Members phkrause Posted June 1, 2025 Author Members Posted June 1, 2025 Elon Musk is leaving the Trump administration after leading effort to slash federal government Elon Musk is leaving his government role as a top adviser to President Donald Trump after spearheading efforts to reduce and overhaul the federal bureaucracy. A White House official, who requested anonymity to talk about the change, confirmed Musk’s departure. Read more. Why this matters: His departure marks the end of a turbulent chapter that included thousands of layoffs, the evisceration of government agencies and reams of litigation. He dramatically reduced his target for cutting spending — from $2 trillion to $1 trillion to $150 billion — and increasingly expressed frustration about resistance to his goals. Musk announced his decision one day after CBS released part of an interview in which he criticized the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative agenda by saying he was “disappointed” by what the president calls his “big beautiful bill.” RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US will begin revoking the visas of Chinese students A judge refuses to toss states’ lawsuit against Elon Musk and DOGE Judge refuses to temporarily block the Trump administration from removing Copyright Office director US files motion to dismiss lawsuit over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation Trump administration says it’s working to return a Guatemalan man deported to Mexico Judge says US effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil on foreign policy grounds is likely unconstitutional Judge rules that Trump administration wrongly ended humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands Trump administration revokes parole of Mexican girl receiving lifesaving care in US, lawyer says Judge: Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos was unlawfully detained by ICE Ex-Trump defense lawyer Emil Bove, a top Justice Dept. official, is picked to be federal judge Trump pardons former NY Rep. Michael Grimm after tax fraud conviction Ex-Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who resigned amid a corruption scandal, pardoned by Trump Trump pardons rapper NBA Youngboy, who was sentenced for gun-related charges Trump pardons a labor union leader on the eve of sentencing for failing to report gifts WATCH: Daughter, fans welcome pardons of reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley WATCH: Trump says he warned Netanyahu to hold off on Iran strike to give US more time for nuclear talks Senior Canadian diplomat compares Trump’s Golden Dome missile program to a ‘protection racket’ $14 billion in clean energy projects have been canceled in the US this year, analysis says South Carolina Supreme Court rejects inmate’s request for more firing squad details South Carolina’s budget passes with a big raise in lawmaker pay Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 1, 2025 Author Members Posted June 1, 2025 Trump Finds a New Way to Attack Education: Cutting Aid for Students Who Are Parents The Trump administration proposed eliminating CCAMPIS, a vital child care program for lower-income parenting students. https://theintercept.com/2025/05/28/trump-aid-student-parents-college-child-care/? ps:He only picks on the weak and the needy, what a piece of work!!!!! Cheaper GPUs Ahead? Court Strikes Down Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs As Unlawful UPDATE 5/29: The tariffs will remain in place for now, after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted a stay on last night's ruling, "until further notice while this court considers the motions papers." https://www.pcmag.com/news/cheaper-gpus-ahead-court-strikes-down-trumps-reciprocal-tariffs-as-unlawful? ? Crypto’s man at the top. Trump has tapped a veteran cryptocurrency lobbyist and his own former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to again run the agency tasked with regulating the crypto industry. Brian Quintenz, who served as CFTC Chairman from 2017 to 2021, is currently the global head of crypto policy at Trump-favored venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz. Before that, he served as an advisory council member at Crypto.com Quintenz also worked on the board of betting exchange Kalshi and holds up to $550,000 worth of Kalshi stock. Just weeks ago, the CFTC dropped its attempt to stop a federal court ruling permitting Kalshi to take bets on U.S. election outcomes. ? The private prison consultant overseeing mass deportations. Trump’s pick to manage his mass deportation policy at the border recently cashed in as a consultant for one of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s biggest private prison contractors. Disclosures reveal that for at least two years since he took public office, border czar Tom Homan consulted for the Trump-aligned GEO Group, which predicted the president’s election would prove a huge windfall and since January has already landed multiple new ICE detention contracts projected to bring the company $130 million in annual revenue. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 1, 2025 Author Members Posted June 1, 2025 Appeals court pauses ruling that blocked Trump’s tariffs A federal appeals court has paused Wednesday night’s ruling from the Court of International Trade that blocked President Donald Trump’s tariffs. https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/29/business/appeals-court-pauses-trump-tariff-ruling? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 1, 2025 Author Members Posted June 1, 2025 New grads' tough job market Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios The job market for recent college grads is rough — and getting rougher — Axios' Emily Peck writes from a new Oxford Economics report. The jobless rate for recent graduates is around 6% — higher than the overall unemployment rate. ? Why it matters: This is a major change, and another warning sign that AI may eliminate large numbers of white-collar jobs. "There's a lot of concern that AI is eliminating entry-level, white-collar positions, and I think this is just some of the first evidence that we're seeing," said Matthew Martin, senior economist at Oxford Economics, who wrote the report. "A lot of these entry-level ... jobs are likely being displaced as the workers above them become more productive," Martin said. ? What we're watching: Recent college graduates have had a significantly easier time finding jobs than their peers who didn't go to college. But that gap is narrowing. Go deeper. