Raphael Stevens

Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis has a plan to turn around Stellantis’ truck brand that includes bringing back Hemi V-8 engines, mechanical bulls and many other untraditional marketing techniques.
Kuniskis said he’s “flying without a parachute,” since unretiring last year, while going all in on a renaissance for Ram.
Ram’s sales have declined by 38% since a record year in 2019, including a 41% downfall in highly important full-size pickup trucks.

Stellantis’ Ram display is seen at the New York International Auto Show on April 16, 2025.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis reemerged from a seven-month retirement late last year saying he “missed the fight” and admitting the Stellantis brand was getting smashed in the marketplace by its competition.
Kuniskis walked on stage during a media event as the speakers blared Detroit rapper Eminem singing “Guess who’s back, back again.” He promised an aggressive turnaround for the embattled truck brand that will extend through 2026.

The plan includes more than 25 announcements through next year. Thus far they have included a return to NASCAR with mechanical bull rides and a new race truck, the resurrection of Hemi V-8 engines with a new “Symbol of Protest,” and, most recently, a new industry-leading powertrain warranty for its Ram products.
Since returning after a CEO shake-up, Kuniskis is invigorated. He’s “flying without a parachute,” as he recently described it, while playing with borrowed time and house money since his unretirement. He’s going all in to launch a renaissance of Ram, which has experienced a 38% sales decline since its record year back in 2019.

Ram Trucks CEO Tim Kuniskis inside the brand’s Ram 1500 NASCAR Truck Series concept.
Stellantis

“I have perfect clarity of my return because, after I left and had a chance to rest, I realized I didn’t need to leave, I just needed a break. Then I was itching to come back,” Kuniskis told CNBC during a recent interview in his relatively undecorated office. (He gave many of his career keepsakes away when he retired.) “We have a window of opportunity here to fix a lot of stuff, and some people are stressed out by that opportunity, and some people are fueled by it. Luckily, our team is fueled by it.”
Kuniskis, who was leading Ram and Dodge upon his retirement mid-last year, said an array of issues led to the brand’s current situation, including the automaker’s pricing, model launch cadence and, most importantly, problems with a redesign of its Ram 1500. That redesign led to production issues that are still being worked out more than a year after the vehicle’s launch.
“We tried to do too many things at once,” Kuniskis said of the Ram 1500. “We literally changed everything instead of doing a cadence of the changes.”

Kuniskis didn’t touch on the larger issues Stellantis was dealing with under former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, who left the automaker in December. Kuniskis was recruited back to Ram amid the change in leadership.

Turnaround plan

Stellantis reveals its Ram 1500 NASCAR concept at the Michigan International Speedway in June 2025.
Stellantis

Ram is one of the most crucial of Stellantis’ 14 brands — if not the most important. It competes in the highly profitable full-size pickup truck market and industry experts said its success is key to the company reestablishing itself in the commercial sales market.
“It’s kind of the backbone of their business,” said Joseph Yoon, consumer insights analyst at CarMax’s data and consumer car shopping site Edmunds.com. “The market share is hugely important.”
Market share for the Ram 1500 in the U.S. full-size pickup truck market has plummeted from 17.8% in 2019 to 8.4% through roughly the first half of this year, according to Edmunds.

Ram’s sales of full-size trucks, which includes the 1500 and larger versions, have declined 41% from 2019 through 2024, according to company data, allowing competitors such as General Motors and Toyota Motor to increase sales during that time.
While it’s early into the turnaround plan, which goes into next year, Ram has already resurrected its popular Hemi V-8 engine; reintroduced lower-priced pickup truck models; announced a return to NASCAR; and introduced a 10-year/100,000 limited powertrain warranty for new trucks across its lineup, among other things.
Kuniskis has said further announcements could encompass several new potential vehicles, including a passenger van and midsize pickup truck that’s expected in 2027. He’s also launched a “Nothing Stops Ram” marketing campaign and delayed the brand’s electrified pickup trucks amid low market demand.
“There’s always a method to the madness,” Kuniskis said. “There’s always a business reason behind something that seems like fun.”

