WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is circulating a proposal that would extend subsidies to help consumers pay for coverage under the Affordable Care Act for two more years, as millions of Americans face spiking health care costs when the current tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year.

The draft plan suggests that President Donald Trump is open to extending a provision of Obamacare as his administration and congressional Republicans search for a broader policy solution to a fight that has long flummoxed the party. The White House stresses that no plan is final until Trump announces it.

The subsidies were at the heart of the Democrats’ demands in the government shutdown fight that ended earlier this month. Most Democratic lawmakers had insisted on a straight extension of the tax credits, which expire at the end of the year as a condition of keeping the government open.

Eligibility for the Obamacare subsidies, which were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic to help people afford health care coverage, would be capped at 700% of the federal poverty level, according to two people with knowledge of the proposal. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss a White House proposal that is in draft form.

The baseline tax credits that were originally part of the Affordable Care Act were capped at 400% of the federal poverty level, but that cut-off was suspended because of the temporary COVID-era credits that allowed middle- and higher-income people to benefit from subsidies too.

The White House would also require those on Obamacare, regardless of the type of coverage, to pay some sort of premium for their Obamacare plans. That would effectively end zero-premium plans for those with lower incomes, addressing a concern from Republicans that the program has enabled fraud. One option is a requirement that everyone pay 2% of their income, or at least $5 per month, for lower-tier plans.

Even as the White House’s proposal remains in flux, the notion of extending any part of President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement is likely to rankle conservatives who have sought to repeal and replace the law for well over a decade.

“Until President Trump makes an announcement himself, any reporting about the administration’s health care positions is mere speculation,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said Monday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday afternoon that Trump “is very much involved in these talks” and that he is “focused on unveiling a health care proposal that will fix the system and will bring down costs for consumers.”

But there are signs that parts of the nascent White House plan could get buy-in from Democrats. New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, one of eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus who voted to reopen the government earlier this month, said it “represents a starting point for serious negotiations.”

“The fact that President Trump is putting forward any offer at all to extend the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits shows that there is a broad understanding that inaction in this regard will cause serious harm to the American people,” Hassan said.

Fellow New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who led bipartisan efforts to end the government shutdown, added that “I’m glad the president is reportedly considering a serious proposal.”

“I’ve had constructive conversations with many of my Republican colleagues who I believe want to get this done,” Shaheen said. “They understand that the vast majority of people who benefit from these tax credits live in states the President won, and that the President’s own pollsters have underscored the enormous political urgency of Republicans acting.”

In 2017, Trump fell short in a push to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, an embarrassing defeat for Republicans who had just seized control of all levers of power in Washington. The GOP has failed to coalesce around a unified health care proposal since, and the expiration of the pandemic-era subsidies gives Trump and his party an opportunity to put their own stamp on the issue.

As the White House worked quietly on its plan, led by the Domestic Policy Council, key lawmakers on Capitol Hill have drafted their own proposals. For instance, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and others have proposed various ideas for redirecting the program’s spending on federal subsidies into health savings accounts that enrollees could use to shop for plans or defray out-of-pocket costs. Scott’s plan has been discussed with the White House multiple times since it was released Thursday, according to a person familiar not authorized to discuss the private conversations.

The draft of the White House plan would allow those in lower-tier plans, such as the bronze-level or catastrophic plans, to put money into health savings accounts.

It would also codify the “program integrity rule” to further help root out fraud, waste and abuse.

Americans shopping for Obamacare coverage have already faced the sticker shock of price hikes, because the window for selecting next year’s coverage began Nov. 1. Without congressional action, the average subsidized enrollee will face more than double their current cost in premiums next year, according to an analysis by the health care research nonprofit KFF.

Recent national polls have shown Americans are concerned about health care costs, along with broader affordability issues. Those concerns played out in elections earlier this month, which swept to power Democrats whose political messaging focused on the rising cost of living.

—

Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.

