INTERNACIONAL
Why Trump broke with RFK to defend the importance of vaccines
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
If there’s one thing that Donald Trump absolutely, positively despises, it’s bad publicity.
And after RFK Jr. got absolutely hammered at that hearing the other day–including by a member of the leadership, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso–he realized that he had to cut his losses.
What was he going to do, say ignore those Republican senators, like Bill Cassidy, who’s a doctor, like Barrasso, when he says that vaccines work and he’s deeply concerned that Kennedy misled the Hill during his confirmation hearings?
So after months of letting him «go wild,» in his words, Donald has broken with Bobby.
REPUBLICAN DOCTORS CLASH WITH RFK JR OVER VACCINES IN TENSE SENATE SHOWDOWN
«You have some vaccines that are so incredible. I think you have to be very careful when you say some people don’t have to be vaccinated…,» the president said.
«Look, you have vaccines that work. They just pure and simple work. They’re not controversial at all, and I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it, and they endanger other people,»
The president has had enough.
What’s more, Kennedy’s family–including his sister Kerry and former congressman Joe Kennedy III–demanded he resign, along with every Democrat on the Senate committee.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate Finance Committee September 04, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
There’s some chatter that Kennedy may be let go after a decent interval. Trump really likes him, and the magic of the Kennedy name, but let’s face it, he’s damaged goods right now.
He also was poorly briefed, or didn’t do his homework. Remember that he cut a deal in exchange for dropping out of the presidential race, and offered the same arrangement to Kamala Harris.
When asked how many Americans had died of COVID, I instantly knew it was 1.2 million. RFK said he didn’t know. Asked whether the COVID vaccine had been helpful, he mumbled that he’d have to look at the data. There’s plenty of data available.
And that’s the problem. The greatest achievement of Trump’s first term, as even his detractors admit, was Operation War Speed, bringing the COVID vaccine to market at the height of the pandemic.
JOE KENNEDY III BLASTS RFK JR. AFTER FIERY SENATE HEARING, FUELING KENNEDY FAMILY INFIGHTING: ‘HE MUST RESIGN’
But Kennedy is the same anti-vaccine crusader he’s always been. He has called COVID «the most dangerous vaccine» ever. He’s insisted that vaccines cause autism, completely debunked by mainstream science.
CDC performed miserably during the pandemic, but Kennedy fired CDC chief Susan Monarez just one month after praising her appointment, and then called her a liar for supposedly admitting she was not trustworthy.
The campus of Centers for Disease Control is located near the reported shooting location in Atlanta. (Mike Stewart/AP Photo)
So RFK was in effect denigrating Trump’s huge accomplishment by firing the mainstream members of a vaccine panel and replacing them with vaccine skeptics or outright anti-vaxxers.
Kennedy’s view is that everyone else is conflicted because of ties to Big Pharma and that only he is pure. But his actions speak louder than his words.
INTO THE ARENA: HOSTILE DEMOCRATS, SKEPTICAL REPUBLICANS TEAR INTO KENNEDY ON THE HILL
Meanwhile, the president won a double victory at the Supreme Court. The justices, in what Politico says were 6-3 rulings, gave ICE the ability to carry out «roving» arrests and raids in California against those believed to be illegal immigrants.
SCOTUS also said the president can fire FTC member Rebecca Slaughter, one of two Democratic commissioners he dismissed in March at the supposedly independent agency.
Rebecca Slaughter, commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Then Trump checks the conservative media.
The Wall Street Journal editorial page, in a piece titled «Operation Warped Speed,» asks whether RFK is suffering from long COVID. The usually supportive New York Post called RFK a «paranoid kook» with a «tinfoil hat» that is «blocking out all sense.»
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
So Trump got mostly booed at the U.S. Open, along with some cheers. Big deal. He’s endured far worse.
But having the nation’s highest court on your side is worth its weight in gold, Trump’s favorite decorating glitter.
Footnote: The Wall Street Journal has obtained Trump’s birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein, which he repeatedly insisted he never sent, prompting him to sue the paper.