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 1, 2025 Author Members Posted June 1, 2025 ? Tariff whiplash In less than 24 hours ... The federal Court of International Trade ruled that most of President Trump's tariffs were imposed illegally. An appeals court today temporarily froze the effects of that ruling, allowing the tariffs to remain in place while the legal battle proceeds. But also today, a second trial court ruled that the same tariffs were likely illegal. The judge in that case stayed his own decision while the Justice Department appeals. ⚖️ The bottom line, from Axios court watcher Sam Baker: Two courts have now questioned the legal basis for Trump's signature economic policy. The tariffs can stay in place for now, but we're likely in for another roller coaster of conflicting rulings on yet another hallmark of Trump's second-term agenda. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 1, 2025 Author Members Posted June 1, 2025 A Quest for Cash (Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Getty.) View in browser Paul Walczak didn’t have a plausible defense, but he did have a backup plan. As a Florida nursing-home executive, he’d defrauded taxpayers out of almost $11 million, using it to fund a lavish lifestyle. He pleaded guilty last fall, but applied for a pardon after Donald Trump retook office, claiming that he’d been prosecuted because of his mother Elizabeth Fago’s support for Trump. Only after she attended a $1 million-per-person April fundraiser, which promised face time with the president, did Trump grant Walczak a full pardon. The press can’t declare things “bribes” without concrete proof, and it’s not entirely clear how much of the money Fago donated herself, but even the staid New York Times resorted to snark in describing the case. “A judge had justified the incarceration by declaring that there ‘is not a get-out-of-jail-free card’ for the rich. The pardon, however, indicated otherwise,” Kenneth Vogel wrote. A million bucks is, by the standards of this administration, pretty paltry. Trump has made many millions off being president. Earlier this week, my colleague David Frum took stock of the corruption of Trump’s second term and concluded, “Nothing like this has been attempted or even imagined in the history of the American presidency. Throw away the history books; discard feeble comparisons to scandals of the past.” Yet even against this backdrop, the brazenness of the pardon’s timing makes it stand out. Whether or not Trump was bought in this case, he’s eager to create the impression that he is for sale. And for good reason: What’s bad for the integrity of American rule of law has been very good for Trump’s bottom line. After a career of high-profile mediocrity, punctuated by flamboyant failures, the selling of the presidency is the most successful business venture of his career. Business prowess is at the center of Trump’s renown and political appeal, but the impression that he is a titan of industry is more a creation of The Art of the Deal and The Apprentice than his actual CV. By the time he ran for president for the first time, he’d largely given up on the real-estate development that made him famous, instead concentrating on licensing his name to products and buildings. That was mostly a concession to reality: At that point, Trump was struggling to find lenders because he’d stiffed so many banks. Trump’s businesses declared bankruptcy six times, and although he has consistently defended these filings as savvy business moves, an even savvier business move is not needing to declare bankruptcy. Trump managed the impressive task of losing money as a casino owner. Although Atlantic City was in decline as a whole during Trump’s time there, a Temple University legal scholar found that Trump underperformed competitors: “His casinos were not the ‘best’ and not even average. They were the worst.” The president’s lofty net worth was less a product of success than a product of coming into his father’s fortune. In 2021, Forbes calculated that he would have made more money if he’d just put his inheritance in an S&P 500 index fund. (And the money that he did make might have been less if he hadn’t been committing extensive fraud.) During Trump’s first term, he began finding ways to profit from the presidency. He charged the Secret Service big bills to stay at his properties while protecting him (even though son Eric claimed that they stayed at a discount), and had officials like Vice President Mike Pence unnecessarily rack up charges there too. Moreover, the hotel he owned near the White House became an essential location for any officials looking to influence him. There was, it seemed, a benefit to being seen—and probably more importantly, to spending some dosh. Although this seemed like a clear violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause, attempts to enforce it were stymied in court. But in his second term, Trump has far surpassed these relatively petty hustles. The profits started rolling in even before he won reelection, as speculators poured cash into Trump Media and Technology Group—a business with wretched numbers but high upside for anyone wishing to influence the president. Since November, the flow has increased. “Few if any legitimate investors entrusted their money to Trump’s businesses when he was out of office,” Frum noted, but now Middle Eastern governments, Chinese crypto investors, and American corporations are all finding ways to get money into Trump-related businesses. The White House claims that because Trump’s sons run these companies, no conflict of interest exists, but experts have noted that Trump hasn’t really distanced himself meaningfully from his companies and he continues to profit from them. And nearly everyone involved is winning. Trump is making out like a bandit—perhaps very much like a bandit—and people such as Paul Walczak are getting their pardons. (Notably, Trump seems quick to pardon people charged with either fraud or corrupt use of government positions—both offenses of which he has been accused.) Unfortunately, the losers are the American people: anyone who might want the government to support rule of law, discourage corruption, and operate as something other than a concierge desk for those wealthy enough to buy in. When news emerged earlier this month of Trump’s plans to accept a $400 million airplane from the Qatari government, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, a Republican, dismissed any concerns about emoluments. “I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought,” he said. “I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?” This is either deeply cynical or painfully gullible. Trump’s entire career has been consumed by his quest for more money—this is a man who once cashed a 13-cent prank check from a Spy magazine correspondent—even if he hasn’t always been very good at it. Now that he’s found a reliable way to keep the cash rolling in, he’s not going to turn it down. Related: The Trump presidency’s world-historical heist There’s no such thing as a free plane. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 2, 2025 Author Members Posted June 2, 2025 ? Charted: Elon's slim DOGE savings Chart: Axios Visuals Elon Musk, who officially leaves the White House today, claims DOGE saved $175 billion in taxpayer spending. An outside analysis estimates the verified savings are closer to $16 billion, Axios' Neal Rothschild writes. Why it matters: Even those savings are at risk of being washed away by Trump's "One, Big Beautiful Bill." By the numbers: The bill, which passed the House last week, is projected to add $3 trillion to $5 trillion to budget deficits over the next 10 years. Even using Musk's most generous estimate, those DOGE savings would amount to just 6% of the bill's projected increase to the deficit. A Trump post from last night. Via Truth Social Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 2, 2025 Author Members Posted June 2, 2025 State Dept. eyes "Office of Remigration" The State Department plans to create an "Office of Remigration" in a sweeping reorganization drive tied to the Trump administration's efforts to deport millions of immigrants, Axios' Russell Contreras and Marc Caputo report. Why it matters: The term "remigration" is a concept critics say has a troubled history in Europe, where it's used by far-right groups. The proposed office would signal the State Department's shift from helping refugees to removing immigrants. The proposed State Department overhaul — announced yesterday — would cut various programs and staff, including an office responsible for resettling Afghan allies who supported U.S. military operations. Keep reading. Tariffs A federal appeals court on Thursday paused the Court of International Trade’s ruling that President Donald Trump didn’t have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs using the emergency powers he declared earlier this year. The ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit means Trump can continue to impose tariffs using emergency powers, and adds to the confusion and uncertainty about the future of his economic policy. The case could potentially work its way up to the Supreme Court. Trump death threat Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X this week that an undocumented migrant from Mexico had been arrested for allegedly sending a letter threatening to kill President Trump. She also included a picture of the man and a copy of the letter. However, investigators now believe the migrant was set up. According to several sources, law enforcement believes Ramon Morales Reyes, 54, didn’t write the letter, which was sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office and other agencies. Instead, investigators suspect a person who is currently awaiting trial in a robbery and assault case in which Reyes was the victim wrote the letter in an attempt to have him deported. Federal officials who asked for a handwriting sample from Reyes also determined that his handwriting and the threatening letter didn’t match. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 2, 2025 Author Members Posted June 2, 2025 White House acknowledges problems in RFK Jr.'s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ report The White House will fix errors in a much-anticipated federal government report spearheaded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which decried America’s food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs. Read more. Why this matters: Kennedy’s wide-ranging “Make America Healthy Again” report, released last week, cited hundreds of studies, but a closer look by the news organization NOTUS found that some of those studies did not actually exist. “I understand there was some formatting issues with the MAHA report that are being addressed and the report will be updated,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “But it does not negate the substance of the report, which, as you know, is one of the most transformative health reports that has ever been released by the federal government.” RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump has long warned of a government ‘deep state.’ Now in power, he’s under pressure to expose it European benchmarks rise while Asian shares finished lower amid uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs Hit by Trump trade wars, U.S. economy falls 0.2% in first quarter, an upgrade from initial estimate Federal judge extends order blocking Trump administration ban on foreign students at Harvard Google, Justice Department face off in climactic showdown in search monopoly case Trump commutes sentence of former political fundraiser Imaad Zuberi What to know about onetime Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover, whose federal sentence Trump commuted Trump administration increases pressure on ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ with public listing Trump suffered ‘mental anguish’ from disputed CBS News interview with Harris, lawyer says Georgia Supreme Court upholds ban on those under 21 carrying handguns in public Nebraska Republicans sought to weaken voter-backed paid sick leave. A Democrat helped them do it Chicago risks severe cuts to transit. Its poorest suburbs could be hit even harder Texas lawmakers fail to pass ban on social media for those under 18 Man who says far-right content led him to threaten election officials is sentenced to 3 years US government employee charged with trying to give classified information to a foreign government Bernard Kerik, who led NYPD on 9/11 before prison and pardon, has died at 69 Harrison Ruffin Tyler, preserver of Virginia history and grandson of 10th US president, dies at 96 Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 2, 2025 Author Members Posted June 2, 2025 State Department notifies Congress of reorganization plan with bigger cuts to programs and staff The planned changes, detailed in a notification letter obtained by The Associated Press, reflect the Trump administration’s push to reshape American diplomacy and scale back the size of the federal government. Read more. Why this matters: The State Department on Thursday notified Congress of an updated reorganization of the massive agency, proposing cuts to programs beyond what had previously been revealed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a steeper 18% reduction of staff in the U.S. The proposal includes an even higher reduction of domestic staff than the 15% initially floated in April. The department is also planning to eliminate some divisions tasked with oversight of America’s two-decade involvement in Afghanistan, including an office focused on resettling Afghan nationals who worked alongside the U.S. military. Efforts to cut the department’s Afghan programs received immediate backlash from veterans groups and advocates. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Elon Musk came to Washington wielding a chainsaw. He leaves behind upheaval and unmet expectations Facing calls for more immigrant arrests, ICE undergoes a shakeup Trump administration reverses planned closures of 3 dozen US mine safety offices Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 2, 2025 Author Members Posted June 2, 2025 Trump Administration Knew Vast Majority of Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Had Not Been Convicted of U.S. Crimes The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United States before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data that has not been previously reported. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-el-salvador-deportees-criminal-convictions-cecot-venezuela? “The Federal Government Is Gone”: Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States Under the watchful gaze of security guards, dozens of people streamed through metal detectors to enter Temple Israel one evening this month for a town hall meeting on hate crimes and domestic terrorism. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-doj-domestic-terrorism-extremism-states-michigan? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 2, 2025 Author Members Posted June 2, 2025 Supreme Court allows Trump to suspend deportation protections for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela The Supreme Court on Friday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to suspend a Biden-era humanitarian parole program that allowed half a million immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to temporarily live and work in the United States. https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/30/politics/supreme-court-trump-deportations-parole? ps:I guess they also thought they were immune to trumps throwing them under the bus?? US State Department orders embassies to ‘immediately begin additional vetting’ for anyone seeking a visa to travel to Harvard The US State Department on Friday ordered all US embassies and consulates to “immediately begin additional vetting” for anyone seeking a visa to travel to Harvard University “for any purpose.” https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/30/politics/harvard-visas-state-department-vetting? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 2, 2025 Author Members Posted June 2, 2025 US government is investigating messages impersonating Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles The government is investigating after elected officials, business executives and other prominent figures in recent weeks received messages from someone impersonating Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. Read More. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 2, 2025 Author Members Posted June 2, 2025 Trump is making it easier for employers to discriminate. This stifles equity and hurts economic growth. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has long been a cornerstone in upholding the civil rights of U.S. workers. Established under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC is a five-member, bipartisan commission appointed by the president to enforce federal laws against employment discrimination. The Trump administration, however, has taken actions that undermine the effectiveness of the EEOC through legally questionable firings and proposed changes to data collection that are key to the EEOC’s enforcement processes. https://www.epi.org/blog/trump-is-making-it-easier-for-employers-to-discriminate-this-stifles-equity-and-hurts-economic-growth/? ? Musk's Oval Office farewell President Trump did most of the talking today at a joint press conference to mark the end of Elon Musk's tenure as a special government employee. Trump even jumped in to answer a question, directed to Musk, about Tesla, AP notes. The president also said, in response to reporters' questions, that he did not have any marital advice for French President Emmanuel Macron and that he has not given much thought to potentially pardoning Sean "Diddy" Combs if he's convicted. ?️ Musk brushed off The New York Times' reporting today about his drug use, railing against the paper for "the Russiagate hoax." Go deeper. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 2, 2025 Author Members Posted June 2, 2025 Trump declares war on his own legacy Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images President Trump has gone scorched earth against the architects of his own judicial legacy, disavowing the Federalist Society; its chief architect, Leonard Leo; and any judge who stands in the way of the MAGA agenda. ⚡️ Why it matters: Trump's alliance with the conservative legal movement powered his takeover of the Republican Party, Axios Zachary Basu writes. But after a Trump-appointed judge ruled against his tariffs, the president now claims he was naive to trust the conservative legal movement — and that the federal bench he shaped is now conspiring against him. ? "I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges," Trump wrote in a furious Truth Social post last night. "I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real 'sleazebag' named Leonard Leo," he continued, claiming that the conservative legal activist "probably hates America." "I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations. This is something that cannot be forgotten!" ? The other side: Few figures shaped Trump's first-term legacy more profoundly than Leo, whose guidance helped stock the federal bench with conservative judges for a generation. "I'm very grateful for President Trump transforming the Federal Courts, and it was a privilege being involved," Leo told Axios in a statement. "There's more work to be done, for sure, but the Federal Judiciary is better than it's ever been in modern history, and that will be President Trump's most important legacy." Go deeper. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 3, 2025 Author Members Posted June 3, 2025 Don't assume China will bow to U.S. demands, Dimon says American officials shouldn't assume China will buckle in the face of incessant trade pressure, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Friday. https://www.axios.com/2025/05/30/china-trump-tariffs-dimon? Trump announces 50% steel tariffs and hails ‘blockbuster’ deal with Japan President tells Pennsylvania rally tariffs will aid workers but questions raised over nature of Nippon Steel investment https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/trump-tariffs-steel-japan? Elon Musk allegedly took large amounts of drugs including ketamine while advising Trump – report Doge head at times took dissociative daily, along with ecstasy and psychedelic mushroom use, according to NYT https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/elon-musk-trump-drug-use? Pete Hegseth calls on Asia to boost military spending in face of ‘imminent’ threat from China Speaking at the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, the US defence secretary outlined a range of new joint projects in the region https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/31/pete-hegseth-calls-on-asia-to-boost-military-spending-in-face-of-imminent-threat-from-china-us-defence-secretary? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 3, 2025 Author Members Posted June 3, 2025 Grasping the Pattern (Illustration by The Atlantic*) View in browser One way to trace the past nine years of Donald Trump is the journey from taco bowls to TACO bulls. (Hey, don’t click away! This is going somewhere!) Back in May 2016, the then–GOP presidential candidate posted a picture of himself eating a Trump Tower Tex-Mex entree. “I love Hispanics!” he wrote. Nearly everyone understood this as an awkward pander. Now, in May 2025, Wall Street is all over the “TACO trade,” another instance of people realizing they shouldn’t take the president at face value. “TACO” is short for “Trump always chickens out.” Markets have tended to go down when Trump announces new tariffs, but investors have recognized that a lot of this is bluffing, so they’re buying the dip and then profiting off the inevitable rally. A reporter asked Trump about the expression on Wednesday, and he was furious. “I chicken out? I’ve never heard that,” he said. “Don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question. To me, that’s the nastiest question.” The reaction demonstrates that the traders are right, because—to mix zoological metaphors—a hit dog will holler. The White House keeps talking tough about levying new tariffs on friends and geopolitical rivals alike, but Trump has frequently gone on to lower the measures or delay them for weeks or months. Foreign leaders had figured out that Trump was a pushover by May 2017, and a year later, I laid out in detail his pattern of nearly always folding. He’s a desirable negotiating foil, despite his unpredictable nature, because he doesn’t tend to know his material well, has a short attention span, and can be easily manipulated by flattery. The remarkable thing is that it’s taken this long for Wall Street to catch on. Even though no president has been so purely a businessman as Trump, he and the markets have never really understood each other. That is partly because, as I wrote yesterday, Trump just isn’t that good at business. Despite much glitzier ventures over the years, his most effective revenue sources have been rent collection at his legacy properties and rent-seeking as president. His approach to protectionism is premised on a basic misunderstanding of trade. Yet Wall Street has never seemed to have much better of a grasp on Trump than he has on them, despite having many years to crack the code. (This is worth recalling when market evangelists speak about the supposed omniscience of markets.) Financiers have tried to understand Trump in black-and-white terms, but the task requires the nuanced recognition, for example, that he can be deadly serious about tariffs in the abstract and also extremely prone to folding on specifics. Although they disdained him during his first term, many titans of industry sought accommodation with Trump during his 2024 campaign, hoping he’d be friendlier to their interests than Joe Biden had been. Once Trump’s term began, though, they were taken aback to learn that he really did want tariffs, even though he’d been advocating for them since the 1980s, had levied some in his first term, and had put them at the center of his 2024 campaign. Trump’s commitment to tariffs, however, didn’t mean that he had carefully prepared for them or thought through their details. The administration has announced, suspended, reduced, or threatened new tariffs on China, Mexico, Canada, and the European Union. All of this volatility is ostensibly a product of ongoing negotiations, but in many cases, it’s also a response to market turmoil or because of a lack of clarity about details. (This week, two federal courts also ruled that the president was overstepping his authority by implementing tariffs under emergency powers.) This is where the TACO trade comes in. Rather than panicking over every twist and turn, investors have begun to grasp the pattern. But every Wall Street arbitrage eventually loses its power once people get hip to it. In this case, the fact that Trump has learned about the TACO trade could be its downfall. The president may be fainthearted, but his track record shows that he can easily be dared into taking bad options by reporters just asking him about them. One can imagine a bleak scenario here: Trump feels shamed into following through on an economically harmful tariff; markets initially don’t take him seriously, which removes any external pressure for him to reverse course. Once investors realize that he’s for real this time, they panic, and the markets tank. If the president stops chickening out, both Wall Street and the American people won’t be able to escape the consequences of his worst ideas. Related: Trump almost always folds. (From 2018) Trump will never rule out a bad option. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 3, 2025 Author Members Posted June 3, 2025 Trump plans mass purge of rivals — with Musk's wealth first target: ex-ally Donald Trump's longtime "fixer" predicts things will get ugly between the president and Elon Musk. https://www.newsbreak.com/news/4033955439576-trump-plans-mass-purge-of-rivals-with-musks-wealth-first-target-ex-ally? ps:So far everything that Mr Cohen has said trump would do he has done!!!!! It will be interesting as to how trump and musk will go at each other!!!!!!!!!! It's just amazing, well maybe not, trump seems to get tired of people than goes after them. And since musk has gotten rid of must if not all the people that are the oversite people of the government he can do whatever he feels like doing!! Such a jealous piece of @#$%!!!!!!!!!! Trump Official Backpedals as Wild ‘Trauma’ Plot Exposed President Donald Trump’s budget chief got cornered for saying government workers deserve to be “in trauma.” https://www.newsbreak.com/news/4033341477812-trump-official-backpedals-as-wild-trauma-plot-exposed? Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 3, 2025 Author Members Posted June 3, 2025 The great undoing Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios No modern president has done more in his first 131 days than President Trump — only to have much of it undone, at least temporarily, by the courts. Trump is testing the limits of presidential power at every turn, and the courts are just about the only thing standing in his way. The inevitable showdowns between Trump and the judiciary are only going to get more intense, Axios Supreme Court reporter Sam Baker writes. ⚖️ Judges have issued dozens of orders blocking Trump from doing something he wants to do, and the flood seems to grow every day. The headlines are constant: Judge blocks X; Judge freezes Y; Court allows Z to continue. This week's ruling against Trump's tariffs — handed down by the usually sleepy Court of International Trade — was one of the biggest shockwaves yet, striking at the centerpiece of his economic agenda and efforts to exert leverage on the world stage. That order was quickly put on ice, temporarily, by an appeals court. But there will be more tariff litigation, and more litigation on just about everything else. ? On education, a federal judge in Boston this week said Trump couldn't stop Harvard from enrolling international students, at least for now. A separate Boston-based judge last week froze Trump's plans to largely eliminate the Education Department. ? That added to an absolute mountain of litigation over Trump's various efforts to gut the federal bureaucracy. Courts have stopped or slowed some DOGE-led cuts across the government, the firing of people who serve on independent boards, and the laying off of other government workers. ? Immigration has been the most explosive flashpoint of all. Every court that's considered Trump's executive order redefining the rules of American citizenship has ruled against it. The administration has pointedly refused to bring back the man it wrongly deported to El Salvador, despite even the Supreme Court telling it to "facilitate" his return. ? Between the lines: To some extent, this is the system working the same way it always works. The big things presidents do, at least in the modern era, end up in court. Obamacare was a big thing, done by both the president and Congress. It's been before the Supreme Court no less than three times. Forgiving student loans and trying to impose COVID vaccine mandates were, for better or worse, big things President Biden attempted. The Supreme Court said both were too big. ? Trump has made no bones about wanting to go as big as possible, all the time, on everything — and to do it mostly through executive action. Everyone knew before this administration began that myriad legal challenges were inevitable. And, well, they were. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 3, 2025 Author Members Posted June 3, 2025 ? Musk called "50% genius, 50% boy" President Trump gave Elon Musk an Oval Office sendoff yesterday, his last official day as head of DOGE, presenting him with a golden key and crediting him with "colossal change." Trump said "Elon is not really leaving" and will continue to be "back and forth" to the White House. ? Two stories with new revelations about Musk's time in the government broke through on his last day: 1. Musk was using drugs more intensely than previously known while on the campaign trail last year, the N.Y. Times' Kirsten Grind and Megan Twohey report (gift link? "He told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. He took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. And he traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills, including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall, according to a photo of the box and people who have seen it." When asked by Fox News' Peter Doocy about the report in the Oval Office yesterday, Musk brushed it off: "The New York Times. Is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on the Russiagate? ... Let's move on." 2. Trump has described Musk to aides as "50% genius, 50% boy," The Wall Street Journal's Josh Dawsey, Annie Linskey and Dana Mattioli report (gift link). The president questioned Musk's promise to cut $1 trillion in government spending, asking advisers: "Was it all bulls**t?" Musk said yesterday he expects DOGE savings to top $200 billion in the coming months and reach a trillion over time. ?️ From roasting the FBI to running it Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photos via Getty Images Kash Patel and Dan Bongino spent years torching the American security state for concealing nefarious secrets about Jeffrey Epstein, Jan. 6, the "Russia hoax" and the assassination attempts against President Trump. Now they're not only inside the gates, they're in charge of the FBI — and serving a president who distrusts the bureau even more than they do, Axios' Dave Lawler reports. The big picture: Patel and Bongino's recent Fox News interviews, and sources familiar with their reception inside the bureau, make clear the difficulties they face in maintaining confidence with their fans, their employees, and the president. 1. ?️ Some followers and fellow MAGA media figures who revered Patel and Bongino for pillorying the "Deep State" were aghast by their recent conspiracy-quashing comments, particularly that Epstein really killed himself. "People are pissed. They feel like Dan and Kash aren't doing the job, that they're beholden to some unseen powers," MAGA-aligned podcaster Tim Pool said Wednesday, adding that he "largely" still trusts the pair. 2. ? The FBI's 38,000-strong workforce was never going to immediately embrace the idea of a couple of its biggest antagonists calling the shots, but it's been a tumultuous few months. Bureau veterans have privately mocked Bongino's emphasis on ideas like adding pull-ups to the fitness test and MMA-style training at Quantico. Some have pushed back on more substantive decisions, such as devoting scores of agents to partnering with ICE on immigration-related arrests, at the expense of other investigative priorities. 3. ? While Trump has been publicly supportive, he did say it was "a little bit hard to believe" assertions from Patel and other senior law enforcement figures that there was no wider conspiracy behind the assassination attempts against him. What they're saying: "Many of these comments are from the same individuals responsible for the shameful politicization of the FBI in the first place. Their criticisms play no factor as we work to clean up the mess they helped leave behind," FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson told Axios. Keep reading ... Tal Axelrod contributed reporting. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 3, 2025 Author Members Posted June 3, 2025 Trump plans to yank Musk ally Isaacman as nominee for job as NASA administrator President Trump plans to withdraw his nomination of Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and close associate of Elon Musk’s, who was on track to be the next NASA administrator. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/05/31/trump-plans-to-yank-musk-ally-isaacman-as-nominee-for-top-nasa-job/? Trump says he’s withdrawing the nomination of Musk associate Jared Isaacman to lead NASA WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he is withdrawing the nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, an associate of Trump adviser Elon Musk, to lead NASA, saying he reached the decision after a “thorough review” of Isaacman’s “prior associations.” https://apnews.com/article/trump-isaacman-nasa-nomination-withdraw-a0b1d23823a06ac7ae1994c930c7786c? ps:So now that Mr Musk has done trumps dirty work he's going to throw him under the bus too?? Tesla’s Great Shareholder Muzzling Of 2025. As Tesla’s sales collapse, Trump’s financial regulators just let Elon Musk’s vehicle company block nearly all shareholder proposals, including on union efforts and climate goals. Trump May Let Private Equity Rob Your Retirement. The president may soon grant a longtime industry wish and hand over Americans’ retirement plans to private equity. ? The private prison consultant overseeing mass deportations. Trump’s pick to manage his mass deportation policy at the border recently cashed in as a consultant for one of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s biggest private prison contractors. Disclosures reveal that for at least two years since he took public office, border czar Tom Homan consulted for the Trump-aligned GEO Group, which predicted the president’s election would prove a huge windfall and since January has already landed multiple new ICE detention contracts projected to bring the company $130 million in annual revenue. ? One foot out the revolving door. The largest cryptocurrency lobbying group in D.C. hired Commodity Futures Trading Commissioner Summer Mersinger as its CEO weeks before she’s set to vacate her government position. Between May 14 and May 30, Mersinger (a Republican and longtime cryptocurrency ally) will have served on the CFTC as an up-and-coming hire of a major trade association representing the companies she is tasked with regulating. ?️ Bribery underneath the candlelight. How romantic. Just one month after his mother attended a $1 million-a-head “candlelit” dinner with Trump, the president pardoned Florida business owner and convicted tax cheat Paul Walczak, reports The New York Times. Walczak — who owed more than $10 million in unpaid taxes — claimed his prosecution was politically motivated, even citing his mother’s long history of pro-Trump political giving in his pardon application. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 4, 2025 Author Members Posted June 4, 2025 ⚖️ Stat du jour: Trump losses with GOP-appointed judges Adam Bonica, a political scientist at Stanford, reports on his Substack that in May, federal district courts have ruled against the Trump administration in 26 of 27 cases — "a stunning 96% loss rate." Here's the twist, cited by N.Y. Times opinion columnist David French: Over the course of the administration, Republican-appointed federal district judges have ruled against Trump 72% of the time (26/36) — close to the 80% rate of losses (74/92) before Democratic-appointed judges. Explore the data ... Read the column (gift link). Deep cuts erode the foundations of US public health system, end progress, threaten worse to come State and local health departments responsible for invisible but critical work such as inspecting restaurants, monitoring wastewater for new and harmful germs, responding to outbreaks before they get too big — and a host of other tasks to protect communities — are being hollowed out by President Donald Trump's administration. Americans are losing a vast array of people and programs dedicated to keeping them healthy. Read more. Can Trump fix the national debt? Republican senators, many investors and even Elon Musk have doubts President Donald Trump faces the challenge of convincing Republican senators, global investors, voters and even Elon Musk that he won’t bury the federal government in debt with his multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package. The tax and spending cuts that passed the House last month would add more than $5 trillion to the national debt in the coming decade if all of them are allowed to continue, according to the Committee for a Responsible Financial Budget, a fiscal watchdog group. Read more. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 4, 2025 Author Members Posted June 4, 2025 PBS suing Trump administration over defunding, three days after NPR filed similar case PBS filed suit Friday against President Donald Trump and other administration officials to block his order stripping federal funding from the 330-station public television system, three days after NPR did the same for its radio network. https://apnews.com/article/trump-pbs-npr-lawsuits-e2b87457c520ea5311da8651d77fccc5? Trump tells US steelworkers he’s going to double tariffs on foreign steel to 50% WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday told Pennsylvania steelworkers he’s doubling the tariff on steel imports to 50% to protect their industry, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, autos and other goods. https://apnews.com/article/trump-us-steel-nippon-pennsylvania-7d8a252934abef553ca9ea7e9e8febc2? Expect Trump’s Military Parade to Cost More Than the Army Says The Army says Trump’s June 14 military parade will cost up to $45 million. This is likely an underestimate due to unaccounted expenses. https://theintercept.com/2025/05/29/trump-birthday-army-military-dc-parade-cost/? Trump’s Big, Beautiful Handout to the AI Industry The budget bill advanced by House Republicans bans states from regulating AI while pumping billions into autonomous weapons. https://theintercept.com/2025/05/29/trump-big-beautiful-bill-budget-ai-regulation/? Marco Rubio Is Attacking American Education. International Students Are His Pawns. The Trump administration doesn’t want a protectionist college system. They want a destroyed one. https://theintercept.com/2025/05/30/rubio-trump-international-students-colleges/? ps:What a sellout this man is!!!!! Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 4, 2025 Author Members Posted June 4, 2025 Trump's America-First AI risk Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios The two most durable and decisive geopolitical topics of the 2020s are fully merging into one existential threat: China and AI supremacy. Put simply, America either maintains its economic and early AI advantages, or faces the possibility of a world dominated by communist China, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in a "Behind the Curtain" column. Why it matters: This is the rare belief shared by both President Trump and former President Biden — oh, and virtually every person studying the geopolitical chessboard. David Sacks, Trump's AI czar, said this weekend on his podcast, "All-In": "There's no question that the armies of the future are gonna be drones and robots, and they're gonna be AI-powered. ... I would define winning as the whole world consolidates around the American tech stack." ?