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White House Attacks Amazon Over Idea of Showing Tariffs’ Cost

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White House Attacks Amazon Over Idea of Showing Tariffs’ Cost

There’s a fresh spat brewing between the White House and Amazon.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, on Tuesday accused the online retail giant of being “hostile and political,” citing a report — disputed by Amazon — from Punchbowl News saying that the company would start displaying the exact cost of tariff-related price increases alongside its products.

Displaying the import fees would have made clear to American consumers that they are shouldering the cost of President Trump’s tariff policies rather than China, as he and his top officials have often claimed would be the case.

An Amazon spokesman said the company had considered a similar idea on part of its site, Amazon Haul, which competes with Temu, a Chinese retailer. Temu primarily ships directly to consumers and has begun displaying “import charges” to reflect the end of a customs loophole that had exempted low-priced items from tariffs.

“Teams discuss ideas all the time,” the spokesman, Ty Rogers, said in a statement. He said it was never under consideration for the main Amazon site, adding: “This was never approved and is not going to happen.”

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Standing beside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a briefing at the White House on Tuesday morning, Ms. Leavitt tore into the retailer. She said that she had just been on the phone with the president about the report, and she asked why Amazon hadn’t done such a thing when prices increased during the Biden administration because of inflation.

Ms. Leavitt said it was “not a surprise” coming from Amazon, as she held up a copy of a 2021 article from Reuters with the headline, “Amazon partnered with China propaganda arm.”

Mr. Trump’s aggressive tariffs on Chinese goods have touched off an escalating trade war, even as his administration has backed off its broader global levies amid what it said were negotiations with dozens of nations on new trade deals.

Ms. Leavitt’s attack on Amazon was all the more noteworthy because the company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has lately gone to great lengths to curry favor with this White House. Amazon donated $1 million to Mr. Trump’s inaugural fund, securing seats for Mr. Bezos and his bride-to-be in the Capitol Rotunda for the inauguration.

In December, Mr. Bezos explained his Trump-ward turn while speaking at The New York Times DealBook conference. “What I’ve seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time,” Mr. Bezos said of Mr. Trump, “more confident, more settled.”

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He added, “I’m very hopeful. He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation.”

Ms. Leavitt was asked whether the White House still considered Mr. Bezos to be a Trump supporter, given the latest report.

“Look, I will not speak to the president’s relationships with Jeff Bezos,” Ms. Leavitt said, “but I will tell you that this is certainly a hostile and political action by Amazon.”

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Trump calls on Arab nations to sign Abraham Accords

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Trump calls on Arab nations to sign Abraham Accords

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President Donald Trump is pressuring Muslim-majority nations to join the Abraham Accords if they want to participate in a developing Iran agreement, according to multiple reports.

The Abraham Accords are a series of agreements aimed at normalizing diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations.

PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS DEAL WITH IRAN IS ‘LARGELY NEGOTIATED’

President Donald Trump attends and claps during the signing ceremony of the Peace Charter for Gaza at the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, 2026. (Harun Ozalp/Anadolu)

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Trump said Saturday that he urged Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey and Jordan to normalize relations with Israel during a phone call with regional leaders.

“I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

TRUMP SAYS MORE NATIONS LINING UP TO JOIN ABRAHAM ACCORDS AFTER KAZAKHSTAN

President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 29, 2025. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The president also said he planned to speak with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

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The UAE and Bahrain became the first two nations to sign the accords in 2020.

Trump also floated the idea that Iran could eventually become part of the Abraham Accords.

US MILITARY IS ‘IRON SHIELD’ PROTECTING AMERICAN BASES, LIVES FROM IRAN PROXIES: HEGSETH

President Donald Trump and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia pause for photographs along the West Wing Colonnade at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“In speaking to numerous of the Great Leaders mentioned above, they would be honored, as soon as our Document is signed, to have the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of the Abraham Accords. Wow, now that would be something special,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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U.S. and Israeli officials do not expect the UAE to move forward on the issue until after Israel’s elections in September.