Against the backdrop of a sketch of a naked woman–with Trump’s signature in the pubic area–there is this exchange:
Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey: Yes we do, come to think of it.
Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?
Jeffrey: As a matter of face, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.
Donald: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday–and may every day be another wonderful secret.
By itself, I don’t think it’s that big a deal. Lots of friends and acquaintances were solicited to send messages for Epstein’s 50th birthday. He could have owned it. But Trump *still* insists it’s fake.
By vehemently insisting it wasn’t conceivable that he sent such a message, Trump now has a mess on his hands.
fox news media,media buzz,white house,politics,donald trump,robert f kennedy jr,us,vaccines,health,supreme court
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A bipartisan group of senators is resurfacing legislation to cap many American patients’ insulin costs at $35 a month — the INSULIN Act of 2026 — reviving a push that previously stalled.
The bill co-authored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and John Kennedy, R-La., would bar group and individual health plans from imposing deductibles on selected insulin products and could not charge more than $35 for a 30-day supply starting in plan year 2027.
Beginning in 2028, patients would pay the lesser of $35 or 25% of the negotiated net price.
Congress had already mandated a Medicare-only cap of $35 in 2022, and President Donald Trump’s long-running agenda to lower prescription medicine costs gives the effort some momentum before the 2026 midterms, where Collins’ seat could be targeted for a Democrat flip amid the very narrow Republican Senate majority (53-47).
SENATE QUIETLY WORKS ON BIPARTISAN OBAMACARE FIX AS HEALTHCARE CLIFF NEARS
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is helping to lead the effort to cap insulin costs on Americans at $35 per month. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
«We are the long-time chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, and one of our top priorities is to make insulin more affordable,» Collins said in a Senate hearing last week.
«Our INSULIN Act would impose out-of-pocket limits for patients with commercial insurance, tackle commercial pharmacy benefit managers, and ensure that patients are the ones who are benefiting from the savings that they negotiate, and encourage biosimilar competition in order to lower list prices.»
The bill, first introduced in 2023, has been reworked at Kennedy and Warnock’s urging to include some work to provide capped insulin prices even for the uninsured.
«Our bill also includes provisions to help uninsured Americans access affordable insulin,» Collins continued. «Just this week, I met with a young woman who, a few years ago, ended up in the hospital because she was stretching out her insulin, not taking as much as she was prescribed, because she simply couldn’t afford the cost.»
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP TARGETS AFFORDABILITY WITH RECONCILIATION 2.0 PLAN AHEAD OF MIDTERMS
The issue aligns with a 2024 Trump presidential campaign vow. Trump has already announced other initiatives to lower prescription drug prices, including an executive order last May on his «Most Favored Nation» (MNF) policy to take action on Big Pharma companies that are not offering the world’s lowest price on drugs to Americans.
«Americans should not be forced to subsidize low-cost prescription drugs and biologics in other developed countries, and face overcharges for the same products in the United States,» Trump’s policy ordered. «Americans must therefore have access to the most-favored-nation price for these products.»
«My Administration will take immediate steps to end global freeloading and, should drug manufacturers fail to offer American consumers the most-favored-nation’s lowest price, my Administration will take additional aggressive action.»
Then, this December, Trump announced agreements with nine Big Pharma companies to lower prices on Americans under the MFN policy, including offering direct to the consumer lowest pricing on TrumpRx, the president’s new prescription drug portal.
GOP MUST RACE FOR NEW ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ TO SLASH COSTS BEFORE MIDTERMS, TOP HOUSE REPUBLICANS WARN
TrumpRX lists Insulin Lispro from Eli Lilly for $25.
Sen. Janine Shaheen, D-N.H., announced last March that she would not be running for reelection. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Collin and Shaheen’s legislation would also offer a limited cap on insulin for the uninsured — an issue reportedly driven by Warnock and Kennedy in the bipartisan group — creating a five-year pilot in 10 states to help uninsured patients get insulin for no more than $35 a month.
