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Steve Cropper, the Booker T. & the MG’s guitarist and key songwriter and producer for the Memphis soul sound of Stax Records, has died aged 84, his family said.Cropper who co-wrote soul classics including “In the Midnight Hour” and “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay,” died peacefully on Wednesday in Nashville, according to a family statement posted on his official Facebook page.”Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world,” the statement said.”Steve’s influence on American music is immeasurable.”At Stax Records, Cropper accompanied artists such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas, and Eddie Floyd.He was a member of Booker T. & the MG’s, as well as a producer and songwriter. He co-wrote the group’s “Green Onions,” “Soul Limbo,” and “Time Is Tight,” as well as Redding’s hits “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and “Mr. Pitiful.”In 2023, Rolling Stone magazine listed Cropper 45th among its 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 1996, British magazine MOJO ranked him the second-best guitarist, after Jimi Hendrix.”Cropper has been the secret ingredient in some of the greatest rock and soul songs,” Rolling Stone said.”Think of the introduction to Sam and Dave’s ‘Soul Man,’ the explosive bent notes in Booker T.’s ‘Green Onions,’ or the filigreed guitar fills in Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” — they all bear Cropper’s signature sound, the quintessence of soul guitar.”Cropper was also the lead guitarist for the Blues Brothers, the band formed by comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.He contributed to the duo’s double platinum album, “Briefcase Full of Blues,” released in 1978, as well as four other albums. He also appeared in John Landis’s film “The Blues Brothers” (1980) and its sequel “Blues Brothers 2000” (1998).Cropper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of Booker T. and the M.G.’s. 

Experts appointed by the Trump administration’s vaccine-skeptic Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr are expected to review newborn hepatitis B vaccines on Thursday, considering whether to delay the shots despite opposition from many doctors.The newly anointed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) members are slated to meet for two days in Atlanta, Georgia, to follow-up on a September meeting that resulted in new recommendations for Covid-19 and measles vaccinations.Under Kennedy, ACIP has initiated a broad review of the safety of several vaccines, some of which have been in use for decades.The shift led by the nation’s health chief — who has long voiced anti-vaccine rhetoric despite his lack of medical credentials — is causing alarm in the American medical and scientific community. Experts have warned about dropping immunization rates and the return of deadly contagious diseases like the measles, which caused several deaths in 2025.”Any changes this ACIP makes will certainly not be based in facts or evidence, but rather ideology,” said Sean O’Leary, an infectious disease and pediatric specialist who has been critical of the lack of qualifications among the committee’s new members. – First 24 hours -Since 1991, US health officials have recommended the administration of the hepatitis B vaccine for newborn infants, as the viral liver disease exposes infected individuals to a high risk of death from cirrhosis or liver cancer.”Ninety percent of babies infected with hepatitis B will go on to have chronic liver disease. Of those, a quarter will die from their hepatitis B infection. These are entirely preventable deaths,” O’Leary said.But anti-vax groups and President Donald Trump alike have pushed back on the practice, with Trump insisting in September that children should not be vaccinated against hepatitis B until the age of 12, rather than soon after birth, saying: “Hepatitis B is sexually transmitted. There’s no reason to give a baby that’s almost just born hepatitis B.”Medical experts condemned Trump’s assertions, saying newborns can be infected by their mother during pregnancy or childbirth, and delaying vaccines would lead to lower vaccination rates overall because of inconsistent access to medical care in the United States.An analysis published by a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota this week looked at more than 400 studies, concluding there was no benefit to delaying the hepatitis B vaccine, but there are “critical risks of changing current US recommendations.”- Loss of trust -The repercussions of the ACIP’s vaccine recommendations are broad because the federal guidelines often dictate whether vaccines are paid for by health insurance in the United States, where childbirth can be a major expense and the price of a single vaccine can be hundreds of dollars.But the committee’s influence is waning amid withering criticism from the American scientific and medical community, with Democratic-led states announcing they will no longer follow its recommendations.”States are forming their own advisory committees because they don’t trust anything that’s going on under the auspices of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who is an avowed anti-vaccine activist and science denialist,” pediatrician Paul Offit told AFP. “Everybody that watches the ACIP meetings just holds their breath, waiting to see what dangerous thing they advance next.” 