BANGKOK — China’s state security agency says it is cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths minerals that it says threaten national security, just weeks after Beijing and Washington agreed to make it easier for American firms to obtain from China those materials, which are critical for manufacturing and computer chip production.

In a report published Friday in the state-run newspaper Global Times, the Ministry of State Security said foreign “espionage and intelligence agencies” were colluding to steal rare earths-related goods by repackaging and relabeling rare metals to hide their Chinese origin.

In some cases the minerals were falsely declared as non-controlled items, mislabeled as such things as “solder paste,” mixed into other materials like ceramic tiles, or hidden in plastic mannequins or bottled water, it said.

It referred only to an unnamed “certain country” that it said lacked the capacity to make and refine its own rare earths.

Investigations had found Chinese criminals were involved, exploiting shipping and delivery channels to evade controls on exports of the materials used in many high-tech applications including electric vehicle batteries, it said.

The crackdown followed a report by Reuters earlier this month detailing how rare earths were being transshipped to the U.S. via Thailand and Mexico.

China is the main source for many strategically vital rare earths and it has moved to slow exports of such minerals in retaliation for steep import duties President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods since he returned to the White House and launched his crusade to overturn a global trading system he says is unfair to the United States and its workers.

That followed an earlier series of restrictions by Beijing on exports of such materials as gallium, germanium, antimony and tungsten in response to trade friction with the administration of then-President Joe Biden.

In April, Beijing imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements, under a Chinese law that applies to all exports, not just those bound for the U.S. market.

With the permitting process taking 45 days, the new requirement caused a pause in shipments, threatening to disrupt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S., meanwhile, added to restrictions on exports of advanced technologies to China.

Rare earths have remained at the center of China-U.S. talks aimed at staving off huge tariff increases that were postponed in May to allow time for negotiations on a broader trade agreement. The deadline for reaching a deal is Aug. 12.

An agreement announced in late June did not remove China’s permitting requirement on rare earths, but Beijing agreed to flexibility in dialing up or down the approval process as needed.

Computer chips are another key bone of contention.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Friday that it had taken note of a decision by the Trump administration to lift restrictions on exports of key semiconductors used in artificial intelligence made by Nvidia and its rival Advanced Micro Devices.

In April, the Trump administration announced it would restrict sales of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China — as well as MI308 chips from AMD.

But Commerce Ministry spokesman Wang Wentao said restoring healthy trade ties will require more action by Washington.

U.S. export controls on Ascend chips made by Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies have hurt the interests of Chinese companies, Wang told reporters in Beijing.

“We hope that the United States and China will meet each other halfway and correct their wrong practices through equal consultation, create a good environment for mutually beneficial cooperation between enterprises of both sides, and jointly maintain the stability of the global semiconductor production and supply chain,” he said.

SEATTLE — SEATTLE (AP) — Bill Gates says he will donate 99% of his remaining tech fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will now close in 2045, earlier than previously planned. Today, that would be worth an estimated $107 billion.

The pledge is among the largest philanthropic gifts ever – outpacing the historic contributions of industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie when adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett’s pledge to donate his fortune — currently estimated by Forbes at $160 billion — may be larger depending on stock market fluctuations.

Gates’ donation will be delivered over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years. The foundation already has an endowment of $77 billion built from donations from Gates, Melinda French Gates and Buffett.

“It’s kind of thrilling to have that much to be able to put into these causes,” Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press.

His announcement Thursday signals both a promise of sustained support to those causes, particularly global health and education in the U.S., and an eventual end to the foundation’s immense worldwide influence. Gates says spending down his fortune will help save and improve many lives now, which will have positive ripple effects well beyond the foundation’s closure. It also makes it more likely that his intentions are honored.

“I think 20 years is the right balance between giving as much as we can to make progress on these things and giving people a lot of notice that now this money will be gone,” Gates said.

In a league of its own

The pledge is “a welcome bit of boldness,” at a time when optimism is in short supply said, Rhodri Davies, a philanthropy expert and author of the publication, “Public Good by Private Means.”

