SINCERETALK

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is allegedly leaping for a window after dashing his “credibility” against the rocks of Trump’s disastrous tariffs, claimed MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle on Friday. “Some [sources] have said to me, he’s looking for an exit door to try to get himself to the Fed, because in the last few days he’s really hurting his own credibility and history in the markets,” Ruhle told MSNBC’s Morning Joe, according to Daily Beast. Bessent, who built a $500 million fortune as a hedge fund manager before working for Trump and entangling his name in Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff , was not a full-throated supporter of earlier tariff proposals. After Trump announced his new trade duties this week and went to play golf , Bessent found himself urging international allies not to retaliate. READ MORE: 'Mistake': Experts say Trump's 'lying about business deals' is a 'national security risk' “ I would advise none of the countries to panic. I woul...

The United States' reputation internationally has taken a massive hit in recent weeks, partially as a result of both President Donald Trump's rollout of sweeping new tariffs and by the Trump administration taking a radically different approach to European and Middle Eastern policy compared to his predecessors. Now, one former national security official has a theory about the root cause of this antipathy — and how it actually goes beyond the current administration. During a Friday segment on MSNBC , Ben Rhodes — who was deputy national security advisor to former President Barack Obama — pointed out that Trump was elected to the presidency twice. And that during his 2024 campaign for the White House, he ran on "mass tariffs, mass deportations [and] destruction of the U.S. administrative state." And Rhodes observed that Trump was elected again in spite of his turbulent first term, signifying to the international community that the American public actively chose ...

A federal judge ruled today that the Trump administration, including U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, violated his court order to unfreeze Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) relief to at least 19 states. The judge says the administration appears to be making a “covert” effort to punish states who oppose Trump’s oppressive immigration practices. The New Republic reports U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued an injunction in March on behalf of 23 states suing the White House after the administration moved to pause FEMA aid to states. The Obama era judge ruled the hold-up “fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government.” The federal reluctance applies only to states with Democratic attorneys general, and McConnell found the Trump administration ignored his March court order, with at least 19 states submitting “undisputed evidence” they were not receiving FEMA funds appropriated by Congress. Hawaii reported that FE...

A Thursday afternoon hearing in federal court grew heated as an attorney for President Donald Trump's administration was peppered by tough questions from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. According to Politico , Boasberg — who was initially appointed to Washington D.C. superior court by former President George W. Bush before his elevation to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama — convened the hearing to find out whether the administration deliberately disobeyed his ruling to return three deportation flights that he ordered to be sent back to the United States. Venezuelan immigrants on those flights were being deported under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 , which has only been invoked three times in U.S. history and was last used during World War II. The administration has said that those deported were members of the violent gang "Tren de Aragua," though it has later acknowledged that at least one of the men on the flights was deported and jailed in an E...

While Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Gen-Z-aged software programmers are firing federal employees (including veterans ), a computer code appears to have been responsible for the laying off of 30 medical-related employees, including more than 10 laboratory leaders, at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). NINDS’ office of Human Resources scrambled to quickly re-hire the wrongly fired staff this week after a coding error mislabeled employees with incorrect position codes. “NIH leadership has informed us that the individuals below should be contacted ASAP and told immediately return to work,” the HR email stated. Among reinstated employees are three senior scientists and staff in the Office of Research Training and Career Development, as well as people in the Office of the Scientific Director and facilities. One of the employees also included Richard Youle , who claimed a 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences after showing how clearing o...

This week, President Donald Trump rolled out double-digit tariffs on every country, with additional tariffs on other trade partners affecting virtually all imported goods. And even though financial markets are currently reeling, Trump said he's not worried. “I think it’s going very well,” the president said of the stock market Thursday before leaving the White House for his Florida golf resort. “We have an operation, like when a patient gets operated on and it’s a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is.” But now, one of Trump's biggest supporters in the U.S. Senate is expressing hesitancy about the president's casual attitude toward the dip in financial markets in response to his tariff announcement. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) told CBS News' Caitlin Huey-Burns on Thursday that he was "concerned" about the blowback from the new trade duties, and that the stock market was likewise "very concerned." READ MORE: 'Utter madness...