The New York Times-The Morning Newsletter.

"The Fourth of July, Trump's tariffs, Fireworks sales."

Views expressed in this US and World News update are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accesed on 04 July 2025, 1422 UTC.

Content and Source:  "The New York Times-The Morning Newsletter."

URL--https://www.nytimes.com.

Please check URL or scroll down to read your selections.  Thanks for joining us today.

Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).

 

View in browser|nytimes.com

July 4, 2025

Good morning, and Happy Fourth. Politics are colliding with the holiday this year: President Trump scored a major victory yesterday when the House passed his big policy bill, and he’s expected to sign it in a ceremony today. We start with that.

Then we explain how tariffs have affected firework sales. Plus, we have sticky, sunny archival images from Fourths over the decades.

Mike Johnson signing the bill.  Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The House passed Republicans’ major policy bill in a tight vote, 218 to 214, that was mostly along party lines. Representatives rushed and wrangled to meet the Fourth of July deadline Trump had set.

The bill divided Congress for months. It frustrated Democrats who said it would hurt the working class, and who disputed it bitterly until the very end. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House, held up the final vote for nearly nine hours yesterday as he spoke against it. Representatives had been up all night debating the bill when Jeffries’s speech began, and some slumped in their seats or nodded off as he told stories of Americans whose health care and incomes would be affected.

The bill also divided Republicans, angering deficit hawks who worried about how it would increase the national debt. Ultimately, after weeks of protesting the bill, they relented to pressure from Trump and party leaders. “It is, by now, a well-worn routine,” Catie Edmondson, who covers Congress, wrote.

Trump celebrated the bill’s passage at a rally in Iowa. His job now is to sell it to a skeptical public as Democrats focus on all the ways it helps the wealthy. — Lauren Jackson, an editor for The Morning

So what’s in the bill?

As a refresher, here are some of the major things the legislation does:

Extends tax cuts that had been scheduled to expire at the end of the year Eliminates some taxes on tips and overtime pay Funds more defense and border security Cuts Medicaid funding by nearly $1 trillion Increases the debt limit by $5 trillion

For more

Democrats are hoping the legislation is so unpopular with voters that they can leverage it to win back one, if not both, of the chambers of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. The bill provides its most generous tax breaks early on and saves its most painful benefit cuts for later — a careful calculation by Republicans. Elon Musk, the country’s largest known Republican donor in the last presidential election, suggested that he would form a new political party and support primary challengers against all Republicans who voted for the bill. He called the legislation and the increase in deficit “insane.” How will Trump’s big bill affect your wallet? Take this quiz.

Jonah Markowitz for The New York Times

Boom and bust

	By Alan Rappeport I cover economic policy in Washington.

Fans of booming fireworks shows better get their fill this weekend.

That’s because President Trump’s trade war could put a damper on future pyrotechnics. Virtually all of America’s fireworks supplies are imported from China, and the steep tariffs that Trump has slapped on all Chinese products are raising alarm across the industry.

In theory, American retailers could start making their own sparklers and fireworks. But that is not so easy. Fireworks are highly regulated and dangerous to make, and China, where they were invented, has long been the only country with the skill and infrastructure to produce them at scale.

Trump’s tariff bonanza threatens the U.S. industry, forcing importers to scour the world for cheaper fireworks because the levies are making those from China so expensive. Right now, the U.S. imposes a 30 percent tariff on Chinese imports, down from 145 percent a couple of months ago.

One importer told me he looked to Cambodia and Brazil, but those countries didn’t produce enough to satisfy the $2 billion U.S. market, which craves even more explosive shows every year. In 2022 alone, Americans fired off more than 400 million pounds of fireworks, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.

This year’s Independence Day should be relatively unimpeded by the tariffs because retailers stock up in advance. But 2026’s Fourth of July is the bigger problem. That’s when the U.S. will celebrate its 250th birthday, and cities and towns across the country are planning to go all out to set the skies ablaze.

Trump has a well-known affinity for fireworks and grand displays of patriotic pageantry. Last month, he soaked in a performance of “America the Beautiful” as fireworks were launched over the night sky to conclude his military parade in Washington.

And during the first Trump administration, officials carved out an exception in the tariff rules for fireworks. But that hasn’t happened this time, and without that relief, fireworks lobbyists are warning that future shows might be shorter, less impressive and more expensive.

Despite the president’s affection for pyrotechnics, it appears that, for now, he loves tariffs even more.

“Real prosperity and patriotism isn’t celebrating the independence of our country with cheap foreign-made firecrackers and trinkets,” said Kush Desai, a White House spokesman. “It’s having a country with booming Main Streets, a thriving working class and robust manufacturing.”

In case you were wondering: Hundreds of thousands of people asked Google “Is Walmart open on the Fourth of July?” Most stores will be open between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.

To mark the holiday, The Morning’s photo editor, Brent Lewis, collected some of his favorite Fourth of July photographs from the Times archives. Enjoy!

