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Former President Trump and his top foreign policy advisers are putting Chinese President Xi Jinping on notice, threatening to enact a more aggressive U.S. policy toward China as Trump looks increasingly likely to return to the White House.

There’s bipartisan support in Washington for a tough U.S. approach to China, but Trump’s former top officials, who are likely to serve in a second administration, are advocating for a larger U.S. military buildup in Asia and punishing tariffs on Chinese imports.

As Vice President Kamala Harris marches toward the Democratic nomination, climate advocates like what they see.

Even before he’s finished his term, President Joe Biden made his stamp as the most pro-climate president in history. And Harris is an exciting climate candidate in her own right, multiple advocates told CNN.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ emergence as the leading Democratic presidential contender has garnered a renewed sense of optimism among environmentalists who say she offers a strong track record of climate and clean energy policies and would continue to advance that work in the White House.

“I’m ecstatic — I couldn’t be more thrilled,” Leah Stokes, an associate professor of climate and energy policy at UC Santa Barbara, said Monday.

Vice President Kamala Harris would largely adopt President Biden’s economic blueprint on major issues such as taxes, trade and immigration if she becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, despite her previous views that leaned more progressive, analysts say.

But she could be more aggressive on antitrust enforcement, consumer protection and climate change, some experts say.

Vice President Kamala Harris has for years made the environment a top concern, from prosecuting polluters as California’s attorney general to sponsoring the Green New Deal as a senator to casting the tiebreaking vote as vice president for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in U.S. history.

As she runs for the White House, Harris is widely expected to try to protect the climate achievements of the Biden administration, a position that could resonate with voters during a summer of record heat. A clear majority of Americans, 65%, wants the country to focus on increasing solar, wind and other renewable energy and not fossil fuels, according to a May survey by the Pew Research Center.

Kamala Harris has a strong record on the environment that will provide a vivid contrast with Donald Trump, who has vowed to rescind climate change policies should he return to the White House, according to green advocates who have welcomed the prospect of a Harris presidency.

“We are confident that she is ready to carry forward President Biden’s historic legacy and set a new high bar for climate ambition in America,” said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen, one of a raft of green groups, including Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and the NRDC Action Fund that have now endorsed the leading contender for the Democratic nomination.

Would Donald Trump follow through on his more extravagant anti-democratic fantasies? His rhetoric certainly suggests so, but with Trump you never know.

If Trump does carry out his threats, we are likely to see something unlike anything America has lived through: an incipient dictatorship that invites massive resistance. What would that look like? Could it restrain Trump? Would it lead to mass arrests? What would blue-state governors and mayors do? And how should citizens be preparing?

How Will Harris Influence IP Law in the Biden Administration?

The incoming vice president’s Senate record suggests how the administration may tackle IP policy issues.

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - A potential Democratic administration led by Vice President Kamala Harris would likely advance President Joe Biden's agenda of tough financial rules, an unwelcome prospect for Wall Street banks, crypto companies and other players that have chafed under the current administration.

Harris is the frontrunner to win the Democratic nomination after Biden exited the presidential race on Sunday and endorsed her.

Presidential administrations have affected intellectual property (IP) policy since the very beginning of United States history. In his first State of the Union address in 1790, President George Washington discussed patents. Since then, people have predicted how IP policy will evolve under each administration. As the old adage goes, we can better understand where IP policy is going if we know where it’s been. Clues over the past 20 years can help us better anticipate how President Biden’s administration may impact IP. The reality is, however, that federal law and policy are shaped by the actions of all three branches of the US government, so any predictions must be placed into context.

Obama Administration’s Platform

While the outcome of the presidential election is of course unknown, and reporting about the campaigns is dominated by more controversial topics, it is nevertheless worthwhile to consider the implications of a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration on intellectual property law and policy.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda offers insight into the priorities and policies that would affect intellectual property rights.