«We have already capped insulin for Medicare enrollees at $35 a month — this new INSULIN Act, which we plan to introduce next [this] week, will address insulin affordability for children, adults and those who are uninsured,» Shaheen said in a statement.
«It will do, as the Medicare provision does, cap the cost of employer and private insurance coverage of insulin at $35 a month, create a pilot program to provide $35 a month insulin for uninsured diabetes patients, and it is a direct way to help American families facing economic pressures, and will make people healthier in the long run.»
TRUMP’S RX PLAN PROMISES SAVINGS, BUT ECONOMISTS SEE A HIDDEN TRADE-OFF
While Collins might need the bill for her 2026 midterm election hopes. Shaheen is serving out her final year in the Senate.
«I would really like to be able to leave the Senate thinking that we had helped to address insulin costs for a lot of Americans: This is the most expensive chronic disease,» Shaheen told Semafor, noting Trump’s agenda for capping prices.
«This is something that he should support, because it is affordability.»
Affordability has been the Democrats’ buzzword for the midterms, but Republicans and Trump have argued it has only been an issue Democrats have made after years of inflation under former President Joe Biden.
TRUMP ENDS BIDEN’S DRUG PRICE NIGHTMARE — AMERICANS GET REAL RELIEF WITH TRUMPRX
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., was a part of the bipartisan Senate group pushing the INSULIN Act of 2026 to include provisions to lower insulin costs for the uninsured, too. (Anna Moneymaker / POOL / AFP)
The bill authorizes $100 million for fiscal 2027 for cost-cutting and defines «affordable» insulin as out-of-pocket costs of no more than $35 for a one-month supply.
Collins framed the measure as a response to patients rationing medicine they need to survive.
«I have heard far too many stories from people in Maine and across the country who have been forced to ration their insulin because of the cost, and that is simply unacceptable,» she told Semafor.
Beyond the consumer cap, the bill also tries to lower underlying costs by targeting pharmacy benefit manager practices and encouraging more competition from biosimilars and generics. It orders a federal study on delays in bringing insulin products to market and barriers to biosimilar uptake.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The proposal now faces the harder political test: winning buy-in from Senate leadership and finding a path to must-pass legislation later this year. But after years of failed starts, backers say they finally have a bipartisan framework that could move.
senate, health care healthy living, health care, health care senate, midterm elections
INTERNACIONAL
El gobierno de Chile le retiró el apoyo a Bachelet para la ONU: por qué beneficia al argentino Rafael Grossi
En la frenética carrera para acceder al máximo cargo de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), el diplomático argentino Rafael Grossi parece haber recibido una buena noticia para sus pretensiones con la decisión de Chile de retirar el apoyo a la expresidenta trasandina Michelle Bachelet.
“Hemos llegado a la convicción que el contexto de esta elección, la dispersión de candidaturas de países de América Latina y las diferencias con algunos de los actores relevantes que definen este proceso, hacen inviable esta candidatura y el eventual éxito de esta postulación”, esgrimió en un escueto comunicado el actual gobierno de José Antonio Kast.
La candidatura de Bachelet seguirá adelante porque al momento de su lanzamiento contaba también con el apoyo de Brasil y México. Fue una astuta jugada del por entonces presidente Gabriel Boric a sabiendas de que existía la posibilidad de que el nuevo mandatario Kast hiciera lo que terminó haciendo: retirarle el apoyo.
Pese a las reiteradas críticas de Javier Milei al sistema multilateral en general y a la ONU en particular, el gobierno argentino se comprometió en apoyar y trabajar para impulsar la candidatura de Grossi, renombrado diplomático que en la actualidad encabeza el trascendental Organismo Internacional de Energía Atómica (OEIA). La Cancillería argentina designó a un equipo especial para acompañar la candidatura de Rafael Grossi. (Foto: REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta)
Durante el lanzamiento formal de su candidatura en la Argentina en diciembre del año pasado, TN pudo confirmar que la Cancillería a cargo de Pablo Quirno designó a un grupo de diplomáticos que desde Buenos Aires monitorearía el proceso junto con la representación permanente de nuestro país en la sede de la ONU en Nueva York.