Part of Ram’s new marketing efforts include a return to NASCAR truck racing, where race fans can “Ride the Hemi” – a mechanical bull ride that looks like the brand’s new “Symbol of Protest” Hemi logo that features the engine with a ram’s head.
Stellantis

Part of that “fun” includes a return to NASCAR truck racing, where fans can “Ride the Hemi” – a mechanical bull ride that looks like the brand’s new “Symbol of Protest” logo that features the engine with a ram’s head. If riders can stay on for 15 seconds, they receive a special-edition T-shirt that can’t be purchased.
Its splashy return to NASCAR earlier this month in Michigan also included a new truck design, as well as a vehicle doing doughnut burnouts.
Kuniskis declined to disclose sales targets for the Ram brand or its full-size pickup trucks, but he said the company is aiming for a market share somewhere between 20% and 29.9% for its full-size trucks by the end of the plan. Ram Trucks had a roughly 17% share of the U.S. full-size pickup truck market in 2024, according to industry data.
“I know exactly where we want to be and what our expectations are,” he said. “I should legitimately have a market share that starts with a two. … That’s a starting point for us.”

Part of Ram’s new marketing efforts include a return to NASCAR truck racing, where race fans can “Ride the Hemi” – a mechanical bull ride that looks like the brand’s new “Symbol of Protest” Hemi logo that features the engine with a ram’s head.
Stellantis

But Kuniskis said market share is only one metric and that plant utilization and profits are also important. While Ram’s overall sales are down, he said retail sales — a closely watched metric — are expected to be up by about 28% through the first half of the year.
“You don’t want to chase share just for the sake of chasing share,” he said. “I want to have all plants running at full capacity to maximize my efficiency.”

‘Last Tenth LFG’

Kuniskis wears a black band on his left wrist with white lettering that reads “Last Tenth LFG.”
The first part has been a mantra of Kuniskis’ for years to push his top lieutenants to perform as best as they can. The latter part is an acronym with many meanings, including “let’s freaking go.”
“When you were in school, they told you ‘Get an ‘A,’ everything will be great. You’ll be successful in life.’ Not true. Not true,” Kuniskis said. “They remember the guy that way pushed beyond just getting an ‘A’ in school and did something different, push that last tenth.”

Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis handed out “Last Tenth LFG” bracelets to his team and dealers as a symbolic gesture of the brand’s turnaround.
Stellantis

Kuniskis handed out the wristbands to his team as well as the brand’s dealers during his return to an annual dealer conference in January as a way to regain the trust of retailers after years of contentious relations over incentives, products and price increases.
So far it seems to be working, according to Michael Bettenhausen, a dealer in Illinois who chairs the Stellantis National Dealer Council.
“Everything that Tim has showed us has us convinced that the brand is on a path to get back to the volumes that we’ve seen from years past,” Bettenhausen said. “We’re really excited that Tim is leading this charge. It’s really remarkable.”
Bettenhausen also said the full-size pickup truck market is key to the success of the company and its dealers. It is made up of buyers who often have generational loyalties to a brand and act as ambassadors for it.
“Customer loyalty is a huge part of that business,” Yoon said. “For a lot of these people, it doesn’t matter if their brand is objectively the best product or not. It’s just that whatever the automaker is doing, they feel like it’s best for them.”

Ram 1500 extended range hybrid pickup, set to come to market in early 2026, will have the longest driving range the company has ever offered in a light-duty truck, up to 690 total miles between its gas engine and battery power.
Ram | Stellantis

Bringing back the automaker’s well-known Hemi V-8 may have been a good start, as Kuniskis said the company received 12,000 Hemi orders on the first day pickup trucks with the engine were available for dealers to order.
As the Hemi returns, Ram’s electrification plans, including a new plug-in truck and an all-electric model, are being delayed. Kuniskis declined to discuss production timing for the all-electric model, which was initially expected last year. He said the plug-in model — known as an extended-range electric vehicle, or EREV — will begin production this year but declined to specify when consumer sales will begin.
Kuniskis said he believes the EREV will be more of a differentiator in the market and more important in the brand’s turnaround plan through 2026.
“I’m really bullish on the year. I’m really proud of how we started this year and that’s just using traditional tactics,” Kuniskis said. “We haven’t gotten to the new stuff yet.” More

Luxury real estate brokers are seeing more all-cash offers, especially from ultra-wealthy clients, per a new survey of Coldwell Banker brokers.
Brokerage president Jason Waugh said high interest rates and real estate’s appeal as a safe haven during economic volatility are driving this trend.
While high-end buyers aren’t shying away from big-ticket purchases, their wish-lists have gotten longer.

