, who was a business development professional at Lasry’s Avenue Capital Group for about four years, threatened to make it “really, really, ugly” for Avenue and Lasry unless she was paid off, the plaintiffs alleged in a filing in New York state court. Lasry sued alongside his firm and Sonia Gardner—his sister and Avenue’s co-founder. Daniel Kaiser, an attorney for Strum, said the lawsuit was “blatantly fabricated and retaliatory.”