As the United States deploys more military forces and carries out airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean, Venezuelans in South Florida are divided over what President Donald Trump’s next moves should be.Most people in the diaspora here long for a new leader to replace President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, a country that hundreds of thousands have fled amid economic and political crisis in recent years.”If there’s one common sentiment among all Venezuelans, it’s the hatred we have toward Chavismo and Maduro,” said Andrea Gonzalez, 38, referring to the left-wing ideology named for Maduro’s predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.But differences arise over how to remove Maduro.Some say force is the only option, especially after Maduro proclaimed himself president again in 2024 in elections that were deemed fraudulent by the opposition and other countries alike.Others, fearful of the casualties of war, prefer to exhaust diplomatic avenues.While the Trump administration has said it is targeting “narcoterrorists,” many question the true motivation behind Washington’s sudden military interest in the South American country with the most oil reserves on Earth. Within the diaspora, Trump’s image has been tarnished by his own immigration policy, which has cracked down on Venezuelans despite their overwhelming support for his pressure on Caracas.In recent weeks, Washington has sent the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, along with a fleet of warships, and Trump declared Venezuelan airspace “completely closed” for a supposed operation against drug trafficking.Trump also said that operations “by land” to stop alleged drug traffickers were imminent.- ‘Double-edged sword’ -From Caracas, Maduro has long claimed Washington intends to overthrow him.And in Doral, near Miami, where more than 40 percent of the population is of Venezuelan origin, Diana Gonzalez hopes that is the case.The 47-year-old interior designer supports a “100 percent” intervention in her country to overthrow a government she accuses of being corrupt, stealing elections and repressing its opponents.After years of unsuccessful peaceful attempts, that’s the only viable option, she said.”We can’t go on alone because it’s an unfair fight between people with flags and people with weapons,” she said, adding that “no one in Venezuela will fight for the regime.”Regarding the future, she envisions a government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader who is living in hiding.But 66-year-old Carmen considers military intervention a “double-edged sword” for the country she left in 2020.”If Maduro falls, it would be wonderful,” she said, declining to give her last name. “But if that happens, there will be many deaths. A war between the two countries would be a catastrophe.”- Tensions -Adelys Ferro, a Venezuelan activist for migrant rights, doubts the Trump administration’s intentions for her country — and tries to balance the personal with the political.”In the midst of our desperation and desire for freedom, we have minimized what a war means,” she said. “I can’t put my desire to see my mother again above the lives of Venezuelans.”She believes if Washington wants change in Caracas, it should take advantage of the current pressures to force a peaceful transition. And she fears the consequences of a conflict for the country’s inhabitants, including her mother.In Doral, many prefer to avoid the topic and there is a reluctance to talking about Trump. The mass arrests of Latino migrants promoted by his government and the revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to some 600,000 Venezuelans under previous president Joe Biden’s administration have hit the community hard.And that has created tensions.Andrea Gonzalez, who supports Trump’s initiatives in Venezuela but criticizes his immigration policies stateside, has experienced those tensions personally.”There are people in your family who” say she should be happy about the immigration raids and the end of immigration privileges “because you voted for that person,” Gonzalez said. “Resentment is building among Venezuelans.”She believes, however, that Trump can regain ground in her community if he successfully overthrows Maduro.”The same people who have been deported wouldn’t hate him so much if he achieved that,” she said.

