European trade ministers are meeting in Brussels after U.S. President Donald Trump announced 30% tariffs on the European Union.
Day: July 14, 2025
Donald Trump has had his way in getting his U.S. budget — the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) passed. As Americans grapple with the consequences of the Trump administration’s new budget law — a law that slashes vital programs for the poor while favoring the wealthy — the rest of the world watches the United States.
Moral questions Republicans won’t raise
Since the new law, which was signed by Trump on July 4th, poses many moral questions, one voice that should play a major role in assessing the social and economic implications is that of a fellow American, Pope Leo XIV.
He should be able to speak with a great deal of moral clarity not just owing to his current role as Pope, but as a man who grew up on Chicago’s South side.
The American from the poor side of Chicago
The South Side was in Leo’s formative years and remains very diverse, both racially and socioeconomically. When he was growing up in Dolton, Illinois, on the edge of the South Side, community residents were often aspirational.
They sought and found good jobs in the area’s industrial base. However, that began to dwindle over the years, the community became more racially diverse and inequities grew.
Acquainted with inequality and poverty
Due to the dominance of Democratic Party politics, the Chicago area partook of the benefits of President Johnson’s War on Poverty and Great Society — chiefly Medicaid, Medicare and other programs aimed at alleviating poverty. Robert Francis Prevost — aka the Pope — would know those programs as well as the needs that they address.
His years in Peru, too, served to acquaint Prevost with inequality and poverty. He often traveled by horse to reach remote villages. In those years, he experienced the ravages of political violence against refugees and other marginalized people.
A theological imperative
Given his personal experiences, it is no surprise then that Pope Leo XIV has made social justice and the fight against inequality the cornerstone of his mission from the outset of his papacy.
Indeed, his choice of name was a nod to Pope Leo XIII, the champion of workers and architect of modern Catholic social teaching.
Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) was known as “The Pope of the Workers.” He authored the groundbreaking 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which laid the foundation for modern Catholic social teaching. This encyclical recognized the need that “a remedy must be found quickly for the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class.”
A voice that must be loud and clear
Today, as millions of Americans face the prospect of losing access to healthcare, affordable housing and food assistance, Pope Leo XIV’s voice must be loud and clear.
After all, for Pope Leo XIV, the poor are not an afterthought — they are at the heart of the Church’s mission. He reminds us that “the poor are not a distraction for the Church, but our most beloved brothers and sisters.” He calls on all people of goodwill to move beyond comforting words to “real responsibility and structural change to uplift the poor.”
Trump: At odds with Christian values
The Trump administration’s budget is not merely a collection of fiscal policy decisions. It is a statement of national priorities. By targeting the most vulnerable — children, the elderly, the sick and the working poor — this law stands in opposition to all the values Pope Leo XIV champions.
He has repeatedly insisted that “helping the poor is a matter of justice before it is a question of charity.” For the Pope, indifference to the suffering of the marginalized is not just a policy failure — it is a moral one.
In words that Donald Trump would never understand, Leo has stated that “no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike”.
Needed: Structural change, not just charity
Crucially, Pope Leo XIV’s deep understanding of the issues of social inequity leads him to pursue structural change — i.e., policies that guarantee labor rights, access to education, housing and healthcare as universal human rights.
In the Pope’s words, “the fruits of human labor should be equally accessible to all.” Trump’s new budget law, by deepening the chasm between rich and poor, betrays this fundamental principle.
A test of conscience
Of course, the Trump administration’s budget law is, at its core, a test of the United States’ conscience.
And it is a test that the United States has been failing. Most galling in that regard is the fact that many of Donald Trump’s core MAGA supporters hail from the Christian Right. They evidently like to spew out all sorts of biblical citations, but fail to act accordingly.
That is also particularly visible in the openly racist elements of the Trump coalition. Christian values and the idea of inclusion are evidently primarily for whites only.
Therefore, it is not too much to say that Trump’s core supporters are ultimately seeking to impose White Christian Nationalism on the United States — which, ironically, by all research is growing ever more secular.
This new U.S. budget law — and other accompanying acts by which the Trump administration tears the fabric of American society apart along color lines — underscore the fact that he and his team aims to bring about a wholesale reversal of the American social contract — weak as it has long been.
Conclusion
Let us hope that Pope Leo XIV’s response will be unequivocal. There cannot be any doubt that, from the perspective of the Bishop of Rome who grew up on Chicago’s South side, Trump’s policies are totally incompatible with the demands of justice and the teachings of Christ.
Pope Leo should therefore urge all Americans and their leaders to reject indifference, embrace solidarity and work to strengthen a society where the dignity of every person is upheld. Otherwise, the United States will vastly undershoot its human development potential.
Unfortunately, given the high degree of elitism that has long been inherent in U.S. politics, the world has reason to doubt that no matter how clear the Pope’s message, the majority of Americans will not rise to the moral challenge.
The post Donald Trump Vs. Pope Leo XIV: Will Two Americans Duke It Out? appeared first on The Globalist.
Netanyahu demands Iran must not produce missiles over 480 km range. pic.twitter.com/7oSAR8Jjfw
— Globe Eye News (@GlobeEyeNews) July 14, 2025
When English soccer team Chelsea lifted the FIFA Club World Cup trophy on Sunday in New Jersey, its star who scored twice in the 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain and was named player of the tournament was blocked from view.
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Cole Palmer looked perplexed and frustrated as Donald Trump stood in front of him, smiling and clapping, even as FIFA President Gianni Infantino could be seen unsuccessfully urging the U.S. President to move aside so as not to obstruct the team’s celebrations.
