When questions get uncomfortable, President Trump doesn’t just change the subject with a deflection — he lashes out at the women journalists asking the questions. From insults ranging from "aggressive" to "piggy", the President's niece Mary Trump weighs in on why his attacks may be escalating, "he's feeling more and more comfortable being his worst self" and “he is terrified.” MS Now Contributor, April Ryan, who has personally experienced Trump's ire says, "It's not just the words, it's what they do."

Since the start of his second term, president Trump and his administration have enforced a series of policies that are both harmful to the environment and human health. Most recently, the Environmental Protection agency removed human causes of climate change from its website and declared it safe for humans to inhale double the previously recommended amount of formaldehyde. “It really is un-American,” said Washington governor Jay Inslee. “I can't think of a more significant thing he has done to damage the American value system and our physical health.”

Politicians across the aisle are increasingly focused on the cost of living, and according to Investopedia, affordability was the most-searched financial term of 2025. Ali Velshi and Investopedia editor-in-chief Caleb Silver pay a visit to Betty, a hypothetical working mother, to examine how affordability issues are impacting Americans. Housing costs, Silver tells Velshi, "have appreciated like no other costs," and Americans have no choice but to pay rising healthcare premiums because "it's not a want, it's an absolute need."

Government data shows that America’s official poverty rate is on the decline, but that’s based on an outdated calculation of the poverty threshold that ignores how life has changed in the six decades since it was first implemented. Many recent polls show that the majority of Americans are continuing to struggle under an economic system in which they “often find themselves running very hard simply to stay in place,” as financial strategist Michael Green puts it. Author and radio host Thom Hartmann adds, “This is really being driven by kind of an insane combination of bizarre economics and politics designed to enrich the rich.” 

Donald Trump tried to use his address to the nation to gaslight the country into thinking that the economy is doing better than it actually is. Despite what he says, the cost of living is much higher than it used to be and many people in the lower rungs of society are being squeezed out by the one-two punch of rising prices and the shrinking social safety net.

Critics say antitrust enforcement has weakened under President Trump, resulting in higher prices for millions of American consumers. “People are just sick of large corporations using and abusing their market power to make life worse for them,” says former FTC chair Lina Khan. The result is “inflating costs for everyday Americans,” she adds.

President Trump calls America’s affordability crisis a “hoax,” but two recent legal cases that have come to light suggest his administration may be fueling it. Critics say antitrust enforcement has weakened under Trump, resulting in higher prices for millions of Americans consumers. Former FTC chair Lina Khan goes further and accuses the administration of “handing out special favors to corporate lawbreakers.”

Over the course of the year, the Trump administration cut billions in funding for the National Institutes of Health, and $500 million worth of mRNA vaccine research. “There has been erosion of trust in science and public health and medicine,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the Texas Children’s Hospital. “But it’s not random, this occurred deliberately by bad actors for political motivation.” Dr. Francis Collins, the former director of the NIH, said he’s never seen anything like this. Cuts to NIH resulted in the cancellation of 383 clinical trials affecting 74,000 trial participants. “Many of these people very serious cancers for which we don't have a great answer, but maybe we're in the middle of discovering one, and then the trial gets stopped, and all that data is lost, and those people are basically left to drift,” Dr. Collins said. “This is immoral to drop somebody into that space.”

As the Trump administration cracks down on immigration and guts science research funding, Canada has launched an initiative to attract top scientists and highly-skilled H-1B visa holders away from the U.S. This comes after the Trump administration slapped $100,000 fees on new H-1B visas, which has an outsized impact on health care sector workers. Dr. Bobby Mukkamala says physicians are likely to go to Canada “because it's going to be a welcome mat instead of a bill.” However, former U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen says of Canada’s new initiatives: “I don't see them moving the needle in a significant way.”

A cultural phenomenon, a social media favorite, and a hit TV show, "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart is officially a trilogy spanning multiple generations. Written with Lockhart's trademark twist and literary references, these books, including the newest “We Fell Apart”, are an examination of privilege, reconciliation, and identity.

YouTube video by MS NOW

YouTube video by MS NOW

YouTube video by MS NOW

Donald Trump promised to lower prices on Day 1 of his second term. On Day 329, MS NOW's Ali Velshi explains what recent polls reveal about Americans struggling with everyday costs, including health ca...