Steve Forbes has been a bold advocate for the American capitalist system, free markets and sound money for decades. As the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes, and a presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000, he has been one of the nation’s leading voices on economics.

Recently, Forbes sat down with Fox News Digital at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas to discuss the state of the American economy, New York City’s socialist turn, and the policies of the Trump administration.

STEVE FORBES: CHUCK SCHUMER HAS A BEEF WITH BEEF, BUT DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO GRILL IT

«First of all, New York City has had a reputation in the past of electing radical candidates, including the allegedly only communist member of Congress back in the late 1940s. So there is that streak there. But more importantly, I think it shows that people, a lot of people, are dissatisfied.

The 78-year-old scion of a publishing empire said the left is better organized than it’s freedom-loving counterparts.

«We’ve got to get the message out,» he said. «And one thing that the left has learned is that you try to occupy the high moral ground. Even if you wreck people’s lives, kill millions of people under socialism, communism, your intentions were good.

«So they try to play the moral card. And so it’s not enough to say, ‘Well, free enterprise gives you more prosperity.’ You also have to put on the plane that free enterprise is moral. It’s based on liberty, based on allowing human beings to be creative, or as Lincoln put it, improve your lot in life.»

Following Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech and its depiction of the internal threat of communism, Forbes agrees, citing another U.S. president.

«Whatever you call it, communism, socialism, extreme leftism, anti-Semitism, it’s all the same disease,» Forbes said. «Abraham Lincoln put it very well in the 1800s. He said, ‘It won’t be foreign forces that destroy the United States. It’ll be things we do internally.’»

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the sixteenth president of the United States, was president during the American Civil War of 1861-1865. His greatest act was issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, abolishing slavery, in 1863. He was assassinated just after the war on April 14, 1865, by actor John Wilkes Booth. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Forbes suggested that many incorrectly blame problems on free markets, when they should instead be blaming government policies:

«What happens is when governments start making mistakes and doing things that people don’t like and that hurt people’s prospects for getting ahead, upsetting society, they blame it on capitalism. They blame it on free markets,» he said. «So they help wreck free markets and then say, ‘The victim is the cause of it.’»

Prosperity and innovation can only flourish with freedom, Forbes said. While capitalism isn’t perfect, it has led to inventions that improve our lives, according to Forbes.

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«Take your handheld,» he said. «If you’d said 30 years ago [that your] grandma could operate a supercomputer, you’d have gotten a rather strange look. Now we take it for granted. The first one was just 40 years ago, cost $3,995, weighed like a brick, the size of a shoebox. And today we have handhelds that are really supercomputers that can do anything anywhere. And in real terms, they get cheaper and cheaper. So that’s the miracle of human creativity. And then the amazing thing is we take it for granted.»

Forbes has long been an advocate for sound money, and a prominent critic of the Federal Reserve:

The Federal Reserve sets the nation’s monetary policy and influences borrowing costs across the economy. (Annabelle GORDON / AFP via Getty Images)

«Start with the Federal Reserve, the idea that prosperity causes inflation. Experience shows time and time again, it’s absolute nonsense. So if the economy starts to do well, you hear mutterings from the central bank asking, ‘Is the economy overheating?’ as if the economy is a machine,» Forbes said.

«So ask yourself, if your income is improving, do you start to feel overheating? Do you start to sweat at night? You know, ‘Take it away because I’m overheating?’ No, it’s preposterous,» he said.

The central bank’s role is to preserve the integrity of the dollar, not to manage economic activity by trying to manipulate interest rates, according to Forbes.

«And yet most free marketeers, for example, realize rent control distorts markets and ends up costing more and giving people less,» Forbes noted. «Well, what is controlling interest rates? It’s a form of rent control. They used to call interest rent. You’d rent the money.»

His prescription for the Trump administration is simple:

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«On the domestic front, go for a new round of tax cuts. Reduce tax rates for individuals and for businesses,» Forbes said. «Taxes are a price. So, propose it. Congress may not pass it, but you’ve got an issue you can take to the voters. 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to reporters during a news conference in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Selling such a plan to the public could be done with some savvy marketing, Forbes added.

«Bring out examples of people who have benefited enormously from not taxing overtime, not taxing tips, and saying, remember those old late night TV commercials [where hawkers would say] ‘But wait, there’s more?’ They can say, ‘But wait, there’s more. We’re going to have big tax cuts. Everyone’s going to benefit.’

«And continue with the deregulation,» he concluded. «You go on that path, and good things will happen.»