View of luxury waterfront homes and boats along the intracoastal waterway near Jupiter Inlet in Jupiter, Florida in Palm Beach County
Ryan Tishken | Istock | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Economic uncertainty is creating a divide in the luxury real estate market between ultra-rich buyers and the merely wealthy, according to a new report from brokerage Coldwell Banker.

 A survey of some 200 agents specializing in luxury property found that ultra-wealthy buyers, defined as individuals worth at least $30 million, are still making big-ticket purchases despite trade war and recession fears. They are also driving a substantial rise in all-cash offers. Meanwhile, affluent but less wealthy buyers are more sensitive to interest rates and are acting more cautiously, according to the report.
Just over half of the surveyed agents said they had seen a slight or substantial increase in cash purchases by clients in 2025. Only 3.9% reported a decrease in those buyers in the first five months of 2025, while 45.4% said cash purchases had held steady, according to the report.
Jason Waugh, president of Coldwell Banker Affiliates, told Inside Wealth that high interest rates are a major factor behind the surge.
“Cash provides a buyer with control. It provides leverage, speed and security,” he said. “But it’s really the elevated borrowing costs that continue to remain so high. Why absorb those costs if you have the cash to close on a real estate purchase, right?”

Waugh, who got his broker license nearly 32 years ago, said real estate can be more attractive during times of economic uncertainty. Just over two-thirds of surveyed agents reported that affluent clients were maintaining or increasing their exposure to real estate, while only 11.3% said clients’ interest had decreased in favor of equities and other financial assets. The remaining 20.6% of agents said clients had put plans on hold due to economic or stock market uncertainty.

“It’s been a roller coaster, and the business is cyclical. I think at the end of the day, real estate is a hard asset that can preserve wealth and is a hedge against inflation,” he said. “I think that data really confirms that narrative that folks see real estate as a great way to to accumulate wealth even in the the most uncertain and volatile economic environment we’ve navigated in well over a decade.”

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That said, while luxury home sales rose overall in the first five months of 2025, they took a hit in May, the first full month after April’s stock market dip. The report, citing data from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, said luxury single-family home sales dipped 4.7% year over year while attached property sales plummeted by 21.1%.
Agents are also seeing more clients reduce list prices in 2025 compared to recent years, according to Waugh. The median sold prices for luxury single-family and luxury-attached properties currently stand at $1.7 million and $1.25 million, respectively, according to the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.
Waugh added that buyers at all price points are more discerning than they were a few years ago. They’re now asking for top-end appliances like smart fridges, spa-level amenities, and indoor-outdoor living features from a fireplace to a whole kitchen.
First-time luxury buyers are especially choosy, he said.
“They may be stretching themselves, given the current rate environment, so they’re going to be a lot more discerning in terms of evaluating where they live, the amenities, the condition of the property at move in,” he said. “It’s a completely new environment this year than the prior couple years.” More

Nike reported better than expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue.
The company expects tariffs will cost it $1 billion in the current fiscal year before price increases and supply chain shifts.
The sneaker giant said it took its biggest financial hit yet from its turnaround plan during the period, but expects sales and profit declines to moderate moving forward.

A shopper walks past a Nike store, as global markets brace for a hit to trade and growth caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose import tariffs on dozens of countries, in the King of Prussia Mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 3, 2025.
Rachel Wisniewski | Reuters

Nike on Thursday said it expects sales and profit declines to moderate ahead, after the sneaker giant took its biggest financial hit yet from its turnaround plan during its fiscal fourth quarter.
While the worst could be behind the company, it has new challenges like tariffs to face, making a tough turnaround that much more difficult. On a call with analysts, finance chief Matt Friend called the duties a “new and meaningful” cost. 