La retirada del apoyo por parte de Chile podría leerse como un contundente mensaje de que Bachelet no puede lograr un consenso interno ni siquiera en esta importante postulación, lo que podría debilitar su carrera. De todos modos, Brasil es un país de peso que busca tener una banca en una hipotética –y compleja- reforma del Consejo de Seguridad.
Leé también: Rafael Grossi busca convertirse en el primer argentino en liderar la ONU: lanza su candidatura en Buenos Aires
Además de Grossi y Bachelet, los otros candidatos que están en carrera para convertirse en secretario general de la ONU son: la argentina Virginia Gamba, impulsada por Maldivas; Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis, apoyada por su país Costa Rica; y el senegalés Macky Sall, que cuenta con el respaldo de Burundi.
Existe una regla no escrita que el próximo secretario general debe ser latinoamericano. Sólo hubo uno en la historia. El peruano Javier Pérez de Cuéllar ocupó ese cargo durante dos períodos entre 1982 y 1991.
La costarricense Grynspan Mayufis es una de las que, a priori, podría competir cabeza a cabeza con Grossi si la candidatura de Bachelet termina perdiendo peso.
La costarricense Rebeca Grynspan es otra de las favoritas para el máximo cargo de la ONU. (Foto: REUTERS/Mayela Lopez)
La clave está en la decisión de los cinco miembros permanentes del Consejo de Seguridad (Estados Unidos, Rusia, China, Francia y el Reino Unido), quienes tienen que seleccionar a uno de los candidatos para postularlo frente a la Asamblea General. Será una única opción la que salga desde el máximo órgano de la ONU.
Por ello, es necesario esquivar un veto de estos países. Con que uno sólo decida vetar un nombre, esa persona no podrá continuar en carrera. El perfil dialoguista pero firme de Grossi gusta en el ámbito de la diplomacia internacional. A lo largo de los últimos años pudo demostrar su capacidad de negociar con Putin en el Kremlin, con Zelenski en Kiev o con representantes iraníes el desarrollo de su programa nuclear.
Con las audiencias y exposiciones públicas que los candidatos tendrán en los próximos meses se empezará a dilucidar con mayor claridad las posibilidades reales de cada uno. Puertas adentro de la Casa Rosada, la quita del apoyo de Kast a Bachelet fue leída como una buena noticia para Grossi.
naciones unidas, ONU, Rafael Grossi, Michelle Bachelet
Los aldeanos dicen que esta isla está maldita. Los inmigrantes vieron una oportunidad
Karina Milei corrió a Santiago Caputo de la negociación y busca un lugar en el Corte bonaerense
Bipartisan Senate bill to cap insulin for Americans at $35 has new momentum
Inflación: Milei comparó cifras históricas y generó polémica feroz en redes sociales
Italia se la juega en el repechaje: ¿Por qué eligió Bérgamo para seguir soñando con el Mundial 2026?
Reforma de glaciares: desde el peronismo advirtieron que la ley “va a ser judicializada a las pocas horas”
»¡VAN A FUNDIR A MEDIO PAÍS!»: El lapidario diagnóstico de Roberto Cachanosky sobre el plan de Milei
ALERTA FINANCIERA: 4 de cada 10 argentinos ya no pueden pagar sus deudas. ¡Caputo debe actuar ya!
El mensaje de Milei sobre la “traición” que llamó la atención en el Gobierno y también en la oposición
El Gobierno apunta a una sindicalista por la filtración del video de Manuel Adorni en un vuelo privado
POLITICA2 días agoEl mensaje de Milei sobre la “traición” que llamó la atención en el Gobierno y también en la oposición
- POLITICA21 horas ago
24 DE MARZO: La historia completa que el relato omitió sobre el golpe de 1976 y el Juicio a las Juntas
- ECONOMIA2 días ago
A cuánto llegará el dólar en abril de 2026, según los principales analistas de mercado