Panamá se posiciona nuevamente como una nación líder ambiental global con la designación oficial de la ciudad como sede de la Conferencia de las Partes (COP) N.º 16 de la Convención RAMSAR para la Conservación de Humedales, a realizarse del 7 al 15 de junio de 2028.

La Convención de Ramsar sobre la Conservación de los Humedales es un tratado intergubernamental adoptado en 1971 en la ciudad de Ramsar, Irán, cuyo objetivo es promover la conservación y el uso racional de los humedales a nivel mundial. Cuenta con 172 países miembros y más de 2,500 sitios designados como Humedales de Importancia Internacional.

La Conferencia de las Partes (COP) se celebra cada tres años en distintas partes del mundo y reúne a gobiernos, organizaciones y expertos para evaluar avances y definir prioridades en la protección de estos ecosistemas.

Musonda Mumba, secretaria general de la Convención RAMSAR, estuvo presente en la firma del acuerdo junto al ministro de Ambiente, Juan Carlos Navarro, estableciendo formalmente a Panamá como sede de la Conferencia de las Partes (COP) N.º 16 de la Convención RAMSAR para la Conservación de Humedales.

Este convenio, de acuerdo a la información oficial, marca una estrecha colaboración para preparar uno de los encuentros ambientales más importantes del mundo, que reunirá en nuestro país a unos 1,500 representantes de más de 170 países junto a científicos, especialistas en humedales, pueblos indígenas, organizaciones ambientalistas y el sector privado.

Panamá es parte de la Convención desde 1989 y cuenta con seis sitios Ramsar reconocidos oficialmente como humedales de importancia internacional: la Bahía de Panamá, ubicada al este de la ciudad de Panamá; el Golfo de Montijo, situado en la provincia de Veraguas; San San Pond Sak, localizado en Bocas del Toro; Punta Patiño, en la provincia de Darién; Damani-Guariviara, ubicado en la comarca Ngäbe-Buglé; y el Complejo de Humedales de Matusagaratí, ubicado en Darién.

Los seis sitios RAMSAR de Panamá conectan biodiversidad entre Norteamérica, Centroamérica y Sudamérica, y actúan como corredores naturales únicos para especies migratorias; son áreas irremplazables de reproducción para peces y aves; y regulan procesos hídricos costeros de enorme valor social y económico.

Panamá posee una gran variedad de humedales que reúnen manglares, estuarios, marismas, lagunas costeras y humedales de agua dulce. Su ubicación entre dos océanos hace posible que estos cumplan con funciones ambientales vitales como proteger las costas, capturar carbono, regular el agua y conservar la biodiversidad, en otros.

El ministro de Ambiente, Juan Carlos Navarro expresó que la designación de Panamá como sede de la Conferencia de las Partes (COP) N.º 16 de la Convención RAMSAR para la Conservación de Humedales reconoce años de trabajo del país en la protección de humedales y ofrece la oportunidad de mostrar al mundo soluciones panameñas innovadoras basadas en la naturaleza.

“Nuestros manglares y humedales son ecosistemas únicos y majestuosos que ocupan una proporción importante del litoral panameño y proporcionan valor económico irremplazable a nuestras comunidades costeras. Los estamos cuidando de la mano de esas mismas comunidades, fortaleciendo la conservación de las áreas protegidas costeras y los corredores biológicos y humedales de los que dependemos tantos panameños para nuestra alimentación y bienestar,” manifestó el funcionario

Entre los temas prioritarios de este encuentro internacional está lograr acuerdos globales para la protección y el uso sostenible de humedales, ecosistemas esenciales para la vida humana y la biodiversidad planetaria.

Panamá ve el evento del COP 16 de RAMSAR como un momento propicio para crear alianzas regionales, atraer inversión en conservación y dar voz a los territorios tropicales en las decisiones internacionales sobre manejo de humedales.

Washington D.C.’s entrenched politicos sprang into action this week before key confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate to try and sink President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general.

Roughly 1,200 Department of Justice (DOJ) alumni signed off on a letter on Tuesday sent to high-ranking Senate Judiciary Committee leaders demanding they reject elevating Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as he prepares for confirmation hearings next week on July 15 and 16.

Blanche, who previously served as former AG Pam Bondi’s No. 2, has been tapped by the 47th president to do the job permanently, sending the former bureaucrats into a frenzy.

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The signatories of the letter trying to stop the process bill themselves as former DOJ employees from Republican and Democratic administrations, which is true. But even a cursory look at some of the names reveals the letter’s true hyperpartisan nature.