Today we take a closer look at the IP policies favored by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and in particular the DEFEND act, a piece of legislation sponsored by the incoming vice president during her time in the Senate. Harris had a history of pursuing IP violators even before she entered the Senate. As attorney general of California, she sued textile producers in India and China for copyright piracy, and also for the misappropriation of properly licensed software. As vice president, Harris will have influence both over executive branch policy and legislation while presiding over a closely divided Senate.

In the Senate, Harris sponsored the Deterring Espionage by Foreign Entities through National Defense (DEFEND) Act, which increases damages and extends the statute of limitation for trade secret theft, and (perhaps more importantly) facilitate extraterritorial prosecution of violators. This last would allow claimants recourse for damages inflicted abroad, and has long been considered a core consideration for maintaining secure international supply chains. While this never became law, it is nevertheless revelatory regarding Harris’ thinking on IPP.

At the first Democratic presidential debate in 2019, Kamala Harris, then a senator from California, unleashed a scathing critique of the Trump economy.

The future vice president billed President Donald J. Trump’s tax cuts as a giveaway to the rich, argued that the booming stock market was leaving the middle class behind and warned that his reckless trade agenda was hurting farmers in the heartland.

Taken as a whole, Friday’s figures suggest that the worst streak of inflation in four decades, which peaked two years ago, is nearing an end. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that this summer’s cooling price data has strengthened his confidence that inflation is returning sustainably to the central bank’s target level of 2%.

Lower interest rates and weaker inflation, along with a still-solid job market, could also brighten Americans’ assessment of the economy and influence this year’s presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris vowed twice this week to revive Democratic plans to expand the welfare state, previewing a campaign message against Donald Trump and potentially signaling one of her top priorities should she be elected.

In remarks to campaign staff in Delaware on Monday and a campaign speech in Wisconsin on Tuesday, the vice president focused on key parts of President Biden’s domestic agenda that failed to pass because of resistance from Republicans and centrist Democrats. In both speeches, Harris highlighted the need for legislation to expand paid family leave, housing assistance, child care and eldercare — parts of the “care economy” that advisers say have been one of her top priorities in the administration.

Kamala Harris' economic policies may largely mirror Biden's, from taxes to immigration

Vice President Kamala Harris would largely adopt President Biden’s economic blueprint on major issues such as taxes, trade and immigration if she becomes the Democratic presidential nominee, despite her previous views that leaned more progressive, analysts say.

WASHINGTON — A key question is looming for Vice President Kamala Harris as she edges closer to gaining the Democratic presidential nomination: Can she turn the Biden-Harris economic record into a political advantage in a way that President Joe Biden failed to do?

In some ways, her task would seem straightforward: The administration oversaw a vigorous rebound from the pandemic recession, one that shrank the U.S. unemployment rate to a half-century low of 3.4% in early 2023 — far below the painful 6.4% rate when Biden and Harris took office in 2021. The rate stayed below 4% for more than two years, the longest such stretch since the 1960s.

Though Trump aides had wanted Biden to remain in the race, they have argued a campaign against Harris — who they believe is the most likely Democratic nominee — wouldn’t be all that different from their race against Biden.

They will try to tie her to what they see as the Biden administration’s failures, saying Harris is complicit in everything that occurred under Biden’s watch. That’s particularly true when it comes to the handling of the Southern border. Harris had been tapped to lead the administration’s response to the border crisis.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even though President Joe Biden won’t be on the ballot in November, voters still will be weighing his legacy.

As Vice President Kamala Harris moves to take his place as the Democratic standard-bearer, Biden’s accomplishments remain very much at risk should Republican Donald Trump prevail.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris vowed twice this week to revive Democratic plans to expand the welfare state, previewing a campaign message against Donald Trump and potentially signaling one of her top priorities should she be elected.

In remarks to campaign staff in Delaware on Monday and a campaign speech in Wisconsin on Tuesday, the vice president focused on key parts of President Biden’s domestic agenda that failed to pass because of resistance from Republicans and centrist Democrats. In both speeches, Harris highlighted the need for legislation to expand paid family leave, housing assistance, child care and eldercare — parts of the “care economy” that advisers say have been one of her top priorities in the administration.