Democrats in the US Congress released photos and videos Wednesday showing the luxury island home where convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly forced underage girls into sex with powerful men.The images of Epstein’s former Caribbean hideaway shed little new light on the complex scandal.However, they could add pressure on the Trump administration to comply with a requirement to release all the investigative files compiled during years of probes into Epstein’s activities — with potentially embarrassing and politically explosive repercussions.The 14 short videos and still photographs depict Epstein’s estate on Little Saint James island in the US Virgin Islands. Images show a luxurious villa, landscaping down to the seashore and a large outdoor swimming pool.A chalkboard in one room is inscribed with words that include “deception,” “power,” “truth,” and “political.” Other words have been redacted by the Democrats who released the images.President Donald Trump fought for months to prevent release of the Epstein files held by the Department of Justice.However, on November 19 he caved to pressure from Congress, including from his Republican Party, and signed a law compelling release of the materials.It remains to be seen how many of the extensive files will see the light of day, with the authorities likely to cite the need to protect ongoing investigations.Epstein, a successful financier, cultivated rich and powerful friends, and frequently hosted them at his lavish Caribbean home.He was convicted in 2008 on two sex crime counts, including solicitation of prostitution with a minor.He served only about a year in detention with unusually lenient conditions. He then avoided more serious charges until 2019 when he was arrested and charged with sex trafficking of minors.He died in pre-trial detention in New York the same year and the death was ruled to be a suicide.Trump and his allies spent years pushing theories about powerful Democrats being protected over involvement with Epstein, framing the case as a potent symbol of how rich men can hide behind lawyers, money and connections.But Trump himself was a longtime friend of Epstein, raising questions over what he knew about the notorious figure.After starting his second presidential term in January, Trump switched from having called for release of the investigative files on Epstein to calling the scandal a “hoax” and resisting any release.

A doctor who supplied “Friends” star Matthew Perry with ketamine in the months before he fatally overdosed, musing to a fellow physician over “how much this moron will pay” for the drug, was jailed in California on Wednesday.Salvador Plasencia, 44, is the first of five people to face justice over Perry’s 2023 death in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home.Plasencia was ordered to serve 30 months in prison for supplying the drug to the actor — who had well documented struggles with addiction — at grossly inflated prices.In a victim impact statement filed with the court, Perry’s mother Suzanne Perry and his stepfather, Keith Morrison, said Plasencia — who did not supply the fatal dose of the drug — had neglected his duty as a doctor.”Matthew’s recovery counted on you saying NO,” they wrote. “Your motives? I can’t imagine. A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people?”Plasencia’s attorneys, Karen Goldstein and Debra White, who had argued for a probationary sentence, said their client, who has surrendered his medical license, was filled with regret.”He is not a villain. He is someone who made serious mistakes in his treatment decisions involving the off-label use of ketamine — a drug commonly used for depression that does not have uniform standards,” they said after the sentencing.”The mistakes he made over the 13 days during which he treated Mr. Perry will stay with him forever.”Another doctor, Mark Chavez, pleaded guilty in October to conspiring to distribute ketamine to Perry.Plasencia allegedly bought ketamine off Chavez and sold it to the American-Canadian actor at hugely inflated prices.”I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia wrote in one text message presented by prosecutors.The four other people who have also admitted their part in supplying drugs to the actor will be sentenced over the coming months.They include Jasveen Sangha, the alleged “Ketamine Queen” who supplied drugs to high-end clients and celebrities, who could be jailed for up to 65 years.Perry’s live-in personal assistant and another man pleaded guilty in August to charges of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.- Addiction struggles -The actor’s lengthy struggles with substance addiction were well-documented, but his death at age 54 sent shockwaves through the global legions of “Friends” fans.A criminal investigation was launched soon after an autopsy discovered he had high levels of ketamine — an anesthetic — in his system.In a plea deal with prosecutors, Plasencia said he went to Perry’s home to administer ketamine by injection and distributed 20 vials of the drug over a roughly two-week period in autumn 2023.Perry had been taking ketamine as part of supervised therapy for depression.But prosecutors say that before his death he became addicted to the substance, which also has psychedelic properties and is a popular party drug.First airing between 1994 and 2004, the televised comedy “Friends” followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating adulthood, dating and careers, drew a massive following and made megastars of previously unknown actors.Perry’s role as the sarcastic man-child Chandler brought him fabulous wealth, but hid a dark struggle with addiction to painkillers and alcohol.In 2018, he suffered a drug-related burst colon and underwent multiple surgeries.In his 2022 memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” Perry described going through detox dozens of times.”I have mostly been sober since 2001,” he wrote, “save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps.”