“I was a bit confused,” Palmer later said. “I knew he was going to be there, but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand where we lifted the trophy.”
Chelsea captain Reece James appeared to ask Trump, “Are you going to leave?” during the presentation and later was asked by reporters about the President’s insistence on staying front and center with the team during their big moment. “It probably highlights how big the tournament is,” James said. “Before they told me that he was going to present the trophy and then exit the stage. I thought that he was going to exit the stage, but he wanted to stay.”
Infantino eventually walked Trump to the back of the group, so Palmer and others could enjoy the spotlight, but not before the White House and President got the photo-ops they wanted.
Trump booed as tournament highlights controversies
Trump’s presence at MetLife Stadium was meant to mark as much a celebration for the U.S. as it was for the sport, with the club tournament final taking place at the same venue where the FIFA World Cup final is set to take place in 2026.
But Chelsea and PSG fans seemed to set aside their rivalries and unite around their dislike of Trump, booing him on several occasions throughout the evening, including when he was shown on the Jumbotron during the U.S. national anthem before the match and during the trophy presentation after.
Trump, who is largely unpopular in the U.S. and globally, and Infantino, who took over FIFA in 2016 as it was already marred by corruption scandals and has since been accused of disregarding human-rights concerns, have linked arms over the years to try to bring soccer to the U.S.
A replica of the World Cup trophy was spotted in Trump’s Oval Office as early as 2018, the year that Infantino announced the U.S. would co-host the 2026 international tournament alongside neighbors Canada and Mexico. The Club World Cup trophy also spent some time on the President’s desk earlier this year after Infantino presented it to Trump in March The gold, NASA-inspired trophy could be seen in the background of major announcements, “from nuclear warnings to Iran to celebrating the trade deal with Britain,” according to Sky News. Infantino announced last week that FIFA opened an office in Trump Tower in New York City.
The Club World Cup, which was awarded to the U.S. in 2023, was seen by many as a dress-rehearsal for the World Cup next year, and while Infantino hyped it as a “huge, huge, huge success,” many have disagreed. The club tournament, which was significantly revamped from earlier editions, was largely overshadowed by concerns about commercial interests being prioritized over players’ health and fans’ experience. “We may have received some justified criticism,” Infantino acknowledged at a press conference on Saturday. “There are many elements we can think about, but that will be for later on.”
Trump announced in March the formation of a federal task force to prepare for the 2026 World Cup, but it hasn’t quelled concerns from many around the world, particularly around heat, safety, and tightened travel restrictions to the U.S.
Asked in March about tensions even between the North American co-hosts of next year’s tournament, Trump dismissed concerns, saying, “Tensions are a good thing. It’ll make it more exciting.”
Trump embraces “football” in the U.S.
While many U.S. conservatives have long disliked soccer, Trump has been known to embrace the sport. Right-wing media outlet the Washington Free Beacon published a “bombshell” report in 2016 that revealed the then-candidate for the Republican nomination for President had played soccer in high school.
“Most patriotic Americans stop playing soccer at around age nine, because it’s lame and rewards weakness. It’s also very popular in Mexico,” the Free Beacon explained. “Soccer games are typically low scoring affairs and, unlike the vast majority of actual sports contests, are permitted to end in a tie. They often do. Free shots on goals are routinely awarded to players who fall down theatrically. Most of the fancy men on the field are not allowed to use their hands, a very important and capable body part. International play is modeled after Barack Obama’s global vision, in which the United States is ‘just another country’ and is happy to secure a zero-zero tie against Togo. The men’s national team has been invaded by foreigners. These are a few of the reasons why soccer is fundamentally un-American.”
But despite many American conservatives’ antipathy, Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in the sport, which he says his son Barron is very enthusiastic about. “It’s exciting. My son loves soccer, and he loves watching the World Cup,” Trump said in 2018. “It’s exciting even if you’re a non-soccer fan. I’m a soccer fan a little bit, but I don’t have much time.”
When asked by a reporter on Sunday after the Club World Cup match if he would consider renaming soccer in the U.S. as “football,” which is what the popular sport is called in most other countries but which is also what Americans call the game that Trump has labeled “boring,” the U.S. President responded: “I think we could do that.”
Other Administration officials also come under fire
Trump was not the only figure to come under fire over the weekend.
At the match on Sunday, he and Infantino were joined in the midfield luxury box by several Administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has been criticized by many, including prominent right-wing backers of Trump, over her handling of the case surrounding convicted sex offender and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, whose 2019 death spawned conspiracy theories that Bondi’s Justice Department attempted to dispel last week.
Trump defended Bondi amid calls for her resignation or firing in a post on Truth Social on Saturday in which he appeared to contradict the Justice Department’s memo that said there were no further files on Epstein to be released. “Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration … They created the Epstein Files,” Trump wrote. “LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT! … Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”
Elsewhere, Vice President J.D. Vance was also greeted with shouts and boos by protesters as he and his family vacationed at Disneyland in California.“Hope you enjoy your family time, @JDVance. The families you’re tearing apart certainly won’t,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a post on X—referring to the Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign, including an ongoing militarized crackdown in California—to which Vance responded: “Had a great time, thanks.”
General Kellogg arrived in Kyiv. He will be in Ukraine for the entire week.
This embrace between Gen. Kellogg and Yermak seems to indicate a great sense of relief by both sides. https://t.co/GUQwj05IC6 pic.twitter.com/hYO9jQr1Dp— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) July 14, 2025