️ The big picture: That explains why the federal government has scant interest in regulating AI, why both parties are silent on AI's job threat, and why Washington and Silicon Valley are merging into one superstructure. It can all be traced to China. Trump is squarely in this camp. Yet his short-term policies on global trade and treatment of traditional U.S. allies are putting long-term U.S. victory over China — economically and technologically — at high risk. To understand the stakes, wrap your head around the theory of the case for beating China to superhuman intelligence. It goes like this: China is a bad actor, the theory goes, using its authoritarian power to steal U.S. technology secrets — both covertly, and through its mandate that American companies doing business in China form partnerships with government-backed Chinese companies. China has a lethal combination of talent + political will + long-term investments. What they don't have, right now, are the world's best chips. If China gains a decisive advantage in AI, America's economic and military dominance will evaporate. Some think Western liberal democracy could, too. China then uses this technology know-how and manipulates its own markets to supercharge emerging, vital technologies, including driverless cars, drones, solar, batteries, and other AI-adjacent categories. Chinese firms are exporting those products around the world, squashing U.S. and global competitors and gathering valuable data. It then floods markets with cheap Chinese products that help gather additional data — or potentially surveillance of U.S. companies or citizens. The Trump response, similar to Biden's, is to try to punish China with higher targeted tariffs and strict controls on U.S. tech products — such as Nvidia's high-performing computer chips — sold there. The downside risk is slowing U.S. sales for companies like Nvidia, losing any American control over the supply chain that ultimately produces superhuman intelligence in China, and cutting off access to AI components that China produces better or more cheaply than the U.S. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently called the export controls "a failure" that merely gave China more incentive to develop its industry. You mitigate this risk by opening up new markets for American companies to sell into ... fostering alternatives to Chinese goods and raw materials (Middle East) ... and creating an overall market as big or bigger than China's (America + Canada + Europe + Middle East + India). But Trump isn't mitigating the risk elsewhere while confronting China. He's often escalating the risk, without any obvious upside. Consider: Canada, rich in minerals and energy, is looking to Europe, not us, for protection and partnership after Trump insulted America's former closest ally. Trump continues to taunt Canada about becoming an American state. Europe, once solidly pro-American, has been ridiculed by Trump and Vice President Vance as too weak and too cumbersome to warrant special relations with America. Column continues below. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Members phkrause Posted June 4, 2025 Author Members Posted June 4, 2025 ? Part 2: Trump's epic gamble President Trump arrives at the White House from Trump National Golf Club with professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau yesterday. Photo: Annabelle Gordon/Reuters Trump's tariffs spooked these two allies and many others who could legitimately form a massive, united counterweight to China. That has slowed discussions of a united front in case America and China fully decouple. In fact, Europe and China are now talking more actively, in a sort of "the trade enemy of my trade enemy is my friend" dialogue. Trump has tightened relationships with rich nations in the Middle East, and sees the Saudis and others as displacing European nations as part of the global American coalition. But those same nations are close to China, too, and have little incentive to pick sides so decisively. The Trump-Biden export controls rely on countries involved in the cutting-edge chip supply chain — Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea and Taiwan — agreeing to harm their own companies' business in China to form a united front with the U.S. Trump has given them reason to reconsider. ? Zoom out: Trump, in public, has been all over the place on China, much like he has on trade policy. He talked tough early, slapped on 145% tariffs — then sent Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent out to argue the broader trade strategy was a chess move to isolate China. But then Trump reduced the tariffs, suggested peaceful competition was possible, and reignited trade talks. Now, he's back to talking tough and firing off social media warnings about calling them off again. Meanwhile, China keeps racing ahead on drones, cars, quantum computing and batteries. Beijing holds all the leverage on the rare earth minerals the U.S. so desperately needs. The other side: Administration advisers tell us there's more coherence to the Trump strategy than meets the eye. Trump believes he'll ultimately create a coalition of willing trading partners, with more favorable terms for America, to rival China. He also believes his tactics will nudge Canada, Greenland, Ukraine and others to share essential minerals and AI ingredients — and that U.S. workers will benefit from better-paying jobs in this new economy. Understanding that countries need AI and just choose between the U.S. and China, Trump sees the opportunity to leverage the U.S. AI lead to both bring countries onto U.S. systems — and to get investment back into the U.S. to fund critical AI infrastructure, including OpenAI's Stargate. An OpenAI official who has worked closely with Trump officials told us the administration excels at AI diplomacy and is executing a sophisticated strategy. "They get it," the official said, "particularly when it comes to making sure the world is going to build out on U.S.-led AI rails, while also using the interest in U.S. AI to get reciprocal investment into U.S.-based infrastructure." ? The potential flaw: Trump is making an epic gamble. And China sees the opening. Ben Berkowitz and Dave Lawler contributed reporting. Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
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