SINCERETALK

It is tragically sad that, since his inauguration as president of the United States on 20 January, the world’s most powerful politician has proved to be the most destructive and most dangerous leader of a major nation in decades. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/Eod0xcN via 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...

Shortly after President Donald Trump issued Wednesday’s announcement of new tariffs, four Senate Republicans joined Democrats to extend a lopsided bipartisan rebuke to his trade policy. The Senate adopted a resolution by a 51 to 48 vote to block his proposed tariffs on imports from Canada, a longtime US ally. Now, former Vice President Mike Pence is further infuriating Trump supporters by calling out his new tariffs as “a tax.” Pence cited a statement from his Advancing American Freedom Foundation describing the tariffs as “the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history,” capable of spoiling “America’s golden age before it begins.” “The Trump Tariff Tax will cost American families more than $3,500 per year,” Pence's foundation claimed, adding, “The median American family earns about 101,000 a year. A new $3,500 tax would easily erase three years’ worth of pay raises for most families." READ MORE: 'Cracks are starting to form': 4 GOP senators join Dems to deal hu...

Several Senate Republicans have broken from the rest of their conference on a major vote that could limit some of President Donald Trump's authority over trade. In a Wednesday post to Bluesky , Aaron Fritschner — the deputy chief of staff for Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) — announced that a resolution by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) narrowly passed the Senate on a 51-48 vote. That resolution would end the state of emergency Trump declared to justify his tariffs imposed on imported goods from Canada. In addition to all 47 Democrats, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also voted yes. "Big news: on a bipartisan basis the Senate just voted to reject Trump's tariffs on Canada," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote on his Bluesky account . "The House has to vote on it next, where it's less likely to pass, but the cracks are starting to form. Trump is losing support from Republicans on his costly trade war."...

President Donald Trump's newly announced tariffs are already causing a strong reaction among American car dealerships, who warn that their new import duties are about to translate to higher prices for buyers. David Auto Group President David Kelleher told CNN on Wednesday that monthly car payments could easily bounce almost $200 a month for buyers under Trump’s new tariffs on imports. “That car could go from $30,000, ostensibly to 37,500, and it's that quick, and that kind of change in a price moves that payment $175 a month,” Kelleher told CNN reporter Danny Freeman. “Our customers, they're middle-class people. They just can't afford that kind of bump.” READ MORE: 'Freak the world out': Pollster warns Trump tariffs will cause 'explosion on Wall Street' Freeman told anchor Jake Tapper that customers are already making split decisions on car purchases, whether or not they’re fully committed to the purchase. “We met someone named Rosa Scott earlie...

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he would be imposing broad new tariffs, referring to April 2 as "Liberation Day" for American companies. But financial markets are so far reacting with shock. Trump declared a state of emergency in order to put in place 10% across-the-board tariffs on all imported products, in addition to targeted tariffs on specific countries in Asia and Europe. CNBC reported that Trump's 46% tariff on goods imported from Vietnam is specifically wreaking havoc on the apparel sector. The furniture and toy sectors are also being impacted by the new trade duties. And while Trump made his Rose Garden announcement at 4 PM — after markets closed — after-hours trading immediately plummeted . Stocks for major importers like Nike and General Motors dropped by 6% and 3% respectively, according to CNBC. Major tech stocks like Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla all saw declines in after-hours trading as well. Investors and financi...

On Tuesday, social media woke up to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) still plowing through an historic Senate floor speech launched the night before. By 6 PM, Booker had nabbed the record for second longest filibuster in history and had accumulated more than 280 million likes on TikTok . Thirty minutes after that, he surpassed the record of ardent segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who protested the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Observers quickly noted the historical significance of a Black U.S. senator smashing the previous record held by a stalwart racist. READ MORE: 'They broke Johnson': Speaker mocked for shutting House down after 'brutal' defeat “Democratic Senator Cory Booker makes history!!!!! At 24 hours and 19 minutes, Cory just broke Strom Thurmond’s record for the longest speech on the Senate floor! Bravo for taking that racist’s name off the record books!” tweeted liberal pundit Art Candee. "This is the energy I'm here for,...

Once again, my state's GOP hierarchy is leading the nation in creative ways to increase corporate power over people's rights. This time, lawmakers are rushing to protect corrupt executives from legal challenges by their own shareholders! Their law would ban rank-and-file owners of corporate giants from suing their CEOs and other top officials for financial malfeasance. In particular, it's a heavy-handed attempt to prohibit shareholders from suing bosses who lavish shareholder funds on extravagant pay and luxury perks for themselves. But leave it to Lone Star Republicans to make a bad law worse. Indeed, they say they only want to bar suits by "pesky" small investors -- people who own less than 3% of a corporation's stock. But that's a flimflam, since almost no one owns more than 3% of any big corporation. And the few who do are huge Wall Street operators and multibillionaires -- and they're not about to sue a fellow richie for being greedy. The Tex...