First Run News

Over the past few decades, some of the largest companies in the United States made a big bet: By stashing hundreds of billions of dollars of profits offshore, they could slash their taxes and bolster their profits. It would take a generation to see if the strategy would fully pay off, because the law allowed companies only to defer the taxes on overseas earnings, not to permanently avoid them.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — President Trump flew to Missouri on Wednesday to talk about tax cuts lifting Main Street and the middle class. But he kept getting sidetracked by repeating unfounded claims that the tax bill poised to pass the Senate would hurt rich people, himself included. “This is going to cost me a fortune, this thing, believe me,” Mr. Trump said, in the midst of a frequently meandering 45-minute speech to a festive crowd of 1,000. Then he invoked Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. “This is not good for me. Me, it’s not so — I have some very wealthy friends.

WASHINGTON — President Trump urged senators this month to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most Americans have health insurance and use the proceeds to slash the top tax rate paid by the richest Americans, a suggestion that pitted his priorities against his daughter and Republican senators intent on helping the middle class. In the end, the president accepted only a partial victory. He got the repeal of the health law’s individual mandate, but gave up on an income tax rate cut that would have directly benefited him personally.

The tax plan has been marketed by President Trump and Republican leaders as a straightforward if enormous rebate for the masses, a $1.5 trillion package of cuts to spur hiring and economic growth.

WASHINGTON — When Senate Republicans entered the final stages of the health care push earlier this year, it was clearly on its last legs.

WASHINGTON — The Senate moved closer to approving a sweeping overhaul of the tax code on Wednesday, voting to begin debate on the tax bill as Republican leaders continue trying to secure the votes for final passage. The procedural vote, which passed 52 to 48 along party lines, put the Senate on track for a final vote later this week. The push by Senate Republicans to pass an ambitious tax overhaul now enters a critical and politically delicate phase.

A longtime outsider in New York State politics has been identified as the link between WikiLeaks and Roger J. Stone Jr., an adviser to Donald J. Trump who appears to have had advance knowledge about hacked emails related to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. The outsider, Randy Credico, a comedian who has frequently run for office, posted on Twitter on Tuesday that he had received a subpoena requiring him to appear before the House Intelligence Committee next month.

LONDON — She organized “Christian patrols,” marched with crosses through heavily Muslim neighborhoods and accosted veiled women to rail against Islam. She was barred from entering any mosque in England.

Early Wednesday morning, President Trump set off international outrage when he shared a series of videos depicting Muslims in a negative light. The videos, taken in three countries at three different times, all have one thing in common: They all purport to show violence carried out by Muslims and offer no clear explanation of what is happening in front of t

WASHINGTON — President Trump touched off another racially charged furor on Wednesday by sharing videos from a fringe British ultranationalist group purportedly showing Muslims committing acts of violence, a move that was swiftly condemned by Britain’s prime minister as well as politicians across the spectrum. The videos Mr.