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(Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)

A new report from the conservative-leaning National Taxpayers Union Foundation found that President Donald Trump’s tariffs have cost the commonwealth $11 billion since 2025, the equivalent of an additional $2,016 for each Pennsylvania household.  

It also found that Trump’s tariffs are hitting Pennsylvanians at the supermarket, costing residents an additional $1 billion on food and beverages. 

A right-wing operative associated with Pennsylvania’s richest billionaire may have spilled the beans when it comes to the power and influence Jeffrey Yass exerts over the Pennsylvania Republican Party. 

Yass, whose net worth is now north of $77 billion thanks to his investments in ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has spent more than $75 million influencing Pennsylvania politics over the decade, and campaign finance reports show that Yass is getting ready to spend $20 million on state legislative races this year. 

“Our issues are now the Republican Party’s issues, and the party leadership is looking to us,”  Matt Brouillette, president and CEO of Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs, said on a podcast hosted by conservative activist Kevin Gentry. 

He added: “Even the party chairman is a good friend that we are in collaboration with because we recognize that these are the good policies that Pennsylvania needs, and that working together, we can advance them and, and make Pennsylvania a place that is a destination, not a place people are leaving.”

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

Last week, I traveled to Allentown to cover a demonstration outside Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s (R-Lehigh) office ahead of his speech at Trump’s midterm convention and spoke to people about the lawmaker completely overhauling his campaign website by removing most of his conservative-leaning positions. 

Spoiler alert: His constituents weren’t impressed with the redesign. 

“He’s trying to appeal more to the centrist voters. He hasn’t changed his stripes, in my opinion. He’s just trying to appeal to the most voters he can and hope they don’t look at his history,” Michael Baker, a retired state employee and member of Service Employees International Union Local 668, told The Keystone.