Hamilton Journal News
Vance defends Acton ad at Sharonville rally
Vice President JD Vance visited the Sharonville Convention Center on Wednesday, Oct. 21, to campaign for Ohio Republican midterm candidates, drawing supporters, protesters and attention to a controversial attack ad in the Ohio governors race. Vance...
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Group still betting on Hamilton’s future
Over the past 75 years, the Hamilton Community Foundation has awarded more than $185 million in grants and scholarships, helping fund everything from arts programs and education initiatives to economic development projects that reshaped downtown...
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Butler County early voting surges 111%
Early voting is off to a betterthan-usual start in Butler County, according to elections officials. During the first week of early voting — Oct. 6 through Oct. 9 — the Butler County Board of Elections at 1802 Princeton Road in Hamilton saw more than...
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Ohioans are shooting, stealing Flock cameras
Some of the backlash against controversial Flock automated license plate readers has crossed the line into criminal territory, as people across Ohio have intentionally damaged, vandalized and stolen cameras that are used by many police...
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Amazon presents info on data centers in Trenton
Amazon conducted an open house Thursday, Oct. 15, in Trenton, giving residents an opportunity to learn more about proposed data center developments ahead of a November vote that could ban such projects in the city. As residents arrived at Edgewood...
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B y now, Ohio voters probably know their names and resumes from previous elections, the years they spent in office and countless mailers, signs and ads. But it’s anyone’s guess who will win the U.S. Senate race to represent Ohio, because incumbent Republi
— CORNELIUS FROLIK, STAFF WRITER
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Ohio gas tax rollback offers little relief
It may not feel like it with prices still hovering just below the $4 mark, but Ohio drivers are paying less at the pump for a gallon of gas than the national average. According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gas in Ohio on...
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Doctors: Get vaccinated now for flu protection
Flu season has returned, and with the holiday season approaching, doctors are recommending people get their flu vaccines now so they can be prepared for upcoming family gatherings. “The best way to fight the flu is before it starts. It can take up to...
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Fairfield has 24 fueling stations. Is that too many?
Officials say Fairfield is where locals will find some of the cheapest fuel prices in the region due to the plethora of stations. The competition is strong: There are 24 fueling stations in the city’s 21 square miles. And one more is set to open next...
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Build Back the Block expanding into new areas
Hamilton’s Build Back the Block initiative is expanding into two new neighborhoods after early success in Jefferson. The effort, announced a year ago during the 2025 State of the City with the ambitious goal of building 100 new homes by the end of...
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Towne Mall redevelopment effort goes another direction
Middletown is pursuing a new developer for the former Towne Mall site after the company previously selected to explore redevelopment did not move forward with the project. City officials confirmed Midland Atlantic Properties’ pre-development agreement...
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WHERE DO CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR STAND?
ELECTION 2026 Ohio’s gubernatorial race between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy (left) and Democrat Dr. Amy Acton (right) will be decided Nov. 3. A political trend that has seen many union voters shift from Democrat to Republican will likely be a key...
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Fairfield has 59 ALPRs. How is camera data used?
The Fairfield Police Department uses data from its 59 automated license plate readers for two things: real time alerts and retrospective investigations. Although the city has been using mobile ALPRs for 20-plus years, police have only been using the...
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For pumpkin carvers, Hamilton’s ‘where it’s at’
The more-than-a-dozen professional artists crafting hundreds of pumpkins for this weekend’s Operation Pumpkin are superior at their craft and say the Hamilton festival offers the best opportunity to create and display their work. William Wilson, of...
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Israelis mourn Oct. 7 attack’s 3rd anniversary
REIM, Israel — On a field where music festival revelers were gunned down by Hamasled militants three years ago, Israelis on Wednesday, Oct. 7, embraced and wept for those lost in an attack that plunged the Middle East into war. Israelis mourned at the...
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Gas tax holiday comes as prices already falling
Ohio’s gas tax will be suspended for the next three months, which should theoretically save motorists some coin at the pump during a period when affordability is front of mind for many. In the last week, the average price for a gallon of regular in...
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Trenton proposes benefits if voters reject data center ban
Trenton voters will decide in the November general election whether to ban data centers requiring more than 25 megawatts of electricity within city limits after the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the measure onto the ballot. In the lead-up to the vote,...
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Trump urges Ohio voters to back Husted, Ramaswamy
to say it, every state is growing. You know why? Because of my favorite word. The word is ‘tariff,’” Trump said. Trump told the crowd they should support AI data centers, despite growing concerns in cities like Piqua, Trenton and others in the Miami...
