Trump Claims Credit for Drug Price Decline. Experts Say It’s More Complicated.

President Donald Trump and other administration officials are claiming credit for a recent drop in prescription drug prices, citing deals they’ve struck with drugmakers and the launch of the online direct-to-consumer platform TrumpRx. But experts are skeptical that those measures have had much impact on overall prices, and they say other factors likely account for most of the decline.

Trump and his allies were quick to celebrate when the latest consumer price data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released in mid-August, showed prescription drug prices falling 3.1% over the past year. The data measure prices paid by consumers and insurers at retail, internet or mail-order pharmacies.

“Under my most-favored-nation policy on drug prices, we are delivering the largest prescription drug price cuts in the history of our country,” Trump said during an Aug. 14 speech on Long Island, referring to agreements with companies to offer certain drugs at prices comparable to those in other countries. 

Rising Measles Cases Driven by Falling Vaccination, Not Illegal Immigration

Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida who is running for governor, has blamed “rampant illegal immigration” during the Biden administration for measles outbreaks. But we found no link to illegal immigration in several recent large outbreaks, and infectious disease experts told us that the main driver of the cases is falling measles vaccination rates in the U.S.

Measles was eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, meaning there were no sustained outbreaks lasting more than a year. But since January 2025, cases have risen markedly, and the country’s elimination status is now in question. Last year, there were 2,289 confirmed cases — the highest number since 1991. As of Aug. 30, there have been 2,903 confirmed cases in 2026, already breaking 2025’s tally. 

Donalds weighed in on the cause of measles outbreaks during an Aug. 23 interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” in response to a question from host Margaret Brennan, who asked whether he would tell Florida parents to get their children vaccinated against the disease. “No, actually, my message to Floridians and, quite frankly, to Americans is that the reason why we have seen a measles outbreak in certain parts of the country is because of rampant illegal immigration into the United States from the previous administration,” Donalds replied. 

When Brennan asked him for evidence for this statement, Donalds referred to “the outbreaks in El Paso, Texas, in Southwest Florida, where I live, and many other parts where you know that you have a situation,” adding that people entering the country illegally “have not had that vaccination schedule.”

What We Know About Pennsylvania’s Two ‘Measles-Associated’ Deaths

After the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced two cases of measles-related deaths in one county, the local coroner appeared to contradict the account. And in an ongoing spat with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has alleged that a Shapiro staffer may have even “fabricated” the deaths. We’ll lay out what we know.

The saga brings to mind a pandemic-era falsehood that the vast majority of people classified as dying from COVID-19 did not die of the disease, but died of other causes while they happened to be infected. And when two children died of measles complications in Texas last year, Kennedy, along with activists in his former nonprofit, baselessly alleged that the kids did not die of measles, despite evidence to the contrary.

The situation in Pennsylvania is less clear. One of the deaths appears to be of an infant who tested positive for measles and died of a ruptured spleen. It is possible that the rupture was due to infection with measles, but the coroner has said the pathologist determined measles was not involved. There is no information about the second death. Meanwhile, the state has acknowledged that the term it has used to describe the deaths – “measles-associated” – includes cases in which measles infection is detected but “may not be assessed by the medical certifier or coroner to be the immediate cause of death.” 

As we’ll explain, that statement may not mean as much as it appears to, since measles deaths would not be expected to have measles listed as an immediate cause anyway. But without more information about the cases, it is difficult to say what has happened, leading many – including Kennedy – to speculate that the deaths were not measles-related after all.

“Pennsylvania created its own information vacuum and then seemed surprised when someone else filled it,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an infectious diseases attending physician in Pittsburgh, told us in an email. “The coroner’s account and the state’s account are not necessarily in conflict — they are two offices answering two different questions — but nobody in Harrisburg explained that, so the public was left to choose between fraud and incompetence.”

Trump Administration Moves to Scrap EEOC Affirmative Action Rule, Reshaping Workplace Discrimination Fight

Proposed rescission could remove a decades-old regulatory protection for certain employer affirmative action plans as the EEOC intensifies scrutiny of race- and sex-based workplace policies, including claims involving white men.

WASHINGTON | The Trump administration is moving to dismantle a nearly 50-year-old Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rule governing voluntary affirmative action, a significant shift that could alter how employers defend certain workplace programs and further intensify the administration's campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas proposed May 27 that the commission rescind its rule titled “Affirmative Action Appropriate Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” according to the information provided for this article.

The proposal comes as the EEOC places greater emphasis on allegations that employers have discriminated against workers — including white men — through race- or sex-conscious employment practices.