An explosive docuseries about Sean “Diddy” Combs — produced by his longtime rival 50 Cent — has been released on Netflix, despite the disgraced music mogul’s attempts to block its airing.The four-part “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” chronicles the career and dramatic fall of the 56-year-old rapper and record executive, who was sentenced in October to 50 months in prison for prostitution-related crimes.During his trial, a New York court heard how he coerced his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura into performing so-called “freak offs” — sexual marathons with hired men that Combs directed and sometimes filmed.The Netflix series features interviews with other associates who detail his allegedly predatory behavior, as well as with two people who claim that the hip-hop star sexually assaulted them.Combs’s lawyers had sought to halt the show’s Tuesday release, sending a cease and desist letter to Netflix a day earlier claiming an apparent copyright violation.They point to footage in the show of Combs speaking with his legal team days before his September 2024 arrest, in which he urges them to “find somebody that will work with us, that has dealt in the dirtiest of dirty business of media and propaganda.”Juda Engelmayer, Combs’s spokesperson, told AFP that the artist had been capturing the video to “tell his own story, in his own way.””It is fundamentally unfair, and illegal, for Netflix to misappropriate that work.”Netflix, in a statement cited by the Washington Post, said the footage of Combs was legally obtained.Engelmayer also complained that rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson was allowed to executive produce the documentary series, calling him a “longtime adversary with a personal vendetta who has spent too much time slandering Mr Combs.”The pair have a feud that dates back to the mid-2000s, when 50 Cent released a diss track accusing Combs of knowing who murdered famed rapper The Notorious B.I.G. in 1997.Combs was convicted in July of two counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution. But a jury acquitted him of the most serious charges: sex trafficking and racketeering.He is currently being held in a low-security federal prison some 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of New York. He is due to be released in May 2028.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believes Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end the Ukraine war despite inconclusive talks in Moscow, as US officials prepared for a follow-up meeting with Kyiv’s top negotiator.Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner huddled into the early hours with Putin in the Kremlin but reached no breakthrough on halting Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.The Kremlin said afterward it found parts of the US plan to end the war unacceptable, even though the proposal includes Ukraine ceding parts of the eastern Donbas region it still holds nearly four years after Russia’s invasion.”I can tell you that they had a reasonably good meeting with President Putin,” Trump said when an AFP reporter asked him about the talks, adding afterwards that the talks were “very good.”Trump said it was too soon to tell what would happen “because it does take two to tango.”Pressed on whether Witkoff and Kushner got any sense that Putin genuinely wanted to halt Russia’s nearly four-year-old invasion, Trump replied: “He would like to end the war. That was their impression.”Trump added that Ukraine “pretty well” backed the US proposal, although he added that Kyiv should have done so earlier when he had a notoriously heated meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval office in February.Witkoff and Kushner were now due to meet top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov in Florida on Thursday, two US officials told AFP, to follow up on the Kremlin talks.- ‘Successes of the Russian army’ -But while the White House had voiced optimism ahead of the Kremlin talks, Moscow said that the two sides had failed to reach a compromise and that more work was needed.The Kremlin added Wednesday that its army’s recent battlefield successes in Ukraine had bolstered its position and that Kyiv’s ties to NATO remained a key question.Russia’s advance in eastern Ukraine gathered pace last month and Putin has said in recent days that Moscow is ready to fight on to seize the rest of the land it claims if Kyiv does not surrender it.”The progress and nature of the negotiations were influenced by the successes of the Russian army on the battlefield in recent weeks,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, who took part in the US-Russia talks, told reporters, including AFP.Moscow insisted it was incorrect to say Putin rejected the plan in its entirety.It also said Russia was still committed to diplomacy, despite Putin’s stark warning earlier this week that Moscow was prepared to fight Europe if it wanted war.”We are still ready to meet as many times as is needed to reach a peace settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. – ‘Opportunity to end the war’ -In Kyiv, Zelensky said that though a window of opportunity for peace has opened, it must be accompanied by pressure on Moscow. “The world now clearly feels that there is an opportunity to end the war, and the current activity in negotiations must be supported by pressure on Russia,” he said in a regular evening address. The fresh talks come as NATO pledges to buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of US arms for Kyiv. NATO chief Mark Rutte said it was positive that peace talks were ongoing, but that the alliance should make sure that “Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight going”.Russian troops have been grinding forward across the front line against outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian forces.Earlier this week, Moscow claimed to have captured the important stronghold of Pokrovsk, but a Ukrainian army unit fighting in the city said urban combat was still ongoing.European countries have expressed fears Washington and Moscow will reach agreements without them and have spent the last weeks trying to amend the US plan so that it does not force Kyiv to capitulate. burs-dk