“This announcement seems like yet more evidence that norms in foundation philanthropy might be shifting” away from a default of operating in perpetuity, he said.

The Gates Foundation has long been peerless among foundations — attracting supporters and detractors but also numerous unfounded conspiracy theories.

In addition to the $100 billion it has spent since its founding 25 years ago, it has directed scientific research, helped develop new technologies, and nurtured long-term partnerships with countries and companies.

About 41% of the foundation’s money so far has come from Warren Buffett and the rest from the fortune Gates made at Microsoft.

Started by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2000, the foundation plays a significant role in shaping global health policy and has carved out a special niche by partnering with companies to drive down the cost of medical treatments so low- and middle-income countries could afford them.

“The foundation work has been way more impactful than I expected,” Gates said, calling it his second and final career.

The foundation’s influence on global health — from the World Health Organization to research agendas — is both a measure of its success and a magnet for criticism. For years, researchers have asked why a wealthy family should have so much sway over how the world improves people’s health and responds to crises.

Gates said, like any private citizen, he can choose how to spend the money he earns and has decided to do everything he can to reduce childhood deaths.

“Is that a bad thing? It’s not an important cause? People can criticize it,” he said, but the foundation will stick to its global health work.

The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and statehouses from Melinda French Gates’ organization, Pivotal Ventures.

Major ambitions for the remaining 20 years

The foundation’s most prized metric is the drop in childhood deaths from preventable causes by almost half between 2000 and 2020, according to United Nations figures. The foundation’s CEO Mark Suzman is careful to say they do not take credit for this accomplishment. But he believes they had a “catalytic role” — for example, in helping deliver vaccines to children through Gavi, the vaccine alliance they helped create.

The foundation still has numerous goals — eradicating polio, controlling other deadly diseases, like malaria, and reducing malnutrition, which makes children more vulnerable to other illnesses.

Gates hopes that by spending to address these issues now, wealthy donors will be free to tackle other problems later.

The Gates Foundation had planned to wind down two decades after Gates’ death, meaning today’s announcement significantly moves up that timetable. Gates plans to stay engaged, though at 69, he acknowledged he may not have a say.

In its remaining two decades, the foundation will maintain a budget of around $9 billion a year, which represents a leveling off from its almost annual growth since 2006, when Buffett first started donating.

Suzman expects the foundation will narrow its focus to top priorities.

“Having that time horizon and the resources just puts an even greater burden on us to say, ‘Are you actually putting your resources, your thumb down, on what are going to be the biggest, most successful bets rather than scattering it too thinly?’” Suzman said, which he acknowledged was creating uncertainty even within the foundation about what programs would continue.

Gates is the only remaining founder

Major changes preceded the foundation’s 25th year.

In 2021, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced, and Buffett resigned as the foundation’s trustee. They recruited a new board of trustees to help govern the foundation, and in 2024, French Gates left to continue work at her own organization.

French Gates said she decided to step down partly to focus on countering the rollback of women’s rights in the U.S. At the ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, she said she wanted to leave the foundation at a high point.

“I so trusted Mark Suzman, the current CEO,” she said. “We had a board in place that I helped put in place, and I knew their values.”

Even as the foundation’s governance stabilizes, the road ahead looks difficult. Enduring conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, global economic turmoil and cuts to foreign aid forecast fewer resources coming to global health and development.

“The greatest uncertainty for us is the generosity that will go into global health,” Gates said. “Will it continue to go down like it has the last few years or can we get it back to where it should be?”

Even facing these obstacles, Gates and the foundation speak, as they often do, with optimism, pointing to innovations they’ve funded or ways they’ve helped reduce the cost of care.

“It’s incredible to come up with these low-cost things and tragic if we can’t get them out to everyone who needs them,” Gates said. “So it’s going to require renewing that commitment of those who are well off to help those who are in the greatest need.”

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

By THALIA BEATY, Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Bill Gates says he will donate 99% of his remaining tech fortune to the Gates Foundation, which will now close in 2045, earlier than previously planned. Today, that would be worth an estimated $107 billion.

