Top 5 US news stories

Faith in American Dream Plummets to Record Low, Poll Finds

Federal Appeals Court Rules Trump's Tariffs Illegal

Positive Fentanyl Tests Double Among U.S. Workers Since 2020

Trump's India Tariffs Backfire, Making Russian Oil Cheaper

Trump's Trade Tactics Push India Closer to China and Russia

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1. Faith in American Dream Plummets to Record Low, Poll Finds

America is becoming a nation of economic pessimists. A new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds that the share of people who say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living fell to 25%, a record low in surveys dating to 1987. More than three-quarters said they lack confidence that life for the next generation will be better than their own, the poll found. Nearly 70% of people said they believe the American dream—that if you work hard, you will get ahead—no longer holds true or never did, the highest level in nearly 15 years of surveys. Republicans in the survey were less pessimistic than Democrats, reflecting the longstanding trend that the party holding the White House has a rosier view of the economy. An index that combined six poll questions found that 55% of Republicans, as well as 90% of Democrats, held a negative view of prospects for themselves and their children. The discontent reaches across demographic lines. By large majorities, both women and men held a pessimistic view in the combined questions. So did both younger and older adults, those with and without a college degree and respondents with more than $100,000 in household income, as well as those with less.

WSJ

2. Federal Appeals Court Rules Trump's Tariffs Illegal

A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that many of President Trump’s most punishing tariffs were illegal, delivering a major setback to Mr. Trump’s agenda that may severely undercut his primary source of leverage in an expanding global trade war. The ruling, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, affirmed a lower court’s initial finding in May that Mr. Trump did not possess unlimited authority to impose taxes on nearly all imports to the United States. But the appellate judges delayed the enforcement of their order until mid-October, allowing the tariffs to remain in place so that the administration can appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The adverse ruling still cast doubt on the centerpiece of Mr. Trump’s trade strategy, which relies on a 1970s law to impose sweeping duties on dozens of the country’s trading partners. Mr. Trump has harnessed that law — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA — to raise revenue and to pressure other countries into brokering favorable deals. The law has typically been reserved for sanctions and embargoes against other nations.

NYT

3. Positive Fentanyl Tests Double Among U.S. Workers Since 2020

More Americans are testing positive for fentanyl use in randomized workplace drug tests, highlighting a persistent challenge for employers. The positive rate for urine tests indicating the presence of the synthetic opioid fentanyl was 1.13% in 2024. That is up from 0.91% in 2023 and double the rate in 2020, according to a recent analysis of more than eight million drug tests by Quest Diagnostics DGX 1.36% increase; green up pointing triangle, one of the U.S.’s largest drug-testing labs. “We’re seeing trends that are outside of the norm that we see for other drugs historically,” said Suhash Harwani, senior director of science for workforce-health solutions at Quest Diagnostics. Surprise random tests are a clearer indication of opioid use among workers than pre-employment screening, which subjects can prepare for ahead of time and even game to achieve negative results. Fentanyl-positive results were more than seven times higher in random tests for the general U.S. workforce than in drug screening taking place during the hiring process, the analysis showed.

WSJ

4. Trump's India Tariffs Backfire, Making Russian Oil Cheaper

Based on what’s happening in the black market for oil, the White House’s new import levy on India is backfiring. President Trump last week doubled India’s tariff rate to 50% to punish it for buying sanctioned Russian oil. Indian refineries have become major buyers of Moscow’s crude since the war in Ukraine began. The higher tariffs caused some ripples in the global black market, where around 6 million barrels of oil trade a day. Spooked Indian buyers dumped sanctioned Russian crude and ordered from the Middle East instead. Russian cargoes were bought by opportunistic buyers in China: Orders for Russia’s Urals crude that will be delivered in October increased almost 10-fold compared with levels for September, says Tom Reed, a vice president at commodity analytics company Argus Media. But Moscow cut the price of its oil to win back its Indian customers. A now $7 difference between a barrel of Urals and an equivalent grade from Oman is too good for India’s refineries to refuse. New Delhi also gave the green light for the purchases to continue, so flows are returning to normal. The unintended effect of the U.S. crackdown has therefore been to make Russia’s already discounted oil even cheaper for India. As of Friday, a barrel of Urals costs India $1 less than it did before the White House first threatened the higher tariff.

WSJ

5. Trump's Trade Tactics Push India Closer to China and Russia

TIANJIN, China—The leaders of China, Russia and India held hands at a regional summit and promised to cooperate, a display of unity that aimed in part at President Trump—and that underscores the challenges faced by his unorthodox approach to world affairs. No major decisions were adopted at the Tianjin summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was also attended by the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Belarus and Central Asian and Caucasus states. But the carefully choreographed imagery of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin embracing each other sent a powerful message to Washington as Trump seeks to contain Beijing, to break Russia’s bond with China, and to pry India away from Russian oil. The cordiality of the Tianjin confab will sound alarm bells in Western capitals, said Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute think tank in Australia. “President Trump’s gentle treatment of Vladimir Putin has done nothing to pull Russia away from China,” he said. “His rough treatment of Narendra Modi, on the other hand, is pushing India closer to Russia and warming up its relations with China.” India is the cornerstone of America’s strategy to prevent a Chinese domination of Asia. Sino-Indian relations have remained nearly frozen since deadly clashes along the two giants’ disputed border erupted in 2020. Modi traveled to China for the first time in seven years after Trump’s abrupt move to impose 50% tariffs on India, half of them as punishment for New Delhi buying cheap Russian oil, sparked widespread outrage in India.

WSJ

September 2 1945: Japan surrenders, bringing an end to WWII

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Sources

1. https://www.wsj.com/economy/wsj-norc-economic-poll-73bce003?mod=hp_lead_pos8
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/business/economy/trump-tariffs-appeals-court.html
3. https://www.wsj.com/business/fentanyl-work-drug-test-increase-0f0b1eff?mod=hp_lead_pos5
4. https://www.wsj.com/world/india/the-black-market-for-oil-blunts-trumps-india-tariffs-61d4f7d8?mod=hp_lead_pos11
5. https://www.wsj.com/world/chinese-russian-indian-leaders-pledge-cooperation-in-a-message-to-trump-faae8d0c?st=4vvX7E&reflink=article_copyURL_share

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