Donald Trump touted his plan to end taxation on tips at a stop in Las Vegas on Friday, trying to turn the page on a week in which he was overshadowed by Kamala Harris and struggled to keep focus on policy issues and not personal attacks on his opponent.
From a lectern set up at a Mexican restaurant, the Republican presidential candidate spoke about his plan to eliminate taxes on 100 percent of tips to waiters and other service employees. He also talked about his campaign’s efforts to court Hispanic voters in Nevada, a battleground state that could help determine the Nov. 5 election, and nationwide.
The tax proposal is one pillar of Trump’s economic agenda and the kind of issue his advisers have been pressing him to focus on rather than his frequent personal attacks against Harris’ looks, heritage and intelligence, warning they could turn off the moderate voters he needs to win.
Trump’s comments come one day after Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination with a muscular speech that laid down broad foreign policy principles and sharp contrasts with Trump with 11 weeks left until Election Day.
Throughout the four-day Democratic convention Trump counter-programmed with events of his own around the country, hoping to steal some media attention from Harris. However, his speeches on foreign policy, the economy and crime did little to dislodge the spotlight from Harris and received little attention, a stunning turnabout for a politician used to dominating headlines.
Trump and his aides are hoping Thursday’s boisterous convention finale marks the end of the “honeymoon” period for Harris, who emerged as the Democratic candidate little more than a month ago after President Joe Biden exited the race.
During Harris’ acceptance speech in Chicago, Trump attacked her with dozens of posts on his Truth Social platform, calling her a liar, a “Marxist” and “Comrade Kamala Harris.” With one post in all caps he simply asked: “IS SHE TALKING ABOUT ME?”
William Rosenberg, a political science professor at Drexel University, said Trump’s personal attacks on Harris underscored his frustration with having to face a biracial woman, a task complicated by his history of making racist remarks.
“His anger and his words speak volumes,” Rosenberg said. “He’s navigating a path which is full of problems for him.”
Harris has surged in the polls since entering the race, with polling aggregator website FiveThirtyEight putting her ahead of Trump in six of seven key battleground states.
She is also outraising her Republican counterpart. Her campaign told the Federal Election Commission this week that it raised $204 million last month, compared to $48 million reported to the body by Trump’s main fundraising group.
One question still to be answered is whether Harris will also outpace Trump on the trail in the coming weeks. Biden made relatively few campaign stops, easing pressure on Trump to travel more around the country. That may now change with Harris.
Trump will travel to Detroit on Monday to address a conference of the National Guard Association of the United States and is scheduled to give a speech at a conservative women’s group’s annual summit in Washington on Friday.
Campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump would hold at least one additional campaign stop in between those two events, without providing details.
The Harris campaign has not yet released details of her movements for next week.
Leavitt blamed the media for focusing their stories on Trump’s personal attacks, which she said made up a fraction of his otherwise policy-heavy rallies and speeches.
At an event on Wednesday in Asheboro, North Carolina, where his speech was billed as one on national security, Trump rejected the recommendations of his advisers to focus on policy and insulted Harris and other Democrats in personal terms.
One outside adviser to Trump, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that several advisers had told the former president that a continued focus on insults rather than policy could doom his chances in November.
Republican strategist Doug Heye said Trump could still win the race, which he predicted would be close, but to do that he should focus on inflation, illegal immigration and other issues that polling show many voters give him higher marks on.
![]()
Trump struggles to keep media spotlight in battle with Harris
Short Url
https://arab.news/5dgjp
Trump struggles to keep media spotlight in battle with Harris
- Trump's speeches on foreign policy, the economy and crime did little to dislodge the spotlight from Harris and received little attention, a stunning turnabout for a politician used to dominating headlines
- Harris has surged in the polls since entering the race, with polling aggregator website FiveThirtyEight putting her ahead of Trump in six of seven key battleground states
Irish minister defends ‘limited’ trade curbs on Israeli settlements
DUBLIN: Ireland’s planned curbs on trade with Israeli settlements will be limited strictly to goods, a minister told Reuters, offering the first clear signal on the scope of the contested legislation and rejecting accusations that the country is antisemitic.
Ireland has been preparing a law to curb trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, facing pressure at home to widen the scope of the ban from goods to services, while Israel and the United States want the bill scrapped.
Ireland has been one of the European Union’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s assault in Gaza, which authorities in the Palestinian enclave say has killed more than 67,000 people.
’EXTREMELY LIMITED MEASURE’, SAYS MINISTER
But Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defense, told Reuters that the bill is limited to the import of goods and that it would not become law this year.
“It’s an extremely limited measure, which would prohibit imports of goods from illegally-occupied territories,” he said in an interview. “Similar measures have already been brought in in a number of European countries.”
Byrne’s comments give insight into Dublin’s thinking as Ireland seeks to deflect pressure, including from US companies based in the country, to soften its criticism of Israel. Ireland’s bill is expected to help shape how other European nations launch similar curbs on trade with Israeli settlements.
The Irish government has signalled the bill is imminent but has yet to publicly announce its scope.
Byrne declined to say when it would be sent to parliament, as the government weighs the bill’s implications. “It’s certainly not going to be implemented this year,” he said.
Earlier this year, sources told Reuters that the government intended to blunt the law, curbing its scope to just a limited trade of goods, such as dried fruit, and not services.
