Donald Trump has brushed off the financial concerns of American voters when asked about his continuing war with Iran.

The president was asked by a reporter if he was motivated to make a deal with Iran because of the financial situation of Americans.

"Not even a little bit," he replied.

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"The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran — they can't have a nuclear weapon.

"I don't think about Americans' financial situation.

"I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all."

Democrats have pounced on Trump's remarks, which come months before November's midterm elections.

"Donald Trump just said it himself: He doesn't care about the American people," California Governor Gavin Newsom said.

Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern was even more critical.

"This is what happens when you elect an out-of-touch narcissistic billionaire," McGovern said. 

"He doesn't give a s— about anybody but himself."

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Trump's comments come as inflation in the US jumped to 3.8 per cent, the highest jump in three years.

The inflation rise has outpaced income, meaning Americans are now losing money year-on-year.

The sharp rise in oil prices after the Strait of Hormuz was closed is now impacting grocery and energy costs in the US, like they are in Australia.

Washington pundits have been noting on social media that Trump's comment will likely feature heavily in upcoming campaign advertising from Democrats in November's midterm election.

Handling the economy was seen as Trump's greatest strength in his first term, but that has now changed dramatically.

A poll released this week by Reuters/Ipsos showed three-quarters of Americans blamed Trump for rising oil prices.

The same poll showed just 36 per cent of voters approved of Trump, compared to 62 per cent who disapproved.

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Just 26 per cent thought he was doing a good job handling the cost of living.

In the same gaggle with reporters, Trump lashed out at a reporter over the sharp rise in the cost estimate for his White House ballroom.

"We have a ballroom that's under budget. It's going up right here. I've doubled the size of it because we obviously need that, and we're right now on budget, under budget, and ahead of schedule," Trump said.

"The price has doubled," the reporter replied.

"I doubled the size of it, you dumb person, double the size. You are not a smart person." 

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It brought high fashion to Australia, had the nation's first escalator and even a ballroom where film star Elizabeth Taylor once partied.

The Mark Foy's department store, known as The Piazza, was a Sydney landmark on Elizabeth, Liverpool and Castlereagh Streets when it opened in 1909.

The building, which still bears the famous name on the intricate exterior, is now home to the Dowling Centre, which houses the city's courts.

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But after 45 years, Mark Foy's name is back, with a website selling designer clothes, shoes and accessories officially launching next week.

Claiming it has 70 per cent off fancy names like Celine, Saint Laurent, Valentino, Missoni and Gucci, the site is being launched by the great-grandson of one of the original Foy family members.

Mark Foy is the great-grandson of Hugh Victor Foy, who was once one of Australia's wealthiest men with a mansion at Watson's Bay.

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Hugh was once managing director of the company, which brothers Francis and Mark started.

Mark, a former estate agent in Sydney's Eastern suburbs, told Nine.com.au: "My great-grandfather completed 13 buying trips to Europe over 30 years from 1907, travelling by boat to source the very best of European fashion and bring it back to Australia at exceptional value.

"In many ways, we are continuing that same philosophy today except instead of loading ships with stock, we can now deliver luxury fashion from Europe directly to your front door."

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The company is credited with bringing European fashion down under, with the first shop opening on 1885 on Sydney's Oxford Street.

Modelled on the grand Bon Marche department store in Paris and resplendent with marble and chandeliers, the grand new building took up almost a whole block.

It even had an underground tunnel to Museum station and in 1950 an ice rink was created inside as part of a display.

Business was so strong two more shops opened nearby.

More branches later opened in Sydney suburbs and the company even had its own factories and warehouses.

It sold everything from furniture and fashion to jewellery to flowers, but later, as it fell on hard times, the company was taken over multiple times.

Latterly becoming Grace Bros, the shops finally closed in the 1980s.

Mark said Sydneysiders have fond memories of the shop which even sparked the put down 'More front than Mark Foys,' because of its mammoth size.

"People love the idea of an iconic Australian retail name being brought back in a modern way," he said.

"We've received messages from people sharing family memories like their parents met at Mark Foy's, old shopping stories and even garments connected to the brand that have been kept for decades, which has been incredibly special to see."

The older Mark Foy also opened the Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains.

The shop is one of many beloved stores which have been lost over the years across Australia.

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When Hunter Valley local Wendy Wales got together with a few of her neighbours to oppose a new open-cut mining operation on their doorstep in 2016, she had no idea it would instigate a years-long legal tussle with the potential to become what one litigation expert has described as "a watershed moment in the history of Australian law".

Today, the retired science teacher and her fellow farmers and Muswellbrook locals - now backed by some powerful legal forces including four of the world's leading climate law and science institutions – will put their case before the High Court of Australia.