Here are a few:

• Lori Lightfoot, the former mayor of Chicago and a far-left Democrat with a long history of anti-Trump rhetoric.
• JP Cooney, an ex-prosecutor and Democratic congressional candidate who served as Jack Smith’s top deputy during Smith’s special counsel investigation into President Trump over later-dismissed criminal charges. He’s running his campaign on the grounds that he «spent [his] career standing up to powerful people and holding them accountable, including Donald Trump.»
• Aaron Zelinsky, who served as assistant special counsel to former FBI director Robert Mueller during Russiagate, which evidence now suggests was a «manufactured» Obama-era intelligence fabrication to smear Trump.
• Robert Turkavage, who ran for Congress as a Democrat in New Jersey.
• Sara Zdeb, who worked as chief oversight counsel for Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Durbin is currently the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking member.
• Candice Cook, the former DOJ chief diversity and inclusion officer.
• Sam Bagenstos, a political appointee in both the Biden and Obama administrations with a history of bashing Trump and who also brags about his progressive bona fides on his University of Michigan Law biography page.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined «CNN This Morning» on Monday to discuss her fight against teachers unions during the pandemic. (Screenshot/CNN/CNNThisMorning)

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«This list is a who’s who of partisan activists, including liberal politicians such as former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who saw crime drastically rise under her tenure, Trump impeachment witness Pamela Karlan, and multiple former disgruntled Biden administration officials, some of whom were directly involved in the weaponization of the Department,» a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital of the letter.

A former White House official quipped that, «It looks like they passed a petition around the MS NOW green room.»

Former special counsel Jack Smith testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigations into President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22, 2026. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

The Trump DOJ says Blanche has the support of law enforcement.

«Law enforcement throughout the nation supports the nomination of Acting Attorney General Blanche, including the Major Cities Chiefs Association, representing police leadership in dozens of major U.S. cities; the International Association of Chiefs of Police, representing tens of thousands of law enforcement leaders worldwide; and the Major County Sheriffs of America, representing hundreds of the nation’s largest sheriffs’ offices,» the spokesperson said.

The letter itself states that as former DOJ employees, the signatories take seriously their «oath to support and defend the Constitution, not the occupant of the White House.»

It complains that Blanche has fired hundreds of DOJ employees, some of whom, they say, were fired for «having worked on cases the President didn’t like.»

«The consequences of Blanche’s attacks on DOJ’s apolitical workforce radiate beyond the halls of Main Justice, affecting the entire country,» the letter says. «They’ve meant that much of the department’s vital work isn’t being done, or isn’t being done as well – leaving communities less safe, Americans’ rights less protected, and our national security more vulnerable.»

A U.S. Justice Department logo in the department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference in Washington, Jan. 24, 2023. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)

But the note is eerily reminiscent of another widely-covered stunt that turned out to be a political operation to protect then-presidential candidate Joe Biden during his 2020 election bid.

In that instance, 51 former intelligence officials, including known Trump adversaries former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, penned a letter to the public claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop scandal appeared to be a foreign intelligence operation.

The contents of Hunter Biden’s personal computer, published in October 2020 by the New York Post, contained shocking videos and photos of drug use, lewd sex acts, and sensitive business communications. It eventually was dubbed the «laptop from hell» due to the public relations nightmare it caused for the Biden campaign.

The former intelligence officials immediately jumped to Biden’s defense, claiming the letter had «all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.»

Hunter Biden arrives at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 6, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware, for his trial on felony gun charges. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

«Such an operation would be consistent with some of the key methods Russia has used in its now multi-year operation to interfere in our democracy — the hacking (via cyber-operations) and the dumping of accurate information or the distribution of inaccurate or misinformation,» the letter said.

Mainstream news outlets ran with the letter, downplaying the scandal.

By early 2022, many of those same news outlets were forced to report that the emails and files from the laptop were, in fact, authentic after federal investigators looked into the matter.

James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, center, at the White House on Sept. 7, 2022. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Clapper was one of the few signatories who answered for the bogus Russian intelligence claim, but he stood by the letter, claiming the ex-intel crowd never said for sure that the laptop was a Russian operation.

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«Yes, I stand by the statement made AT THE TIME, and would call attention to its 5th paragraph,» he told The New York Post. «I think sounding such a cautionary note AT THE TIME was appropriate.»

So it appears the latest actions are just a repeat of the same playbook Democrats have been using to push their agenda against Trump.