Hardball tactics over Jerusalem vote

going to be taken advantage of any longer.”

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said that she was “taking names” of the countries that vote against America. Haley sent a letter to fellow UN ambassadors warning that “the President will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us.”

The hardball tactics used by Trump and Haley further raised tensions over the US announcement on December 6. Today the general assembly of the UN holds a highlyunusual emergency session, to vote on Trump’s decision. Only 10 such emergency sessions have been convened since 1950. The vote to condemn Trump’s decision is expected to pass by a wide margin.

Meanwhile, Trump, who won the White House on a wave of populist promises, will likely save millions of dollars thanks to Congress’ approval of a tax plan he pledged was designed for the middle class.

Trump, who said he would be a “big loser” if the bill passed, stands to gain immensely from the Republican tax overhaul, including through a lower top tax rate and lucrative deductions for top-earning households, according to lawyers and tax experts who reviewed the final bill. Trump could also take advantage of benefits that will lift specific business sectors, including a last-minute tax deduction that helps many owners of high-value commercial real estate.

Daniel Shaviro, a tax professor at the New York University School of Law, said: “It’s so clear that he is financially much better off than previously.”