The pledge is among the largest philanthropic gifts ever – outpacing the historic contributions of industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie when adjusted for inflation. Only Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett’s pledge to donate his fortune — currently estimated by Forbes at $160 billion — may be larger depending on stock market fluctuations.

Gates’ donation will be delivered over time and allow the foundation to spend an additional $200 billion over the next 20 years.

“It’s kind of thrilling to have that much to be able to put into these causes,” Gates said in an interview with The Associated Press.

His announcement Thursday signals both a promise of sustained support to those causes, particularly global health and education in the U.S., and an eventual end to the foundation’s immense worldwide influence. Gates says spending down his fortune will help save and improve many lives now, which will have positive ripple effects well beyond the foundation’s closure. It also makes it more likely that his intentions are honored.

“I think 20 years is the right balance between giving as much as we can to make progress on these things and giving people a lot of notice that now this money will be gone,” Gates said.

In a league of its own

The Gates Foundation has long been peerless among foundations — attracting supporters and detractors but also numerous unfounded conspiracy theories.

In addition to the $100 billion it has spent since its founding 25 years ago, it has directed scientific research, helped develop new technologies, and nurtured long-term partnerships with countries and companies.

About 41% of the foundation’s money so far has come from Warren Buffett and the rest from the fortune Gates made at Microsoft.

Started by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2000, the foundation plays a significant role in shaping global health policy and has carved out a special niche by partnering with companies to drive down the cost of medical treatments so low- and middle-income countries could afford them.

“The foundation work has been way more impactful than I expected,” Gates said, calling it his second and final career.

The foundation’s influence on global health — from the World Health Organization to research agendas — is both a measure of its success and a magnet for criticism. For years, researchers have asked why a wealthy family should have so much sway over how the world improves people’s health and responds to crises.

Gates said, like any private citizen, he can choose how to spend the money he earns and has decided to do everything he can to reduce childhood deaths.

“Is that a bad thing? It’s not an important cause? People can criticize it,” he said, but the foundation will stick to its global health work.

The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and statehouses from Melinda French Gates’ organization, Pivotal Ventures.

Major ambitions for the remaining 20 years

The foundation’s most prized metric is the drop in childhood deaths from preventable causes by almost half between 2000 and 2020, according to United Nations figures. The foundation’s CEO Mark Suzman is careful to say they do not take credit for this accomplishment. But he believes they had a “catalytic role” — for example, in helping deliver vaccines to children through Gavi, the vaccine alliance they helped create.

The foundation still has numerous goals — eradicating polio, controlling other deadly diseases, like malaria, and reducing malnutrition, which makes children more vulnerable to other illnesses.

Gates hopes that by spending to address these issues now, wealthy donors will be free to tackle other problems later.

The Gates Foundation had planned to wind down two decades after Gates’ death, meaning today’s announcement significantly moves up that timetable. Gates plans to stay engaged, though at 69, he acknowledged he may not have a say.

In its remaining two decades, the foundation will maintain a budget of around $9 billion a year, which represents a leveling off from its almost annual growth since 2006, when Buffett first started donating.

Suzman expects the foundation will narrow its focus to top priorities.

“Having that time horizon and the resources just puts an even greater burden on us to say, ‘Are you actually putting your resources, your thumb down, on what are going to be the biggest, most successful bets rather than scattering it too thinly?’” Suzman said, which he acknowledged was creating uncertainty even within the foundation about what programs would continue.

Gates is the only remaining founder

Major changes preceded the foundation’s 25th year.

In 2021, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced, and Buffett resigned as the foundation’s trustee. They recruited a new board of trustees to help govern the foundation, and in 2024, French Gates left to continue work at her own organization.

French Gates said she decided to step down partly to focus on countering the rollback of women’s rights in the U.S. At the ELLE Women of Impact event in New York in April, she said she wanted to leave the foundation at a high point.

