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VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 58,034 + © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018 U(D54G1D)y+@!"!@!#!: The early days of President Trump’s administration seemed to promise his allies Rick Gates and Elliott Broidy enormous clout and earning potential. But those times are over. PAGE A11 NATIONAL A10-16 Reversal of Fortune WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would provide up to $12 billion in emergency relief for farmers hurt by the president’s trade war, moving to blunt the fi- nancial damage to American agri- culture and the political fallout for Republicans as the consequences of President Trump’s protectionist policies roll through the economy. Unveiled two days before the president is scheduled to visit Iowa, a politically important state that is the nation’s top soybean producer, the farm aid appeared calculated to show that Mr. Trump cares about farmers and is work- ing to protect them from the worst consequences of his trade war. But the relief money, an- nounced by the Department of Agriculture, was also an indica- tion that Mr. Trump — ignoring the concerns of farmers, their rep- resentatives in Congress and even some of his own aides — plans to extend his tit-for-tat tariff wars. “The actions today are a firm statement that other nations can- not bully our agricultural producers to force the United States to cave in,” Sonny Perdue, the secretary of agriculture, said during a call with reporters to un- veil the program. The move drew swift con- demnation from many farm groups and lawmakers, including several in his own party, who worry about a cascade of unin- tended consequences that may be just beginning. One farm-group study estimates that corn, wheat and soybean farmers in the United States have already lost more — $13 billion — than the ad- ministration is proposing to pro- TRUMP PROMISES $12 BILLION IN AID TO PROP UP FARMS TRADE WAR CASUALTIES A Signal for More Tariffs — Criticism of Policy Is Widespread By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and ANA SWANSON Continued on Page A14 Potential perils are in plain sight: An intense and unpredict- able tariff battle is alarming busi- nesses across the country. The an- nual federal deficit is heading to- ward $1 trillion. Credit card debt is soaring. And the synchronous wave that lifted every world econ- omy at the year’s start has dissi- pated. So what? Such risks have done little to puncture the exuberant optimism that is encouraging American businesses to ramp up hiring and consider new investment. The confidence is rooted only partly in hard-nosed data, like the rapid pace of growth expected for the second quarter and record low jobless rates. It is also a sign of harder-to-measure sentiment. “Animal spirits are high,” said Tim Continued on Page A14 U.S. Businesses Feeling Bullish, Despite Tumult By PATRICIA COHEN MATI, Greece — They nearly reached the water. As wind-fueled wildfires that killed at least 76 people in vaca- tion areas outside Athens bore down on their seaside resort, 26 men, women and children gath- ered in the hope that they could find the narrow path leading to a small staircase down to the water. The gated entrance stood only a dozen paces away, but with smoke blotting their vision and choking their lungs, they appear to have lost their way. Officials found their bodies the next day, Tuesday; sev- eral were still clinging to one an- other. At sundown, an eyeglass case, a belt buckle, the carcasses of dogs and the shells of cellphones dotted the still-smoldering field where they fell. Amid the burned pine cones and the naked trees, leaning as if slammed by a nuclear wind, lay a large leather sandal and a small blue one with a Velcro strap. All around were the discarded blue rubber gloves of the emer- gency workers who carried the bodies away. Greece, a country that under- stands tragedy all too well, woke Tuesday morning to its worst one in a decade. In addition to those killed by smoke or fire, or who drowned in the sea while trying to flee, 187 people were hospitalized, more than 20 of them children. Ten people remained in serious condition, the government said Tuesday night. The fires forced the evacuation In Worst Greek Fires in a Decade, A Desperate Dash Ends in Death By JASON HOROWITZ Wildfires raged on Tuesday in the village of Kineta, Greece, west of Athens. The government called in help from the European Union. VALERIE GACHE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES Continued on Page A8 PORTLAND, Me. — Brandy Staples, a 39-year-old breast can- cer survivor, had expected to be- come eligible for Medicaid cover- age this month after Maine voters approved an expansion of the pro- gram last fall. Instead, she found herself in a courtroom here on Wednesday, watching the latest chapter unfold in a rancorous, drawn-out battle over whether she and thousands of other poor people in the state will get free government insurance after all. Ignoring the binding vote, Gov. Paul LePage has refused to ex- pand the program, blasting it as a needless, budget-busting form of welfare. He vetoed five expansion bills before the issue made the bal- lot, plus a spending bill this month that provided about $60 million in funding for the first year. Earlier this month he went so far as to say he would go to jail “before I put the state in red ink” by adding at least 70,000 more low-income adults to the state’s Medicaid population of 264,000. The showdown is on the ex- treme end of tensions playing out this election year in a number of Republican-controlled states that have resisted expanding Medic- aid under the Affordable Care Act. Following Maine’s lead, advocacy groups in Idaho, Nebraska and Utah have gathered enough sig- natures to get Medicaid expan- sion measures on their state bal- lots this November, although Ne- braska’s have yet to be certified. Medicaid in Limbo in Maine: Voters? Yea. Governor? Nay. By ABBY GOODNOUGH Continued on Page A15 WASHINGTON — Standing before a crowd of a thousand un- ion members and progressive ac- tivists last month at a conference here that served as a 2020 audi- tion for aspiring Democrats, Sena- tor Kirsten Gillibrand was asked if she supported imposing a new tax on financial transactions in the stock market. It once would have been un- thinkable for a senator from New York, the epicenter of Wall Street money and influence, to back a tax so targeted at her own constitu- ents. But Ms. Gillibrand did not hesitate to answer. “I do,” she