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DeWine OKs bill to suspend 38.5-cent gas tax for 90 days
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine quickly put his stamp of approval on a bill to suspend the state’s 38.5-centper- gallon tax on gasoline and 47-cent-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel for the next 90 days. DeWine’s Thursday, Oct. 1, signature on House Bill 519 came...
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Drone hits Kyiv school in latest wave of attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian drone struck a school in Kyiv on Thursday, Oct. 1, city officials said, as the Ukrainian capital endured another day of relentless aerial attacks. Children and staff at the school were in shelters when the drone hit, Mayor...
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Documentary to include pieces at Butler Tech
Some of the many budding young career stories taking shape at Butler Tech’s Bioscience Center and other career programs will soon be part of a documentary to be narrated by Hollywood movie actress Meg Ryan. Film crews from the popular “Empowered”...
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Iran tells U.S. public that Trump’s war has failed
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard urged Americans in a message ahead of U.S. midterm elections to take to the streets and rally against Donald Trump, claiming the U. S. president’s war in the Middle East has failed. The Guard’s spokesman said such street...
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Farm market owner calls case ‘a stain’ on county
Butler County has taken another step in its more than yearlong zoning dispute with Garver Family Farm Market in Lemon Twp. Butler County Zoning and Building Administrator Dennis Dickard, through the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office, filed a notice...
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Flynn murder trial: What to know this week
Text messages reveal love overtures sent by Caleb Flynn to both the woman with whom he was formerly engaged in an extramarital affair and the wife he is accused of fatally shooting and staging the scene to look like a home invasion. Testimony during...
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Owners must close, sell VIP Smoke Shop locations after pleading guilty
Nearly 100 VIP Smoke Shops in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky will need to close their doors or change hands after the co-owners pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and organized crime charges, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson announced. In a release, the...
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Mural transforms wall of Trenton comic shop
A longtime Trenton comic book shop is turning heads with a colorful new mural featuring 12 comic book characters painted by a local artist. Hannah Baney, 22, of Trenton, has painted four murals independently in Butler County and contributed to two...
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Middletown church’s steeple rises again
Despite misty weather Wednesday, Sept. 23, members of Grace Baptist Church gathered to watch a crane lift a new steeple atop the church at 3023 Union Road in Middletown. The original steeple was blown down during a storm in March 2025. Pastor Don Sixt...
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Miami students flock to new fields, courts
The recent $13 million Oxford campus investment by Miami University to offset the loss of a longtime recreational field to a new arena project is paying off for students. A sampling of students using new intramural sports and activity areas along the...
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Fairfield will help industrial park
Developers of a speculative industrial park not yet built are getting help from Fairfield to make needed improvements to the adjacent roads. NorthPoint Development plans to close on about 140 acres of the Jacquemin Farm near the intersection Seward...
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North Hamilton Crossing sparks support, opposition
The massive North Hamilton Crossing expected to take as much as three decades to complete is generating support, opposition, questions and concerns about how the $145 million project will reshape neighborhoods, impact businesses and alter traffic...
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Father Walk uplifts youth, celebrates student leaders
Fathers, mentors and community leaders joined dozens of children Thursday, Sept. 17, at Bailey Square for Hamilton’s fourth annual Father Walk. The celebration of positive male role models mixed prayer, music, breakfast and recognition of student...
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Butler Tech students make manufacturing chips, sell them domestically, overseas
High school students at Butler Tech are making an iron chip product and are the first in the history of career school system to also sell their product globally. Teens in the Mechatronics program at Butler Tech’s main Fairfield Twp. campus are now...
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Ohio AG wants penalties for Flock camera misuse
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson called on Ohio lawmakers to officially criminalize the misuse of automated license plate readers like those provided by Flock Safety following reports that some GOP lawmakers are looking to rein in the controversial...
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Trenton locals question police chief about Flock
For nearly two hours Tuesday night, Trenton Police Chief Patrick Carr answered questions from residents about the department’s use of Flock license plate reader cameras, addressing concerns about privacy, oversight and potential misuse of the...
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Coach finds strength in community amid cancer
FAIRFIELD — Becca Rogers found out she had cancer on a Wednesday. She went to work Thursday. For the 28-year-old Creekside Middle School teacher and Fairfield volleyball coach, staying home to contemplate a diagnosis she never imagined receiving...