“With the new tariff rates in place today, we estimate a gross incremental cost increase to Nike of approximately $1 billion” in its current fiscal year 2026, Friend said. 
He added that the company intends to “fully mitigate” that cost over time as it tweaks its supply chain, works with its factory and retail partners and implements price increases. 
Currently, about 16% of its supply chain is in China and it expects to reduce that to the high single digit percentage range by the end of its current fiscal year, which is expected to end next summer. 
“Despite the current elevated tariffs for Chinese products imported into the United States, manufacturing capacity and capability in China remains important to our global source base,” said Friend. 
Friend said the company will consider cost cuts but its highest priority remains stabilizing its business, which requires investment. 

Once those efforts are implemented, Friend said the financial impact to fiscal 2026 gross margin is expected to be 0.75 percentage points, with a greater impact expected in the first half.
While Wall Street’s expectations were low coming into the report, Nike beat estimates on the top and bottom lines.
Here’s how the company did for the three-month period ended May 31, compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 14 cents per share vs. 13 cents estimated
Revenue: $11.10 billion vs. $10.72 billion estimated

The company’s reported net income for the quarter was $211 million, or 14 cents per share, compared with $1.5 billion, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier. 
Sales dropped to $11.10 billion, down about 12% from $12.61 billion a year earlier.  
Last quarter, Nike warned that its fiscal fourth quarter would be the low point of its turnaround but in the months since, conditions worsened, leaving investors wondering if more pain was still to come.
In a press release, Friend confirmed that the fiscal fourth quarter will see the “largest financial impact” from its turnaround and headwinds are expected to moderate moving forward. 
On a call with analysts, CEO Elliott Hill said it’s time to “turn the page.”
“The results we’re reporting today in Q4 and in FY25 are not up to the Nike standard, but as we said 90 days ago, the work we’re doing to reposition the business through our ‘Win Now’ actions is having an impact,” said Hill. “From here, we expect our business results to improve.”
For the current quarter, Nike expects sales to decline by a mid-single digit percentage, in line with expectations of down 7%, according to LSEG. It expects its gross margin to be down between 3.5 and 4.25 percentage points, including 1 percentage point from the tariff rates currently in place today.
Nike shares initially dropped after its report was released but moved about 10% higher during the company’s conference call.
During the quarter, Nike’s profits fell by a staggering 86% as it worked to clear out stale inventory, woo back wholesale partners and reset its digital business. The largest hit to margins came from Nike’s use of discounts and clearance channels to offload inventory, coupled with its shift back to wholesale, which is a less profitable channel than selling directly on its website and stores.
The company has warned the strategy would lead to lower near-term profits, but would leave the business in a healthier position in the long term. 
During the quarter, Nike Direct revenue, representing stores, wholesale and its website, fell 14%, led by a 26% drop in digital sales and a 9% decline in wholesale. 
Nike stores, however, were a bright spot. During the quarter, sales at Nike stores rose 2%. 
Foot traffic data at Nike stores has been declining since October, but those figures also indicate that conditions could be improving, according to Placer.ai, an analytics firm that uses anonymized data from mobile devices to estimate overall visits to locations. 
Monthly visits to Nike stores dropped 10.2% in April compared to the previous year, but that decline narrowed to 3.2% in May, according to Placer.ai. 
Revenue fell in all regions during the quarter, but came in a bit better than expected in North America, Nike’s largest market. Sales fell 11% to $4.70 billion in North America, better than the $4.42 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. 
Still, China revenue came in at $1.48 billion, just below the $1.50 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. 
Hill told analysts that the sales recovery in China will take longer “due to the unique characteristics of the marketplace.” It now has more competition in the region and said it has more work to do to clean up inventory. It’s also testing new retail concepts with a local approach.
Since Hill took over as Nike’s CEO in October, a lot of his work has focused on unwinding the strategy his predecessor John Donahoe implemented. He’s worked to win back wholesale partners, after Donahoe pursued a direct selling strategy, and he’s also bringing Nike back to its sports focus.
Under Donahoe, Nike moved away from its sport segmentation and instead broke up its business into women’s, men’s and kids. Some critics say that’s part of the reason why Nike’s innovation pipeline fell apart because the business was more focused on lifestyle products geared to a wide range of consumers, instead of being directed at athletes. 
On a call with analysts, Hill said the company is realigning teams to focus back on sports.
“Nike, Jordan and Converse teams will now come to work every day with a mission to create the most innovative and coveted product, footwear, apparel and accessories for the specific athletes they serve,” Hill said. 
On the wholesale front, Nike is moving into more retailers and highlighted fresh efforts with brands like Aritzia and Urban Outfitters. Hill also discussed the decision to come back to Amazon and start selling on the platform for the first time since 2019. Beginning this fall, Amazon will begin carrying a “select assortment” of shoes, apparel and accessories and Nike will have a featured brand store on the platform focused on running, training, basketball and sportswear, Hill said. 
The decision to partner with brands like Aritzia and come back to Amazon highlights the scrappy approach Nike is taking to wholesale. It also highlights the success Amazon has had in winning over big brands. In the past, few brands were willing to sell on Amazon over concerns it could dilute its image. These days, it’s seen as an essential channel for many businesses.
The company is still seeing declines in its performance category for Nike products, but it said it saw strong sales for new launches in running and training in North America. 
During the quarter, it released a new sneaker and collection for A’ja Wilson, a star center with the Las Vegas Aces. 
The first drop sold out in three minutes and the company plans to double the amount of pairs in the coming seasons, Hill said. 
During Nike’s conference call, its delayed partnership with Skims wasn’t discussed or asked about.
The first product launch with Kim Kardashians intimates line was supposed to go live during the quarter, but now that’s been delayed to later this year, CNBC previously reported. That partnership is a key strategy in Nike’s efforts to win over more female shoppers, who are estimated to represent about 40% of its business.
This gender gap is not ideal for discretionary retailers because women tend to spend more on clothes than men. Nike has lost market share to athletic apparel competitors like Lululemon and Alo Yoga, which cater to a similar customer but are more geared toward women. 
Sneakers are still the most important part of Nike’s business, but apparel is a growth area for the company, representing about 28% of Nike brand revenue in fiscal 2024. More