The case centres around the community group's opposition to the proposed expansion of the Mount Pleasant mine, owned by a subsidary of Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim's mining conglomerate, MACH Energy Australia.

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But if the High Court upholds their case, the ramifications will reach far beyond just one mine, setting a nation-wide legal precedent that could throw plans for more than 18 coal proposals in New South Wales alone into doubt.

Professor of Climate Law at Bond University, Professor Nicole Rogers, has lent her voice to the community group's legal case.

"Australia's apex court hearing its first climate change case is a watershed moment in the history of Australian law," she said.

"Courts around the world – from The Hague to London to Canberra – are being asked the same fundamental questions."

Despite the daunting scale of the legal battle, Wales remains optimistic that the High Court will rule in the group's favour.

"The time is five minutes to midnight for Australia… We wish it would have happened 25 years ago," she said.

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At the crux of the DAMSHEG (Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group) group's argument is whether planning authorities are legally obliged to consider the local climate impacts of the coal that a mine exports overseas when analysing the impacts of a new project.

Over the past 25 years with her partner Tony Lonergan on his family's 600-acre property adjacent to the Mount Pleasant mine, Wales has witnessed Australia's altering climate first-hand, with weather extremes becoming more frequent and more severe.

After living through the Millennium drought, which brought many farmers to the brink, the community was wracked by devastating bushfires and multiple "one-in-100-year" floods in the space of just a few years.

Just last year, the May floods impacted their property and washed away part of their creek.

"It held for all the previous rain events, but this one, we lost probably about six or seven metres of bank," Wales said.

In fact, their property and others like them are now deemed such a natural disaster risk that Wales and Lonergan struggled to obtain home insurance and were forced to switch insurers.

"I personally know half a dozen people who have lost their houses in the last ten years," Wales said.

"I don't know people from the last century who lost their houses like this.

"They had insurance and they can start up again but they have really experienced something that is quite shattering."

Under the proposed expansion of the Mount Pleasant mine, its operating licence would be extended by 22 years – stretching the life of the mine out to 2048 and doubling coal production to 21 million tonnes per year.

The vast majority of that coal will be exported and burnt overseas, sending an additional 870 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

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Wales believes that if planning authorities were obliged to take the local climate and economic impacts of these emissions into account, the scales would tip against approving such projects.

Their case was shot down by the NSW Land and Environment Court in 2024 but in July last year, a panel of three judges on the NSW Court of Appeal unanimously overturned that ruling.

The landmark verdict came just hours after the United Nations' top court at The Hague ruled that countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change.

Now, the Mount Pleasant mine's owners are appealing to the High Court.

Proponents of the mine's expansion have touted the new jobs it will bring to Muswellbrook and surrounding communities.

There are currently around 400 local workers employed at the mine, and the expansion would increase this to an average of 600 over the life of the mine.

A spokesperson from MACH Energy Australia said the company "welcomes" the opportunity to put its case to the High Court.

"(We) will continue to operate in alignment with existing approvals and conditions and seek to provide long-term continuity and certainty for its staff, contractors, customers and the local community," the spokesperson said in a statement. 

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insists a desire not to see Australia divided into those who own homes and those who don't as a reason for making sweeping reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax in last night's budget.

In April 2025, Albanese resoundingly denied he would make changes to both ahead of the election, saying: "Yes! How hard is it? For the 50th time", when asked if he would rule out the changes.

Albanese defended his broken election promise, saying the government had to take action to tackle the issue of housing supply.

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"We've changed our position, I'm upfront about that," he said on Today, denying he had lied to the Australian population.

"We've changed our position because we're throwing absolutely everything at supply."

Under the changes, negative gearing, which allows home owners to deduct a net loss from a residential investment property from their overall income and lower their total taxable income, will be scrapped, while a 50 per cent discount on the capital gains tax payable will be rolled back.

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Albanese said the decision was "difficult", but was necessary to help young people get closer to the dream of owning a home.

"There's nothing more aspiring than the legitimate aspiration Australians have to own their own home," he said. "We can't sit back and watch a whole generation be locked out."

He clarified the changes wouldn't be coming into effect until next year, and that existing investments would be "grandfathered", meaning any property purchased until now would be protected from the changes.

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Responding to claims the changes would instead impact older Australians who already own homes, Albanese said he did not want Australia to be divided along lines of home ownership.

"I don't want to see a divided Australia which is divided into Australians who own homes – some multiple homes- and people who simply will never be able to achieve the dream and make it a reality of having a roof over your head," he said.

"What's changed as well is increasingly not just young Australians, but parents and grandparents… who say 'I'm worried about my kids and grandkids won't be able to own a home.'"

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