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Police ID man who died in fire, shooting incident
Hamilton police said Monday, Sept. 14, that a man was found dead inside a home on Eaton Avenue after a domestic dispute Friday night, Sept. 11, escalated into gunfire and a blaze. Units were dispatched at 6: 52 p. m. to a multi‑unit residence in the...
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Report: Kroger shoppers say prices don’t match
A new report from the nonprofit Center for Responsible Food Business claims Kroger overcharged customers at more than one-third of the Ohio stores reviewed by the organization. According to the report, 36 of 101 Ohio Kroger stores included in...
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Koch Foods faces deadline for violations after fire
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently gave Koch Foods until mid-October to fix the safety lapses it found during an investigation into workplace safety at its Fairfield plant, where a Feb. 15 fire killed a worker and injured two...
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Zion Lutheran’s $750K restoration project called a ‘generational investment’
Renovation and restoration of Zion Lutheran Church, a Hamilton landmark constructed soon after the Civil War ended in 1865, is almost complete. A capital campaign raised funds to replace the steeple and roof shingles, repaint the gold cross and trim...
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National GOP pushes Husted at convention
In a difficult election fight at home, U.S. Sen. Jon Husted took his campaign to Texas this week, using a speech before an unusual midterm GOP convention to make his case against Democrats and former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. While Husted was speaking...
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‘IT WAS OUR PEARL HARBOR’ How those who serve at base Why 9/11 attacks, remember the horror of 9/11 its many griefs land differently
Jason Lindsey, then an Air Force captain, pulled into a parking spot at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland, on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when he heard the frantic report on his car radio — United Airlines Flight 175 struck the...
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Warrior Walk spotlights suicide prevention
Three area women are launch‑ ing a community event this week‑ end that raises awareness of sui‑ cide among veterans and first responders while benefiting Ohio‑based Save A Warrior’s mis‑ sion to prevent suicide among military service members, vet‑...
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Program will help families navigate pediatric cancer
The state will soon roll out a new navigator resource for all Ohio families dealing with pediatric cancer diagnoses following the passing of 20-year- old Jayden Zurlinden of West Chester Twp. in June. “His parents, Cassie and Jay, did everything they...
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ICE has made 380 arrests in Springfield, DHS says
Federal immigration authorities have made 380 arrests in Springfield, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said during a press conference in Warren County on Friday, Sept. 4. The city has seen increased U.S. Immigration and...
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Firm’s longevity built on community values
Drive around anywhere in Hamilton, and SHP Architecture & Design’s work is a part of the landscape. “You see our work everywhere,” said Jeffrey Sackenheim, president of the firm. “We planned all the original buildings there.” That includes everything...
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JobsOhio incentivizing training for technicians
Ohio employers who may be poised to hire and train a new batch of technicians now have a new reason to take the leap. The state’s jobs creation arm, JobsOhio, is offering qualified employers in the right industries up to $10,000 for each employee or...
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Monroe council wants to oversee Flock invoices
The Monroe City Council approved a motion last week to limit the number of automatic license plate reading cameras in the city, and it must approve invoices related to the cameras before they’re paid by the city. Council member Todd Hickman, following...
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Trenton voters will see data center ban on ballot
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, Sept. 1, that the city of Trenton must place a proposed charter amendment restricting large-scale data centers before voters in a special election. The amendment would prohibit the construction of data centers...
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Advocates demand end to monitors after student’s death
Springfield community leaders and advocates are demanding an end to ankle GPS tracking for Haitian immigrants following the suicide of a 20-year-old student who friends and family say was driven to despair by the device’s stigma. The family attended...
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How marijuana-impaired drivers are identified
During this year’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Safety Council of Southwestern Ohio are highlighting the dangers of driving under the influence, including that of marijuana. In 2025, Ohio recorded 286...
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Hamilton West Side showed grit during series
West Side Little League reached a U.S. championship game in the Little League World Series this past weekend, advancing farther than the program had in past years and energizing Hamilton and its residents along the way. Families and fans followed...
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Butler County to invest $15M in regional airport
Butler County is poised to invest an initial $15 million in the Butler County Regional Airport to clear a path for it to “become not only an economic anchor, but an economic engine.” County officials have been talking about ways to make Hogan Field an...
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Family settles with district over teen’s 2014 death
The family of Emilie Olsen, a 13-year-old who died by suicide in 2014, has reached a settlement regarding the teen’s death more than a decade after they filed a lawsuit accusing Fairfield City Schools of knowing about their daughter being bullied but...