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched an immigration crackdown on Wednesday in New Orleans, the latest Democratic-run city to be targeted by the Trump administration.”The men and women of DHS law enforcement have landed in The Big Easy,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said on X, using the nickname for the Louisiana city.Noem said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents “will remove the worst of the worst from New Orleans, Louisiana, after the city’s sanctuary politicians have ignored the rule of law.”Sanctuary policies enacted by the local authorities in New Orleans limit the cooperation of local law enforcement with federal immigration agents.The DHS crackdown in New Orleans comes a day after President Donald Trump said he plans to send National Guard troops to the southern US city, an action he has taken previously in Los Angeles, Washington and Memphis.”We’re going to New Orleans pretty soon,” Trump said. “The governor called me. He’d like to have us go there. He’s asked for help in New Orleans and we’re going to go there in a couple of weeks.”Trump has said the troops are needed in the cities to combat crime and assist with the sweeping immigration crackdown he pledged to carry out during his White House campaign. Critics dispute that, with the mayors of Los Angeles and Memphis both saying the troops are not needed.The governor of Louisiana is a Republican but the mayor-elect of New Orleans is a Democrat.Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, who takes up her post on January 12, expressed concern on Wednesday about how immigration raids have been carried out in other cities.”Do we want the most violent criminals off of our streets? Absolutely. Yes,” Moreno was quoted as saying by NOLA.com. “I don’t think anyone is going to object to that.”But what we’ve been seeing across the country and in other cities is that Border Patrol appears to be targeting brown people and potentially violating even some of their due process rights.”She also expressed concern about federal agents concealing their faces with masks and not being readily identifiable, NOLA.com reported.”If you are a masked person and not necessarily identifiable as an officer, you’re coming up on people and grabbing them, it can be a real safety issue for everyone around, including the Border Patrol or ICE agent,” Moreno said.- ‘Restoring law and order’ -DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the New Orleans operation would target “illegal criminal aliens” wanted for “home invasion, armed robbery, grand theft auto, and rape.””Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, we are restoring law and order for the American people,” McLaughlin said in a statement.The Trump administration claims that most of the undocumented migrants swept up in the immigration crackdown have committed or are wanted for crimes.The Cato Institute, in a study published last month, said however that only five percent of those taken into ICE custody since October 1 had a violent criminal conviction and 73 percent had no criminal conviction at all.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believes Vladimir Putin wants to end the Ukraine war, despite talks between the Russian president and American negotiators ending without a deal.Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner negotiated into the early hours with Putin in the Kremlin but reached no breakthrough for a settlement to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.The Kremlin said Wednesday that its army’s recent battlefield successes in Ukraine had bolstered its position, adding that the two sides failed to find a “compromise” and that Kyiv’s ties to NATO remained a key question.”I thought they had a very good meeting yesterday with President Putin,” Trump said when an AFP reporter asked him in the Oval Office how the negotiations had gone.”What comes out of that meeting? I can’t tell you, because it does take two to tango.”Pressed on whether Witkoff and Kushner got any sense that Putin genuinely wanted to halt Russia’s nearly four-year-old invasion, Trump replied: “He would like to end the war. That was their impression.””Their impression was very strongly that he’d like to make a deal,” he added.Witkoff and Kushner brought an updated version of a US plan to end the war, which included Ukraine ceding parts of the eastern Donbas region and agreeing not to join NATO.