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Southern California could get 85% of its water locally and avoid Delta tunnel, groups say

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Southern California could get 85% of its water locally and avoid Delta tunnel, groups say

A coalition of conservation groups wants Southern California to get 85% of its water locally, up from the 50% it gets now, by 2045, and says a new plan shows how.

It’s urging state leaders to scrap plans for a 45-mile tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and consider asking voters to approve a bond measure to fund local water solutions. The 34-page strategy was released as critical decisions loom for local officials, California’s next governor and legislators.

Over the last century, Southern California has grown and thrived thanks to giant aqueducts it built to bring water from hundreds of miles away — the Eastern Sierra, the Colorado River and Northern California.

But with water costs rising and climate change jeopardizing these distant sources, there is growing interest in finding ways to get more water locally.

The allied groups are calling for recycling more wastewater, capturing more stormwater, improving efficiency and cleaning up contaminated groundwater.

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“We have to prioritize our investments, and prioritizing them in local water makes the most sense,” said Bruce Reznik, executive director of the group Los Angeles Waterkeeper.

The coalition includes fishing groups, environmental organizations and Northern California’s Winnemem Wintu Tribe.

Its plan calls for a “new urban water renaissance” in California that prioritizes local water. This approach would reliably yield more and cost far less than Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed Delta Conveyance Project beneath the Delta.

The state estimated in 2024 the tunnel would cost $20.1 billion, but opponents say it could cost three to five times more.

“Local water is reliable, it’s more affordable, and it’s more flexible, so that we’re not committing California ratepayers to higher bills that they don’t need,” said Kyle Jones, a water expert and consultant who helped prepare the plan for the coalition.

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Southern California imports about half of its water from other regions.

The coalition’s plan says the region can secure up to 2 million acre-feet of local water per year. It estimates the costs of more conservation and efficiency, more stormwater and groundwater cleaning, and more water recycling at $44 billion over two decades. The Delta tunnel, in contrast, could cost $60 billion to $100 billion, it says.

Whether the tunnel project is ultimately built may hinge on whether large water agencies, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, decide to participate and pay for it.

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Construction is underway at the groundwater replenishment project.

3 Storage tanks await placement at the groundwater replenishment project

1. Cranes rise above the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys. 2. When completed, Los Angeles will nearly double recycled water for 500,000 residents. 3. Storage tanks sit behind a fence before being placed in the ground at the plant. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“Metropolitan Water District really does have a significant choice on it, that not just impacts their ratepayers but impacts every single person in the state,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the group Restore the Delta. “Are we going to spend $20, $60, maybe upward to $100 million on a tunnel? Or are we going to invest significant money in local solutions that provide water resiliency and sustainability for everyone in California? That is what is at stake right now.”

The Metropolitan Water District already is planning a large new facility in Carson to transform wastewater into purified drinking water. Los Angeles and San Diego are also building water recycling plants.

“At the same time, water imported from the northern Sierra and the Colorado River provides the foundation of water supply reliability for Southern California,” said Shivaji Deshmukh, the MWD’s general manager.

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He noted that the MWD invests in water efficiency and capturing stormwater, and has helped reduce per-person water use by more than 40% since 1990.

The agency’s 38-member board last year adopted a climate adaptation strategy that sets goals for lining up additional water.

Los Angeles city leaders and L.A. County supervisors have also set goals for becoming more locally self-sufficient.

The advocates who wrote the policy plan said these efforts should accelerate and expand. They pointed out that the Colorado River’s reservoirs are falling to perilously low levels, and native fish in the Delta are in decline as the pumping of water takes an ecological toll.

“Climate change is exacerbating the challenges in those ecosystems, meaning that less and less water will be available to import,” said Ashley Overhouse, water policy advisor for the group Defenders of Wildlife. “All the while, the cost of water is continuing to rise.”

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About 20 other environmental groups endorsed the coalition’s strategy.

“We have got to do a better job in the next 100 years than we did in the last 100 years, if we truly want to create a place of abundance once again,” said Frankie Myers, a member of the Yurok Tribe in Northern California. “This idea that we can steal … and divert water however we want with no consequences has got to end.”