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Fan helps build Parton’s literacy project in Ohio
When Duane Gordon first got internet access in 1996, he built a fan website dedicated to Dolly Parton. What started as a hobby eventually made the Middletown resident one of the country’s bestknown Parton fans, helped him launch the singer’s...
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City planning to enforce vacant property ordinance
Middletown officials are considering changes to the city’s vacant property ordinance, which a Journal-News investigation found last year was largely unenforced. Chapter 1458 of the city’s code, adopted in 2019, requires owners of vacant properties to...
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DeWine tours new Butler Tech aviation school
an example of how to do it, and you guys are doing it right.” Earlier this month, the Aviation Center hosted officials from Ohio’s Chamber of Commerce and dozens of representatives from airports and aviation industries statewide at a conference. Days...
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Amazon offers $5M to townships for annexation
Amazon has offered $5 million each to Madison and St. Clair townships if they will allow the controversial 600-acre annexation by Trenton for the massive data center development to go through without objection. The trustees have until Wednesday, Aug....
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VP Vance touts $500M federal investment in steel
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s modernization project in Middletown will be supported by a $500 million U.S. Department of Energy grant. The grant’s original purpose was to support the conversion of the Middletown Works’ energy source to hydrogen. The revised...
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SNAP benefits can be used at some farmers markets
As farmers market season continues, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reminds families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits that they can use their Ohio Direction Card to purchase food at participating...
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Middletown development director resigns from role
Middletown’s director of community and economic development has resigned after about five months on the job. Tom Smith, who joined the city in March, recently resigned from the position. The exact date of his departure was not immediately available...
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Iran dismisses Trump’s economic threats
Iran on Thursday, Aug. 20, dismissed U. S. President Donald Trump’s threats of economic pain and isolation, while the U.K and other nations condemned Israel over a controversial settlement project. In Gaza City, a mass funeral was held for 50 people...
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For West Side team, ‘This is a dream come true’
Josiah Infante admits he doesn’t know much about Williamsport. He knows what it took to get there, though. And for a 12-year-old who has spent the summer helping Hamilton West Side Little League navigate a path traveled by generations before him,...
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Ship attacked during Strait of Hormuz transit
A projectile hit a ship as it sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center, and an Iranian official said the waterway would not be reopened until the United States meets...
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Fairfield overpass project gets boost from grant
Fairfield’s Symmes Road overpass project received a big boost with the announcement of a $40 million federal grant. The Federal Railroad Administration awarded the grant through its Federal-State Partnership for Inter City Passenger Rail Grant...
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How Ohio keeps emerging professionals from leaving
Ohio businesses and universities are working to keep college students who are emerging professionals from leaving the state for job opportunities. While Ohio is a dominant figure in the higher education space, containing the sixth most universities in...
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Ohio AG, DeWine defend Flock cameras amid public scrutiny
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson and Gov. Mike DeWine recently defended the use of Flock cameras by local governments amid growing public scrutiny around the surveillance company’s contracts with law enforcement agencies across the country. Both...
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Students return to facility changes, new leaders
Thousands of K-12 public and private Butler County school students began returning to classrooms this week, and more will continue through August, marking the start of a new school year as major changes and potential challenges await them. And soon...
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West Side Little League to return to World Series
WHITESTOWN, Ind. — Boone Treadway stood on the mound with six runs behind him and an entire city waiting back home. The West Side Little League right- hander made sure there would be no suspense about where Hamilton was headed next. Treadway f ired a...
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Hamilton City Schools open year amid overhaul
Hamilton City Schools opens the school year this week with a major restructuring, consolidating campuses, reassigning students and shifting services to BCESC partnerships. The overhaul cut costs, reorganized leadership and facilities, and preserved...
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Hundreds rally at site where Haitians required to check in
Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal immigration office Sunday morning, Aug. 9, to show support for Haitian immigrants from Springfield who were called to report for immigration check-ins. The rally, organized by Ignite Peace in partnership...
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Buc-ee’s vs. Beaver’s: What’s in a trademark?
Within four months of entering the Dayton market, a Texas-based chain of mega travel centers has sued a local small business for trademark infringement over its beaver mascot. Buc-ee’s brought its brand to Ohio when it opened its largest-ever store...
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Strait of Hormuz deal may require Trump compromise
WASHINGTON — To reach a deal with Iran that reopens the economically vital Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump may need to do something out of character — compromise. Any concession would be tough for the Republican president, who has insisted...
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