The distinction is important: Title VII protects employees and applicants from discrimination based on race and sex regardless of the individual's race or sex. The controversy centers not on whether white men can bring discrimination claims — they already can — but on what legal and regulatory protections remain available to employers using narrowly tailored affirmative action programs.

Trump Embraces Data Centers Despite Growing Voter Backlash Over Costs and Resources

The President Views Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure as an Economic “Golden Goose” and a Strategic Weapon Against China, Even as Republicans Confront Mounting Opposition Ahead of the Midterm Elections

WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump knows the politics surrounding data centers are deteriorating. He has seen the polling, heard the complaints about electricity prices and watched Republican candidates distance themselves from projects once promoted as engines of economic growth.

Trump is defending them anyway.

“He looks at the polling. He looks at what people are saying,” a senior White House official told 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' News. “Polling isn’t necessarily great on data centers, but it’s incumbent upon us to explain our position.”

For Trump, the massive facilities powering artificial intelligence systems represent more than another construction boom. They are a source of private investment, a pillar of America’s technological competition with China and one of the administration’s strongest remaining arguments that its economic policies are attracting large-scale development.

Trump called data centers the nation’s “Golden Goose” in a Monday post on Truth Social. He warned that communities rejecting them risk becoming “backward and poor” and argued that the growing opposition benefits China.

The comments placed Trump squarely against an increasingly bipartisan movement questioning the economic and environmental costs of data-center expansion.

A recent Economist/YouGov survey found that 61% of Americans opposed construction of a data center in their community, including 47% of Republicans. Public concerns include higher utility bills, heavy water consumption, noise, land use and the relatively limited number of permanent jobs some facilities create after construction ends, according to The Washington Post.

VGA Alabama Closes 2026 Season With Competitive Finish at Cider Ridge Golf Club

Thirty-one players tackled slick greens, tighter back-nine fairways and elevated approaches as military veterans earned victories across 10 flights in Oxford, Alabama.

OXFORD, Ala. | VGA Alabama opened the final weekend of its 2026 season with 31 members competing Saturday at Cider Ridge Golf Club, where a demanding back nine tested players across every flight.

The Oxford course offered competitors two distinctly different challenges. Cider Ridge’s opening nine featured wide fairways, manageable rough and room to recover from errant shots. That margin for error largely disappeared after the turn.

On the back nine, narrowing fairways, elevation changes, blind shots and uncertain landing areas forced players to rely on course management and disciplined shot selection. Elevated greens added another layer of difficulty, while a reported copperhead near the No. 10 tee provided one more reason for golfers to avoid the surrounding woods.

Christopher Miller of Arab, Alabama, delivered the lowest round among the flight winners, posting a 77 with a net score of 71 to capture the Senior A division. Benjamin Fulham of Prattville, Alabama, won the No Handicap flight with an 81 and added a proximity victory on No. 17.

Shane Lilly of Vestavia Hills, Alabama, won Veteran B with an 87, while Daniel Evans of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, claimed Veteran C with a 98. Jeremiah Giles of Columbia, Tennessee, recorded a gross score of 90 and a net 72 to secure the Veteran D title.

Justin Turner of Brent, Alabama, won Wounded Veteran A with a 93/89. Matthew Brannon of Boaz, Alabama, captured Wounded Veteran B with a 91/80, and James Hopper of Leeds, Alabama, earned the Wounded Veteran C victory with a 100/82.

Kevin Amos of Bonnerdale, Arkansas, won Senior B with an 89/76, while Patrick Murphy of Montevallo, Alabama, topped Senior C with a 99/79.

VGA Alabama Caps Record-Breaking Season With 52 Events, Membership Nearing 900

Veteran Golfers Association's Alabama chapter recorded 2,234 event registrations, welcomed more than 100 new members and sent qualifiers toward the national championship after a 116-player state championship at Auburn University Golf Club.

ALABAMA | The Veteran Golfers Association's Alabama chapter closed its latest season with record participation, expanding membership and a statewide tournament schedule that continues to establish golf as a gathering point for veterans and their families.

VGA Alabama held 52 events, including its state championship, during the past year, while its total membership climbed to approximately 890, putting the organization within striking distance of its goal of surpassing 1,000.

Across the season, VGA Alabama recorded 2,234 event registrations, averaging nearly 44 players per tournament.

Those numbers tell only part of the story.

For an organization built around veterans, camaraderie and competition, Alabama's growth reflects something larger than golf scores and trophies. It represents a community that has expanded dramatically from the 12 members the state program had in 2017.

Peninsula Draws Season's Largest Regular Event

The biggest regular-season turnout came in February at Peninsula Golf and Tennis Club, where 84 VGA members participated.

That success has already prompted organizers to encourage players interested in returning next February to register early, with space limited across all four days of the upcoming event.