President Donald Trump is offering a $5 million path to citizenship for the wealthy with his Trump Card.
The idea has energized the burgeoning market for investment or “golden” visas, which allow the wealthy to buy residency or citizenship in another country in exchange for a six-figure or seven-figure investment.
Immigration attorneys said the largest demand is likely to come from China and the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds “The Trump Card” as he speaks with journalists onboard Air Force One en route to Miami, Florida, U.S., April 3, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
President Donald Trump’s $5 million Trump Card has attracted strong interest from the overseas wealthy, but it faces legal challenges and questions about the potential market size, according to immigration attorneys.

Trump launched the website in June for his new immigration plan, first called “the Gold Card” and then renamed “the Trump Card.” A brief questionnaire asked interested parties for their name, email, region and whether the Trump Card would be for “self,” “family,” “spouse” or “other,” as well as whether the application came from a business or individual.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the Financial Times that 70,000 people had already signed up and that the card would be made from real gold. In March he said the potential market for the cards was 37 million. He said selling 200,000 cards would net $1 trillion for the Treasury and help pay down the federal debt.
The Trump Card has energized the burgeoning market for investment or “golden” visas, which allow the wealthy to buy residency or citizenship in another country in exchange for a six-figure or seven-figure investment. A record 142,000 millionaires will move to another country this year, according to Henley & Partners, driven by rising political turmoil and unrest. The U.K. is expected to lose a net 16,500 millionaires due to a change in its tax program, according to Henley. The UAE, the biggest gainer, is set to add a net 9,800 millionaires while the U.S. is expected to gain a net 7,500. 
The Trump Card would also arrive as many countries once favored by the wealthy — including Spain, Portugal and Italy — are tightening their investment-visa programs amid populist opposition and political backlash.  
Yet in interviews with immigration attorneys, advisors to the wealthy and political staffers involved in the program, they said the Trump Card faces fundamental legal and tax obstacles. What’s more, even if it’s approved and eventually offered, the number of buyers is likely to be a fraction of what the White House has suggested and could taper off after an initial burst of buyers.

