Trump Caves to China on Tariffs

GALLUP: Record-high 53% of Americans now say their financial situation is getting worse — the first time since 2001 that a majority has expressed financial pessimism.

It should surprise nobody that the Trump administration leaked its intention to back off on a trade war with China. Hell, they should create a Presidential medal for the individual who most successfully trades on inside information, except that it’s likely Trump will give it to himself, just like he does with his golf tournaments.

At a closed-door seminar for investors hosted by JP Morgan Chase, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted that the tariff standoff with China is unsustainable, telling the audience the de-escalation was coming soon.

Guess what those investors did? Boosted the stock markets on the news that the good Trump was back in town.

Another day, another stock market bi-polar swing. It’s like we’re living in a baseball game in extra innings where the coaches are using Calvinball strategies. And China’s decision to stay mum about the dum-dum trade strategy has led to an undeniable victory.

From Paul Krugman:

• But this is an extraordinary reversal — a capitulation equivalent to surrender. And bear in mind that the damage being done by Trump’s tariffs comes not just from how high they are but from the uncertainty they’re creating. That gigantic China tariff was announced just two weeks ago. Now Trump says, “we will be very nice and they’re going to be very nice.” How can any business make plans in this kind of environment?

• Oh, and it seems likely that Trump will announce trade “deals,” possibly with China, probably with other countries, that aren’t actually deals — just “memorandums of understanding” that offer few specifics. He and Bessent will try to spin this as a policy triumph, but all that will really have happened is a confirmation that you can’t trust anything this administration says, including its threats.

The US isn’t at the table discussing surrender terms with China. Why should they, as Mr Art of the Deal continues to sweeten the pot?

Trump:

• 145% is very high, and it won't be that high… it won't be anywhere near that high… It'll come down substantially.”

• “We're going to be very good to China.”

• “They're going to do very well.”

• “They're going to be happy”

• “I think we're going to live together very happily.”

If there was an upside to all of this (consumers will still see price increases because reasons) it’s that Peter –Mr. 90 deals in 90 days– Navarro will avoid the pinata treatment at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. because the president is otherwise busy trying to appear to save his Secretary of Defense.

True Fact: Exactly zero trade deals have been reached.

Monday the President was considering firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell according to conversations oozing out the White House back door. Tuesday, Trump told a press gaggle that he’s never considered the idea.

It’s almost as if our nation’s big money boys are suffering from Stockholm syndrome, ever optimistic that a golden nirvana is just around the corner. They refuse to recognize that somebody who is at least on the edge of being one of their own has no morals, and is batshit crazy.

The collective refusal of this nation’s observers both public and private to call a spade a spade is also amazing. Hey folks! Trump just caved to China. And his administration’s actions should be covered like mafia hits; a crime is illegal is a crime. Got it?

The President’s sponsor-in-chief, Elon Musk, told Tesla investors on Tuesday that he will cut down his time spent on DOGE to one or two days a week starting in May. Except that he also said he will likely continue to be involved in the federal government effort for the entirety of Trump‘s term in office.

If there’s one thing that the Trump-Musk partnership has been successful at, it's been destroying their own brands. A world-wide poll by Ipsos released last week says responders saying the United States will have a positive influence on world affairs has fallen in 26 out of 29 countries over the last six months.

Future trade deals with the US have been suspended, with China bowing out of buying a fleet of Boeing passenger jets, and European Union countries taking steps to manufacture their own military hardware.

Tesla's profits have declined by 71% since last year, with vehicles already on the market not being accepted as trade-ins. And the once upon a time prestige that went with owning a Tesla has disappeared.

I guess all this bad news won’t be so important once the MAGA-enabled order takes full command. We’ll be bombarded with news about Dear Leader’s financial expertise and the share of government subsidies flowing toward Elon Musk will rise exponentially.

Most concerning to outside investors in the future will be perceptions of instability and the opaqueness of authoritarian rule. The players and all iterations of the economy will be rigged so that mordida por el jefe is a standard operating cost.

People who have lived through an ebbing democracy will all tell you the same thing:

• Do not make the mistake of assuming you still have time. Put another way: You think you can wait and see, and keep democracy intact? Wanna bet?

Unless Trump’s power is checked, and soon, things in the US will get much worse very quickly. Because when the lights of freedom are diminished, it will take a generation or more to bring them back – if they’re lucky.

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Amazingly, I failed the quiz just after entering my name and contact info. The screen flashed red and a voice said “step away from the keyboard.” Dammit, it’s tough having a “reputation” these days; it must have been some wisecrack I made on BlueSky.

Okay, seriously, I’m putting this out there because the need for elected officials who aren’t Darrel Issa has never been greater.

The above isn’t a commercial, and I did get permission from the Evinco head dudette to mention the survey.

RFK Jr. Set to Launch Disease Registry Tracking Autistic People by Hafiz Rasheed at The New Republic

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is using private medical records to create a registry of people with autism in the United States.

• The National Institutes of Health is helping to collect private medical records from government and commercial databases to give to the secretary of health and human services, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said Monday. The records include prescription records from pharmacies, lab testing, and genomics records from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service, private insurance claims, and data from smartwatches and fitness trackers.

• The NIH is also working on an agreement to secure Medicare and Medicaid data, according to Bhattacharya, who said that select outside researchers will be able to access and study, but not download, the collected data from the registry.

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Eds Note: Besides eugenics, what would such a registry be used for??? (See next item)

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Proposed Oklahoma law would force disabled children out of public schools | Opinion by Jared S Gleaton at The Oklahoman

• Public education in Oklahoma has been in decline since 2011 — the same year the state reached its highest national education ranking at No. 17. That was the year Mary Fallin took office as governor. What followed was a decade of budget cuts, teacher shortages and a growing legislative push to divert public funds toward private school vouchers under the banner of “parent choice.”

• Few have championed that agenda more aggressively than Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville. Her support for defunding public education isn’t just visible in her legislation — it’s unmistakable in her own words, particularly in her defense of Senate Bill 105, which removes the one-year public school requirement for students with disabilities seeking a Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship. In an email, Daniels said: “Taking it out hurts no public school but helps special needs students access the best school for them without wasting a year of their education.”

• According to Sen. Daniels, a year in Oklahoma public schools for a student with a disability is a waste. That single sentence lays bare the dangerous foundation of SB 105, and the deeply flawed logic behind her attempt to dismantle a system that exists to protect our most vulnerable learners.

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4-year-old migrant girl, other kids go to court in NYC with no lawyer: 'The cruelty is apparent' by Arya Sundaram at Gothamist

• In shelters across New York, migrant children sit in front of computer and TV screens, appearing virtually in real court proceedings. They swivel in chairs, walk in circles and play with their hair — while immigration judges address them on the screens in front of them.

• “The reason we’re here is because the government of the United States wants you to leave the United States,” Judge Ubaid ul-Haq, presiding from a courtroom on Varick Street, told a group of about a dozen children on a recent morning on Webex.

• “It’s my job to figure out if you have to leave,” ul-Haq continued. “It’s also my job to figure out if you should stay.”