That more ambitious move could have entangled companies in technology and other industries in Ireland doing business in Israel. Business lobby groups had sought to kill the idea.
Limiting the bill to goods only would catch just a handful of products imported from Israeli-occupied territories such as fruit that are worth just 200,000 euros ($234,660) a year.
LAWMAKER BLACK SAYS SHE STILL WANTS SERVICES BAN
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area. It says the settlements provide strategic depth and security.
On Gaza, Israel says it acted in self-defense following the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has repeatedly said it is committed to international law and tries to minimize harm to the civilian population of Gaza.
Frances Black, the lawmaker who proposed the Irish bill, told Reuters she would push to include a ban on services. “It will take a lot of work in the new year to get services included but that’s exactly what I’m prepared to do.”
Byrne also defended Ireland’s government, after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar recently posted a video online where he accused the Irish government of having an “antisemitic nature.”
Saar said the Irish government’s response had been slow to a local proposal to rename a park bearing the name of Chaim Herzog, the former president of Israel who was raised in Dublin.
Irish ministers had roundly criticized the idea and Dublin City Council has since delayed a decision on whether to remove the name.
US senator Lindsey Graham had also labelled Ireland a “cesspool of antisemitism.”
EU LAWMAKER REJECTS ANTISEMITISM CHARGE AS ‘NONSENSE’
“I reject outright that the country is in any way antisemitic,” said Byrne. “We’re deeply conscious of the contribution that Jewish people have made in Ireland.”
Ireland’s relations with Israel have been fraught. Last December, Israel shut its embassy in Dublin amid a row over Ireland’s criticism of its war in Gaza, including Ireland’s recognition of a Palestinian state last year.
Barry Andrews, an Irish member of the European parliament, urged Dublin to go ahead with its occupied territories bill. “Claims that Ireland is antisemitic are nonsense,” he said. Ireland has nothing to fear. We are no longer the only ones doing this.”
On Wednesday, Ireland’s central bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf was forced to abandon a public speech in Dublin by pro-Palestinian protesters objecting to the central bank’s earlier role in the sale of Israeli bonds.
Ireland has been preparing a law to curb trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, facing pressure at home to widen the scope of the ban from goods to services, while Israel and the United States want the bill scrapped.
Ireland has been one of the European Union’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s assault in Gaza, which authorities in the Palestinian enclave say has killed more than 67,000 people.
’EXTREMELY LIMITED MEASURE’, SAYS MINISTER
But Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defense, told Reuters that the bill is limited to the import of goods and that it would not become law this year.
“It’s an extremely limited measure, which would prohibit imports of goods from illegally-occupied territories,” he said in an interview. “Similar measures have already been brought in in a number of European countries.”
Byrne’s comments give insight into Dublin’s thinking as Ireland seeks to deflect pressure, including from US companies based in the country, to soften its criticism of Israel. Ireland’s bill is expected to help shape how other European nations launch similar curbs on trade with Israeli settlements.
The Irish government has signalled the bill is imminent but has yet to publicly announce its scope.
Byrne declined to say when it would be sent to parliament, as the government weighs the bill’s implications. “It’s certainly not going to be implemented this year,” he said.
Earlier this year, sources told Reuters that the government intended to blunt the law, curbing its scope to just a limited trade of goods, such as dried fruit, and not services.
That more ambitious move could have entangled companies in technology and other industries in Ireland doing business in Israel. Business lobby groups had sought to kill the idea.
Limiting the bill to goods only would catch just a handful of products imported from Israeli-occupied territories such as fruit that are worth just 200,000 euros ($234,660) a year.
LAWMAKER BLACK SAYS SHE STILL WANTS SERVICES BAN
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area. It says the settlements provide strategic depth and security.
On Gaza, Israel says it acted in self-defense following the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has repeatedly said it is committed to international law and tries to minimize harm to the civilian population of Gaza.
Frances Black, the lawmaker who proposed the Irish bill, told Reuters she would push to include a ban on services. “It will take a lot of work in the new year to get services included but that’s exactly what I’m prepared to do.”
Byrne also defended Ireland’s government, after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar recently posted a video online where he accused the Irish government of having an “antisemitic nature.”
Saar said the Irish government’s response had been slow to a local proposal to rename a park bearing the name of Chaim Herzog, the former president of Israel who was raised in Dublin.
Irish ministers had roundly criticized the idea and Dublin City Council has since delayed a decision on whether to remove the name.
US senator Lindsey Graham had also labelled Ireland a “cesspool of antisemitism.”
EU LAWMAKER REJECTS ANTISEMITISM CHARGE AS ‘NONSENSE’
“I reject outright that the country is in any way antisemitic,” said Byrne. “We’re deeply conscious of the contribution that Jewish people have made in Ireland.”
Ireland’s relations with Israel have been fraught. Last December, Israel shut its embassy in Dublin amid a row over Ireland’s criticism of its war in Gaza, including Ireland’s recognition of a Palestinian state last year.
Barry Andrews, an Irish member of the European parliament, urged Dublin to go ahead with its occupied territories bill. “Claims that Ireland is antisemitic are nonsense,” he said. Ireland has nothing to fear. We are no longer the only ones doing this.”
On Wednesday, Ireland’s central bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf was forced to abandon a public speech in Dublin by pro-Palestinian protesters objecting to the central bank’s earlier role in the sale of Israeli bonds.
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.