“Each week there is something else announced that’s putting the steps in place to eventually get there,” said Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners, which advises the wealthy on visas and passports. “But there are still a lot of question marks in terms of how successful it will be at the end of the day.”
The latest question centers on demand. While Lutnick touted the 70,000 sign-ups as proof of potential sales, anyone can sign up on the website requesting more information, regardless of their net worth. Immigration attorneys, family offices, bankers, wealth managers and all manner of advisors to the global wealthy said they signed up to stay informed on the Trump Card for their potential clients.
“I submitted two registrations so I can have access to more details when it becomes available,” said Theda Fisher, partner at Withers Bergman LLP, who advises wealthy clients.
The population of people outside the U.S. worth $30 million or more – a reasonable cut-off for those willing to spend $5 million on a visa — is around 276,000, according to the latest numbers from data firm Altrata.
Immigration attorneys said the largest demand is likely to come from China and the Middle East. China has around 46,000 ultra-high-net-worth individuals (those worth $30 million or more), Altrata said, while the Middle East has around 19,000. U.S. trade tensions with China and restrictions by the Chinese government on capital flight could limit the number of wealthy Chinese who buy a Trump Card, attorneys said.

Volek, who applauded the program in concept, estimated that demand for the Trump Card will be around 2,000 a year.
“I think a couple thousand a year is achievable,” he said.
By country, he said demand will likely mirror that of the current EB-5 program, the longtime U.S. visa regime that gives applicants residency and a pathway to citizenship for about $1 million. China dominates the EB-5 program, with mainland Chinese investors accounting for up to two-thirds of the 8,354 EB-5 visas issued in 2023, according to State Department data. Other countries in the common EB-5 applicant pool include Vietnam, India, Taiwan and South Africa.
Other golden-visa advisors said they’re seeing interest mainly from Mexico, the U.K., Russia and Brazil. The White House hasn’t said whether the $5 million card covers a family or just an individual, which could also impact demand.
Companies could emerge as major buyers of the Trump Card as they seek tech talent from around the world. Trump said that Apple, for instance, would buy “a lot” of Trump Cards, according to reports. (Apple declined comment).
Ultimately, demand will all depend on the specific terms of the Trump Card, which are already causing controversy. Trump and Lutnick have said the Trump Card would replace the EB-5, which is supported with heavy lobbying and bipartisan backers in Congress. The EB-5 program, which ties investments to job creation in under-employment areas, was reauthorized until 2027, so any changes or termination would need congressional approval.
“The EB-5 program was created by Congress, and only Congress may abolish it,” said the American Immigrant Investor Alliance, which seeks to increase the number of available EB-5 visas.

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Screening and vetting remain another open question. After the U.S. discovered that Russians sanctioned after the Ukraine invasion had used its popular non-domicile program (similar to the Trump Card), it dramatically scaled back the program. It’s unclear whether the Trump administration, which has been battling China over trade, would allow unfettered access to Chinese nationals who apply. The administration also hasn’t commented on how it plans to screen for ties to terrorism, organized crime, money-laundering or foreign intelligence agencies.
The biggest hurdle for the Trump Card, however, involves taxes. The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that taxes worldwide income, meaning American citizens and permanent residents have to pay federal income taxes on income earned outside the U.S. The only way wealthy foreigners would buy a Trump Card is if they’re exempted from worldwide income taxes – giving Trump Card holders a massive tax benefit not available to U.S. citizens.