“I so trusted Mark Suzman, the current CEO,” she said. “We had a board in place that I helped put in place, and I knew their values.”

Even as the foundation’s governance stabilizes, the road ahead looks difficult. Enduring conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, global economic turmoil and cuts to foreign aid forecast fewer resources coming to global health and development.

“The greatest uncertainty for us is the generosity that will go into global health,” Gates said. “Will it continue to go down like it has the last few years or can we get it back to where it should be?”

Even facing these obstacles, Gates and the foundation speak, as they often do, with optimism, pointing to innovations they’ve funded or ways they’ve helped reduce the cost of care.

“It’s incredible to come up with these low-cost things and tragic if we can’t get them out to everyone who needs them,” Gates said. “So it’s going to require renewing that commitment of those who are well off to help those who are in the greatest need.”

---

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Originally Published: May 8, 2025 at 5:36 AM PDT

With Paramount Global’s sale stuck before federal regulators and a potential settlement looming with President Trump in a dispute over CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Paramount co-Chief Executive George Cheeks on Wednesday sought to project a sense of business as usual.

Cheeks and CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach unveiled the network’s new prime-time schedule for reporters at Paramount’s Hollywood offices, trumpeting CBS’ prime-time winning streak of 17 consecutive seasons.

For the season that ends this month, CBS boasts eight of the top 10 prime-time shows in network TV. The broadcaster’s schedule of originals towers over competitors ABC and NBC. This past year, ratings grew 3% — a rare feat in an era of shrinking linear TV audiences.

But that strength has been undermined by the company’s high-profile tangles with Trump, who brought a $20-billion lawsuit over edits of a “60 Minutes” interview last fall with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

First Amendment experts have described Trump’s lawsuit, which alleges the “60 Minutes” episode was fraudulent, as frivolous. But the president has remained defiant, saying CBS should be punished.

Representatives of Trump and Paramount met with a mediator last week, but there was no immediate resolution of the lawsuit. Controlling shareholder Shari Redstone’s desire to end the wrangling with a settlement remains a cloud hanging over the company and its sale.

Cheeks acknowledged the turmoil Wednesday.

“This is an unprecedented, challenging time for the industry and for our company in particular,” Cheeks told about a dozen reporters gathered in a CBS conference room. “For me, what’s most important as a leader is how you show up in a difficult time. …

“My biggest goal is to make sure that the team feels supported and that we recognize that we have to focus on what we can control,” Cheeks said. “We’re going to get through this.”

When asked whether CBS News and the group at “60 Minutes” would continue to enjoy his support, Cheeks said succinctly: “My entire team.”

The struggles with Trump have reverberated throughout the company and prompted internal protests. The executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, resigned last month, citing increased corporate pressure over news coverage.

Correspondent Scott Pelley told “60 Minutes” viewers about Owens’ resignation in late April, noting that journalists had been facing increased corporate oversight.

Since Trump’s suit was filed last fall, “60 Minutes” has remained dogged in its coverage of the Trump administration’s policies.

On Sunday, Pelley reported on how Trump has used executive orders to target law firms that he accuses of “weaponizing” the justice system against him.

Redstone has expressed frustration with “60 Minutes” for months. She was unhappy with the program’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and its effects on Gaza. She reportedly has asked Cheeks whether there were more “60 Minutes” stories coming that could antagonize Trump.

A Redstone spokesperson declined to comment.

When asked how he would approach a potential uprising within CBS News should the company settle with Trump, Cheeks said, “I’m not going to answer that question.”

It’s been 10 months since Redstone agreed to sell Paramount, which includes the historic Melrose Avenue movie studio, Comedy Central, MTV and Paramount+, to David Ellison’s Skydance Media, a deal valued at $8 billion.

The deal would see the Redstone family vacating its perch in Hollywood after nearly 40 years. Ellison and executives with RedBird Capital Partners would take over control of the company. Cheeks is expected to stay on in a high-profile role, sources have said.

