*By Carlo Versano*
President Trump's economic adviser Larry Kudlow slammed Democratic tax and banking proposals as un-American in an interview with Cheddar's J.D. Durkin on Thursday.
"I'm afraid some of my Democratic friends are going back to a war on business," Kudlow said. He was referring to policies gaining traction on the left, including calls to raise the marginal tax rate on the wealthy and efforts to pass new banking regulations like an updated Glass-Steagall Act.
Government controls don't work for economic freedom, Kudlow said, pointing to the Soviet Union and Venezuela as failed experiments in socialism. He suggested Democratic lawmakers "do a historical survey" and suggested some were "being mischievous." He did not elaborate on specific behaviors.
"When President Trump came into office he made it very clear through his policies and through his statements that the war on business of the prior administration was off," Kudlow said.
During the interview, Kudlow also declined to comment on the White House's position on a pending merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, following a [report](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/t-mobile-executives-seeking-merger-approval-booked-more-than-52-nights-at-trumps-hotel--more-than-previously-known/2019/02/06/cd6fa7e6-29ca-11e9-b011-d8500644dc98_story.html?utm_term=.32690bde7905) that T-Mobile executives booked dozens of nights of rooms at the Trump International Hotel in Washington last year as they lobbied the administration to approve the deal.
A year ago, the president slammed another mega-merger between AT&T ($T) and Time Warner as "too much concentration of power."
The T-Mobile-Sprint deal is a "complicated, regulatory, legal" issue, Kudlow said. "This is not the morning for that."
Earlier in the day, Kudlow said there was still a "pretty sizable distance to go" between the U.S. and Chinese on trade negotiators.
Those comments sent the Dow down more than 300 points.
Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty to a felony on Friday just as jury selection was getting underway in his trial on charges accusing him of participating in efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election in Georgia.
Republicans dropped Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday as their nominee for House speaker, making the decision during a closed-door session after the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump failed badly on a third ballot for the gavel.
Canada has removed 41 of its diplomats from India as tensions rise between the two nations.
Mitt Romney said he believes right-wing media is the reason for the radicalization of the GOP party.
An Army private who fled to North Korea before being returned home to the United States last month has been detained by the U.S. military, two officials said Thursday night, and is facing charges including desertion and possessing sexual images of a child.
Israel bombarded Gaza early Friday, hitting areas in the south where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and it began evacuating a sizable Israeli town in the north near the Lebanese border, the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil.
The Justice Department has secured a $9 million settlement with Ameris Bank over allegations that it avoided underwriting mortgages in predominately Black and Latino communities in Jacksonville, Florida, and discouraged people there from getting home loans.
Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes on Thursday, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, and the country's defense minister told ground troops to “be ready” to invade, though he didn’t say when.
Addressing the nation from the Oval Office, President Joe Biden has made his case for major U.S. backing of Ukraine and Israel in a time of war.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that inflation remains too high and that bringing it down to the Fed's target level will likely require a slower-growing economy and job market.