While Trump confirmed that Trump Card holders would be exempt from overseas income, he said in a Truth Social post that “wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card” and be “paying a lot of taxes,” since they would still pay state and federal taxes on U.S.-sourced income.
Changing the tax code for Trump Card holders will require congressional approval as well as approval from the IRS, according to tax experts. So far, there is no legislation in the Big Beautiful Bill or other bills addressing the change.
The unprecedented tax exemption could also lead to loopholes. Wealthy Americans, for instance, who have dual-citizenship in another country could renounce their U.S. citizenship, buy a Trump Card and regain access to the U.S. free of global-income taxes.
The administration has also yet to provide information about whether Trump Card holders would be exempt from estate and gift taxes — which are typically more important and more costly than income taxes for the ultra-wealthy.
“There are many questions we have, including how various tax positions will be treated, the duration of the ability to exempt taxation of global income, estate tax implications, and who will be included in a one donation,” Fisher said. “For this reason, we have asked most of our clients not to register and take a wait and see approach. Unless this program really makes sense from a long-term tax and estate perspective, many high-net-worth individuals will not apply.” More

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s revamped government panel of vaccine advisors recommended the use of Merck’s shot designed to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus during their first season of the virus. 
The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, also voted unanimously to include Merck’s shot in a government program that provides free vaccines to eligible children. 
The votes in favor of Merck’s shot are a sigh of relief for drugmakers and the medical community after Kennedy earlier this month gutted the panel and tapped replacements, some of whom are well-known vaccine critics. 

The exterior view of the entrance to Merck headquarters in Rahway, New Jersey, on Feb. 5, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s revamped government panel of outside vaccine advisors on Thursday recommended the use of Merck’s shot to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus, a temporary reprieve for public health officials and companies concerned about the Health and Human Services secretary’s immunization policy.
The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, also voted unanimously to include Merck’s shot in the government’s list of recommended childhood immunizations that receive wide insurance coverage.

The votes in favor of the injectable antibody, Enflonsia, are a sigh of relief for drugmakers and the medical community after Kennedy earlier this month gutted the panel and tapped replacements, some of whom are well-known vaccine critics. 
The signoff will allow the company to launch the shot ahead of the RSV season that typically kicks off around fall and winter and lasts through the spring. Enflonsia, recommended for infants during their first RSV season, will compete head-to-head with a rival shot from Sanofi and AstraZeneca called Beyfortus.
Both are preventative monoclonal antibodies, which deliver antibodies directly into the bloodstream to provide immediate protection. But each targets a different part of the virus, making it difficult to compare them directly.
ACIP’s “recommendations are an important step forward in efforts to help reduce the significant burden RSV continues to place on infants, families, and health care systems,” said Dr. Richard M. Haupt, Merck’s head of global medical & scientific affairs, vaccines and infectious diseases, in a statement.
 RSV causes thousands of deaths among older Americans and hundreds of deaths among infants each year, and complications from the virus are the leading cause of hospitalization among newborns. In a mid- to late-stage trial on Enflonsia, the shot reduced RSV-related hospitalizations by more than 84% and decreased hospitalizations due to lower respiratory infections by 90% compared with a placebo among infants through five months.

Two of the vaccine critics on the panel, Retsef Levi and Vicky Pebsworth, voted against recommending Merck’s shot and questioned its safety throughout the meeting. 
But some other members underscored the safety of Merck’s shot, which won approval from the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month. 
“These are truly remarkable products. They are safe and they’re effective, and I don’t think there’s any further data that needs to be presented,” said member Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. 
The ACIP “work group has spent an enormous amount of time, the FDA has spent an enormous amount of effort looking at safety and efficacy, and it is simply not an issue here,” said Meissner, who has also held advisory roles at the CDC and FDA.
Other experts at the meeting, who aren’t members of the committee, agreed. 
“This is a tremendous advance for medical science, and I urge the committee to approve and pass this resolution so that we can continue to protect our children and keep them healthy,” said Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians. 
Levi said he voted against the shot because he believes it is not “ready to be administered to all healthy babies. He added, “I think we should take a more precautionary approach to this.”
The vote specifically recommends one dose of Merck’s shot for infants ages 8 months or younger born during or entering their first RSV season.  More