said. The crowd erupted in cheers. The unequivocal embrace of the tax proposal was just the latest in a series of policy pronouncements and political moves that have thrust Ms. Gillibrand toward the front and left of the Democratic Party in the age of President Trump. While Ms. Gillibrand has made her name and reputation on fight- ing for women’s issues, especially around sexual assault and har- assment — “60 Minutes” favor- ably branded her “The #MeToo Senator” this year — she has spent recent months injecting her portfolio with a dose of the kind of economic populism that infused Senator Bernie Sanders’s cam- paign in the 2016 presidential pri- mary. If that sounds like the funda- mental planks of a 2020 presiden- tial campaign, Ms. Gillibrand, who is running for re-election in No- vember, demurred. “For me, it’s all about 2018,” she insisted. Gillibrand, a Newly Minted Populist, Tacks Left By SHANE GOLDMACHER Senator Kirsten Gillibrand talking to a Capitol Police officer as she protested family detention of suspected illegal immigrants. ERIN SCHAFF FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Continued on Page A19 SPIELFELD, Austria — The border between Austria and Slovenia runs through Armin Tement’s backyard. Literally. Not that you would know it. Neat rows of vines march up and down the valley like military col- umns with no regard for a fron- tier laid down by man, why here, no one can quite remember. The Slovene wine workers speak German. The Austrians speak Slovenian, or at least try. As for the wine, well, says Mr. Tement, 32, “it tastes exactly the same on both sides.” When Mr. Tement’s family started making wine back in the 19th century, there was no bor- der here. The region of Styria, straddling what is now south- eastern Austria and northeast- ern Slovenia, was part of the Hapsburg Empire. When the empire was broken up after World War I, Upper Styria became Austrian and Lower Styria became part of Yugoslavia — until the 1990s, when that country, too, was broken up and Slovenia gained its independence. The border, a hundred years old this year, was briefly elimi- nated by advancing Nazi armies, then heavily policed during the Valley United by Open Border Is Divided Over a 3-Mile Fence By KATRIN BENNHOLD Austrian troops patrolling to catch refugees, now rare. LENA MUCHA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES AUSTRIA DISPATCH Continued on Page A6 Despite efforts to stop the abuse of female athletes, one champion gymnast says athletes are still afraid to speak out. Sports of The Times. PAGE B9 SPORTSWEDNESDAY B9-12 ‘Nothing Has Changed’ The collapse of a dam washed away homes in more than a half-dozen rural villages in Laos. Several people had been confirmed killed, while hundreds were still missing. PAGE A4 INTERNATIONAL A4-9 Laotians Fear the Worst Young expats have transplanted their bright, Instagrammable cooking and mellow lifestyle by opening a flurry of cafes in New York City. PAGE D1 FOOD D1-8 The Art of Australian Breakfast For years, firearms at so-called gun melts have served as an inexpensive supply of scrap metal that can be turned into high-grade steel bound for construction, mining and more. PAGE B1 BUSINESS DAY B1-8 From Guns to Girders Larry David PAGE A23 EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23 The plans may fall short of appeasing President Trump, who has expressed skepticism at past trade pacts and branded the bloc a “foe.” PAGE B1 E.U. to Offer Trade Proposals An undocumented immigrant detained while delivering food to an Army base can stay in the country and pursue a green card, a judge ruled. PAGE A17 NEW YORK A17-19 Pizza Delivery Man Is Freed Brian Kemp rode the president’s incen- diary politics to the Republican nomina- tion for governor, defeating the party elite’s preferred candidate. PAGE A16 Trump Pick Wins in Georgia The new Stephen King series “Castle Rock” on Hulu may appeal to some superfans, but it is not so successful as TV, James Poniewozik says. PAGE C1 ARTS C1-7 Haunted by Its Past WASHINGTON — President Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, escalated his dispute with the president on Tuesday by releasing a secret re- cording of a conversation in which Mr. Trump appears to have knowl- edge about hush money payments to a Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. The recording, which was broadcast by CNN, is sometimes muddled but provides details on payments to the model, Karen Mc- Dougal. However, it does not definitively answer the question about whether Mr. Trump di- rected Mr. Cohen to make them in cash or by check just two months before the 2016 presidential elec- tion. Mr. Cohen is heard telling Mr. Trump that he will need to set up a company to arrange the pay- ments. Mr. Trump then asked, “What fi- nancing?” “We’ll have to pay,” Mr. Cohen said. Mr. Trump then appears to say, “Pay with cash.” Mr. Cohen then says, “No, no.” The word “check” is uttered, but it is not clear by whom, and the au- dio is then cut off. Ms. McDougal was paid $150,000 by The National En- quirer for her story in summer 2016. The tabloid, which has often given Mr. Trump favorable cover- age, then did not publish the story. According to people close to Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump, the two men were discussing on the tape a second payment to The Enquirer that would continue to keep Ms. McDougal from speaking publicly about Mr. Trump. On the recording, Mr. Trump shows some familiarity with a deal between Ms. McDougal and American Media Inc., the pub- lisher of The Enquirer, and does not act as if he is only learning Cohen Releases Tape of Trump, Adding to Feud A Talk of Hush Money to a Playboy Model This article is by Michael S. Schmidt, Maggie Haberman and Jim Rutenberg. Continued on Page A13 Late Edition salesforce.com/number1CRM Salesforce. #1 CRM. Ranked #1 for CRM Applications based on IDC 2017 Market Share Revenue Worldwide. 19.6% 6.5% 7.1% 3.2% 4.0% CRM Applications market includes the following IDC-defined functional markets: Sales, Customer Service, Contact Center, and Marketing Applications. © 2018 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce.com is a registered trademark of salesforce.com, inc., as are other names and marks. 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Source: IDC, Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker, April 2018. Today, drenching showers and thun- derstorms, mostly cloudy, high 78. Tonight, heavy showers, low 71. To- morrow, showers and storms, high 84. Weather map is on Page C8. $3.00