Larry C. Morris/The New York Times

The Macy’s Fireworks display over New York City in 1977.

Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Sunbathers on a Long Island beach in 1984.

Neal Boenzi/The New York Times

Left: People in front of Freedom Hall in New York City for a parade in 1986. Right: Ronnie James of Bronx huddled with her children under a blanket as rain fell in 1979.

Chester Higgins/The New York Times

The Astroland amusement park at Coney Island in 1975.

THE LATEST NEWS

Supreme Court

The justices said the U.S. could deport eight migrants to South Sudan, even though they have no connection to the war-torn nation. The court will rule on the constitutionality of state laws that bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams.

Politics

Illegal border crossings are at their lowest level in decades — a sign that Trump’s hard-line immigration policies are working to keep people out.

Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed that Trump has the constitutional power to nullify laws, newly disclosed documents show. Some experts consider it a stark overreach of presidential authority. The E.P.A. placed 144 employees on leave after they signed a letter accusing the Trump administration of politicizing the agency.

International

In Yiwu, China. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Trump is using tariffs on pass-through shipments in Vietnam to punish a different country: China. Hamas is deciding whether to accept Israel’s latest offer for a 60-day cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages. Read where the negotiations stand. A top Russian general overseeing troops in the contested Kursk region was killed in an apparent strike by Ukraine.

ICE Raids

Our video investigation shows how Los Angeles police officers broke protocols and injured immigration-raid protesters. Some Latino communities in Los Angeles have canceled Fourth of July celebrations over fears of ICE raids.

Other Big Stories

Hiring in the U.S. last month was better than expected, suggesting that tariffs and interest rates are not yet causing employers to pull back. (The stock market rose on the news.) At gourmet grocery stores in the Hamptons, a pricing arms race means $400 melons and $100 lobster salad. A teenager flew a plane to Antarctica. Chilean authorities detained him.

IN ONE CHART

Source: National Interagency Fire Center | 2025 data is as of June 30. | By John Keefe

Wildfires have a favorite holiday in the U.S. As the chart above shows, July 4 and July 5 have significantly more human-caused wildfires than any other dates of the year. That’s because dry conditions make it easier to light a fuse (good for fireworks), but also easier to set off a fire that can grow out of control (bad for us).

Read more about how weather could affect the holiday.

OPINIONS

We’re nostalgic for the 1990s because we now lack real-life connection and the potential for wealth and beauty, Glynnis MacNicol writes.

Joseph Lee is a member of the Wampanoag tribe on Martha’s Vineyard. His Native identity stems not from his fancy surroundings or appearance, but from his community, he writes.

Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience.

Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more.

MORNING READS

At Waikiki Beach. Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times

Paddle-out: In Hawaii, a floating memorial service honored a legendary surfer.

Seoul: The city’s sidewalks and street signs are blanketed in a layer of crawling, black lovebugs. Many people want them dead.

Ask the Therapist: “My brother and I haven’t spoken in four years. Can we reconcile?”

Your pick: The most-clicked story in The Morning yesterday was about readers’ picks for their favorite movies of the century so far.

Trending: Michael Madsen, the actor who died at 67, was America’s most-searched topic on Google in the past day. Madsen was a sledgehammer of an actor who became one of Hollywood’s reigning bare-knuckled heavies thanks to indelible performances in Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill” series. Read more about him here.

SPORTS

Wimbledon: Jack Draper lost on the No. 1 Court for the second straight year, this time to world No. 83 and former finalist Marin Cilic.

N.B.A.: Ben McLemore, a former guard, was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman after a lake house party in 2021 while he was playing for the Portland Trail Blazers. He will be sentenced July 9.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Tom Hanks Columbia Pictures

Jason Zinoman, The Times’s comedy columnist, says there’s a trope he has come to expect in any movie or TV show about a comedian: A scene in which the comic, tired of hiding behind jokes, gets real onstage with a personal confession. That’s usually followed by a cough from the crowd, shots of stunned audience members, and a walkout. Sound familiar? Jason shows us a couple of notable examples.

More on culture

Ronald Galotti, the inspiration for Mr. Big in “Sex and the City.” Kelly Burgess for The New York Times

The real-life inspiration for Mr. Big on “Sex and the City” is alive and well and married in Vermont. Subdued elegance was all over the runways, and the streets, at recent men’s fashion weeks. See photos.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Christopher Testani for The New York Times

Make a classic, three-ingredient margarita.

Banish weeds with a street-legal flamethrower. (Yes, really.)

Take our news quiz.

GAMES

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was multilevel.

And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands.

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow.

Correction: The caption with the top photo in yesterday’s newsletter misstated the makeup of the U.S. debt. Roughly $29 billion is held by investors. The rest is held by the U.S. government, not by private investors.

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com.

Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Desiree Ibekwe, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch

If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings.

Subscribe to The Times

Connect with us on:

Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018