Construction continues at a Department of Water and Power wastewater treatment plant

Construction continues at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys in October 2025.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Benjamin Bass, a UCLA scientist who studies how climate change is affecting the Colorado River and other water sources, joined the group as they presented their proposal in an online briefing.

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“Traditional sources for imported water are less reliable than they used to be,” Bass said. “The most reliable source of water in the future is local water.”

Other experts have reached similar conclusions.

Researchers at the Pacific Institute, a water think tank in Oakland, have examined improvements such as fixing leaks in pipes, switching out inefficient washing machines and toilets, and replacing thirsty lawns with plants suited to the state’s Mediterranean climate.

In a 2022 report, they found that a set of standard practices and technologies could reduce total urban water use by 30% or more.

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5 Big Moments in the Texas Republican Senate Race

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5 Big Moments in the Texas Republican Senate Race

After a heated and expensive campaign, the Republican Senate race in Texas between Senator John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton will culminate in a runoff on Tuesday.

Mr. Cornyn, who has had a long career in Texas Republican politics and who has been an occasional critic of President Trump, is fighting for political survival against Mr. Paxton, who has been a magnet for scandal and recently won the president’s endorsement, giving him a big boost heading into the final stretch.

The race has been full of twists and turns. Here are five big moments from one of the marquee G.O.P. contests of the 2026 election cycle:

After weeks of teasing a potential bid to unseat Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Paxton officially announced his run in an interview on Fox News and published his campaign website, which prominently featured a photo of him with Mr. Trump.

Why it mattered: Mr. Paxton’s candidacy ensured that Mr. Cornyn would have a high-profile, MAGA-aligned challenger running to his right. Though Mr. Paxton had undergone an impeachment trial in 2023 over corruption allegations, he survived and positioned himself as the preferred candidate of the conservative base in Texas. Immediately, the contest became a high-profile test of the mood of the G.O.P. in Mr. Trump’s second term.

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Just a few months after Mr. Paxton’s campaign announcement, Ms. Paxton announced that she was seeking a divorce from Mr. Paxton “on biblical grounds.” She attributed the impetus for her decision to “recent discoveries,” and the divorce petition she filed in court said the “respondent has committed adultery.” Mr. Paxton said the relationship had been strained by the pressure of public life and requested privacy.

Why it mattered: Mr. Cornyn’s camp and his allies seized on the allegations and began using them against Mr. Paxton. Mr. Cornyn suggested that the primary would become “a test of character” for his opponent.

Mr. Hunt, one of the first Black Republicans to represent Texas in Congress, entered the race relatively late, offering himself as an alternative to what he called “the blood feud between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn.” Mr. Hunt specifically targeted Mr. Cornyn’s campaign, saying that his first priority if elected would be to repeal a bipartisan gun control measure that Mr. Cornyn had helped negotiate.

Why it mattered: Mr. Hunt’s candidacy created a three-way race that raised the likelihood of a runoff for the top two finishers, which is triggered in Texas if no candidate wins a majority in the primary. Mr. Cornyn’s campaign immediately attacked Mr. Hunt once he announced his campaign, while Mr. Paxton’s campaign welcomed the new Republican challenger.

Mr. Cornyn, powered by a substantial cash advantage, finished with about 42 percent of the vote, just ahead of Mr. Paxton, who won more than 40 percent of the vote. Mr. Hunt finished a distant third and was eliminated.

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Why it mattered: In some ways, this was one of the highest points of Mr. Cornyn’s campaign. He secured a first-place finish ahead of Mr. Paxton. At the same time, his showing was not enough to spare him a runoff, and it was not enough to win an endorsement from Mr. Trump that some allies had hoped would soon follow.

Though the president initially considered backing Mr. Cornyn after the primary in March, Mr. Trump ultimately decided to back Mr. Paxton, praising the state attorney general’s loyalty and unwavering support.

Why it mattered: Mr. Trump’s endorsement continues to be the most powerful stamp of approval in Republican contests, even as the president’s approval rating among all voters has sunk to a second term low. Tuesday’s vote will be an immediate test of the value of the endorsement. A Paxton win would be a victory for Mr. Trump. But in the eyes of some other national Republicans, it would weaken the party’s chances in the general election.

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