But the Federal Communications Commission has only begun preliminary steps to review the deal, which insiders had hoped would be finalized by early this spring.

The two sides face an early October deadline to gain approval and close the deal. Paramount needs the FCC to consent to the transfer of CBS station licenses to the Ellison family.

If the deal isn’t wrapped by mid-October, either side could back out. Paramount would owe a substantial breakup fee.

Early this year, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, opened a public inquiry into the “60 Minutes” Harris interview to gauge whether the edits rose to the level of news distortion.

The results of the inquiry are pending.

During the presentation, neither Cheeks or Reisenbach addressed Trump’s bombshell announcement Sunday that he planned to impose 100% tariffs on movies that are filmed in foreign countries, saying it was premature to speculate.

Questions swirl about the feasibility of his proposal, and Trump did not say whether television shows would be included. CBS films several shows in Canada.

Cheeks and Reisenbach told reporters their team was trying to block out the “noise” to focus on developing the new fall schedule, a sense of normalcy that was welcomed within CBS’ ranks. Next week begins the annual upfront sales season when advertisers place bets on the various network schedules.

“George really creates an environment where we almost feel like we have the space and room to operate in a noise bubble,” Reisenbach said.

CBS announced eight new series, including “Marshals,” a western drama from hitmaker Taylor Sheridan. Other new shows include “CIA,” “Sheriff Country,” a comedy called “DMV” and a country music talent search show, “The Road,” with Keith Urban and Blake Shelton.

Donnie Wahlberg, who will reprise his role from the CBS hit “Blue Bloods” in the new show “Boston Blue,” made a cameo appearance at the presentation, along with Sonequa Martin-Green, who will co-star as a detective.

The Wahlberg show picks up from the beloved Tom Selleck original. “No ‘Blue Bloods’ fans will be disappointed,” Wahlberg said.

Joining them will be a cook-off called “America’s Culinary Cup” with Padma Lakshmi and “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist.”

LONDON — Microsoft pledged Wednesday to fight any U.S. government order to halt data center operations in Europe as it sought to soothe concerns among European customers that trans-Atlantic tensions would lead to service disruptions.

The company’s president, Brad Smith, said it’s not something that officials are talking about in Washington, D.C. but it is a “real concern” for Microsoft’s customers across Europe, which include governments.

President Donald Trump has stoked tensions between the U.S. and Europe with his tariff-fueled trade war, and alarmed European leaders with policy changes, including pausing intelligence sharing with Ukraine, that throw into doubt his administration’s commitment to the trans-Atlantic relationship.

Smith, speaking at an event in Brussels, tried to allay concerns as he announced that the company was expanding data center operations across Europe.

“What we want Europeans to know is that they can count on us,” he said in a speech.

“In the unlikely event we are ever ordered by any government anywhere in the world to suspend or cease cloud operations in Europe, we are committing that Microsoft will promptly and vigorously contest such a measure using all legal avenues available, including by pursuing litigation in court,” Smith wrote in a Wednesday blog post.

He noted that Microsoft has experience fighting lawsuits from the previous Trump administration as well as from former President Barack Obama’s administration.

“If we ever find ourselves losing we will put in place business continuity arrangements” that include storing computer code in Switzerland that European partners can access, he said.

Microsoft is making five digital commitments to Europe, including increasing its data center capacity by 40% over the next two years and expanding data center operations in 16 countries, Smith said. He did not list the countries. The expansion will cost tens of billions of dollars annually. Smith declined to be more specific about the cost when asked by reporters.

The expansion comes amid calls for Europe to assert tech and data sovereignty by weaning itself off reliance from big U.S. cloud data service providers, including Microsoft, Amazon and, to a lesser extent, Google.

“Given recent geopolitical volatility, we recognize that European governments likely will consider additional options,” and Microsoft is committed to collaborating with European companies, Smith said.

In her first week as Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon is wasting no time working to fulfill President Trump’s wish to dismantle the department. Erica Meltzer, the national editor for “ChalkBeat,” joins “America Decides” to analyze.