- ‘Successes of the Russian army’ -But while the White House had voiced optimism ahead of the Kremlin talks, Moscow said afterward it had found parts of the plan unacceptable.Russia’s advance in eastern Ukraine gathered pace last month and Putin has said in recent days that Moscow is ready to fight on to seize the rest of the land it claims if Kyiv does not surrender it.”The progress and nature of the negotiations were influenced by the successes of the Russian army on the battlefield in recent weeks,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, who took part in the US-Russia talks, told reporters, including AFP.Moscow insisted it was incorrect to say Putin rejected the plan in its entirety.It also said Russia was still committed to diplomacy, despite Putin’s stark warning that Moscow was prepared to fight Europe if it wanted war.”We are still ready to meet as many times as is needed to reach a peace settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Trump said Ukraine was “pretty well” on board with a US-backed proposal to end the conflict, but said Kyiv should have agreed to a deal when he had an angry encounter with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office back in February.”When I was in his office and I talked about no cards, I said, ‘you have no cards,’ that was the time to settle,” he added.- ‘Opportunity to end the war’ -The fresh talks come as NATO pledges to buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of US arms for Kyiv. NATO chief Mark Rutte said it was positive that peace talks were ongoing, but that the alliance should make sure that “Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight going”.Zelensky said that though a window of opportunity for peace has opened, it must be accompanied by pressure on Moscow. “The world now clearly feels that there is an opportunity to end the war, and the current activity in negotiations must be supported by pressure on Russia,” he said in a regular evening address. Russian troops have been grinding forward across the front line against outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian forces.Earlier this week, Moscow claimed to have captured the important stronghold of Pokrovsk, but a Ukrainian army unit fighting in the city said urban combat was still ongoing.European countries have expressed fears Washington and Moscow will reach agreements without them and have spent the last weeks trying to amend the US plan so that it does not force Kyiv to capitulate. burs-dk/md

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday a reset of Joe Biden’s fuel-economy standards, arguing it will lower US car prices — but critics warned it would worsen climate change and leave drivers paying more at the pump.Trump was flanked in the Oval Office by the CEOs of Ford and Stellantis and a senior General Motors official, a show of buy-in from Detroit’s “Big Three.””My administration is taking historic action to lower costs for American consumers, protect American auto jobs and make buying a car much more affordable,” the US president said.”Today is a victory (for) common sense and affordability,” Ford CEO Jim Farley chipped in.Environmentalists quickly pushed back, saying the windback stood out even among Trump’s many anti-green actions because of its outsized impact on car-dependent America.”Trump is taking a wrecking ball to the biggest single step any nation has ever taken to combat oil use, global warming pollution, and helping save consumers money at the gas pump,” Dan Becker, an activist with the Center for Biological Diversity, told AFP. At stake are the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, created in 1975 in response to the Arab oil embargo, which require vehicles to achieve the “maximum feasible” mileage per gallon. Under the proposed rule, the administration would roll back past and planned efficiency increases, targeting a fleetwide average of 34.5 miles per gallon by model year 2031 — “no better than what American cars are getting today,” said Becker, noting CAFE figures overstate real-world mileage by roughly 25 percent.Trump’s Department of Transport argues that Biden officials improperly factored in electric and hybrid vehicles, saying the standards would be unattainable for gasoline-powered cars and would effectively force a shift in the market.Gina McCarthy, a former senior official under Biden and Barack Obama, countered the move would not only worsen climate change but harm the auto industry by slowing its shift to electric vehicles.”The rest of the world will continue to innovate and create cleaner cars that people want to buy and drive, while we’re forced to sit in our clunkers, paying more for gas, and pumping out more tailpipe emissions.”- Trump EV fight -Trump has railed against what he calls an EV “mandate” — a stance that puts him at odds with his on-again, off-again billionaire ally Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO whose company still dominates the US EV market.Republicans in Congress have repealed clean-energy tax credits in a major tax and spending bill, and targeted California’s ability to set its own vehicle-emission limits.Throughout 2025, GM and other US automakers have curtailed or pushed back new EV plant capacity.But whether savings from reduced EV investment will filter through to consumers remains unclear.While the shift away from EVs does allow automakers to delay or forego billions of dollars in new investments, some funds are being steered into new initiatives to add US carbuilding capacity in light of Trump’s tariffs.”Meeting high fuel economy standards has been challenging for the auto industry and has added to vehicle cost,” Charlie Chesbrough, an analyst with Cox Automotive, told AFP.”However, consumers like fuel-efficient vehicles. This year traditional hybrids are up double digits from last year while gas vehicles are basically flat,” he added.”Since most consumers don’t have transportation alternatives available, people fear high gas prices. And good MPG is a way to mitigate that risk.”