Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

NO-BID ICE CONTRACT WENT TO FORMER ICE AGENTS BEING SUED FOR FABRICATING CRIMINAL EVIDENCE ON THE JOB
TheIntercept | Sam Biddle | 04/17/25

U.S. IMMIGRATION AND Customs Enforcement just signed a contract worth $73 million with a firm whose executives are accused of taking part in a scheme to manufacture evidence against a co-worker during their time working at the Department of Homeland Security.

According to a contract document reviewed by The Intercept, federal contractor Universal Strategic Advisors will provide services pertaining to ICE's "non-detained docket," a master list of millions of noncitizens believed to be removable from the United States but not yet in the agency's custody. ... Read more

Full Speech: Not Russia, Not China? Lavrov Names NATO's Biggest Foe, and It's Not Putin | NATO Vs US | Hindudtan Times | 04/15/25 | 6:18

Trump tariffs sink global economy outlook
Click to enlarge
Axios | Felix Salmon | 04/14/25

Global fund managers have turned startlingly pessimistic when it comes to the chances that the world will be able to withstand the effect of across-the-board U.S. tariffs - and they're particularly bearish when it comes to the U.S. itself.

Why it matters: The most recent Fund Manager Survey from Bank of America underscores the thesis that global investors are selling America.

By the numbers: The most recent survey, which was conducted between April 4 and April 10, included 164 global fund managers who collectively have $386 billion of assets under management.

49% of them said that a hard landing is now the most likely outcome for the global economy, up from 6% in February and 11% in March. ... Read more

Trump says Powell's "termination cannot come fast enough"
Axios | Courtenay Brown | 04/17/25

President Trump blasted Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Thursday with the strongest suggestion yet of his intention to try to fire the nation's most powerful economic policymaker.

Why it matters: Trump's attack comes after Powell said that tariffs were likely to stoke inflation and slow economic growth.

What they're saying: "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!," Trump posted on Truth Social.

Reality check: The Fed is an apolitical institution. It makes monetary policy decisions without political considerations, with protection from political retribution.

Much of what makes the U.S. the safest place to invest is the trust that the Fed acts in the best interest of the American economy - not the president. ... Read more

Trump wants to make a deal with China. Here’s how he’s trying to make that happen.
Politico | Megan Messerly | 04/16/25

President Donald Trump wants Chinese leader Xi Jinping to call. Making trade deals with China's neighbors is part of a broader White House strategy to get him to the negotiating table.

As the two countries face off in a bitter trade war, the administration's current theory of the case, which has been circulating among Trump allies and was confirmed by a White House official, is that tariff deals with Asian countries, as well as the dozens of others across the globe seeking to negotiate with the U.S., will isolate China, disrupt the Chinese supply chain and threaten to cut the country off from the rest of the world.

"Once you see a lot of countries - not just in southeast Asia or Asia, but all over - you'll see that they're willing to make deals with America, and that exerts pressure on China to hopefully come to the table," the official said. "Because China's economy is reliant on a lot of these other countries around the world, I think once people see, hopefully, deals being struck with these countries, that exerts pressure on China." ... Read more

Newsom says California to sue over Trump tariffs
Axios | Avery Lotz | 04/16/25

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that his state plans to sue in an attempt to block President Trump's sweeping tariff regime.

Why it matters: California, the fifth-largest economy in the world, could lose billions in Trump's trade war with China. The lawsuit marks the first time a state has sued Trump over his massive, market-rattling levies that sent ripples through the global economy.

Driving the news: The lawsuit will be filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It argues that Trump's use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act to impose his levies without congressional approval was unlawful. ... Read more

Trump dashed Musk's secret Pentagon briefing on China
Axios | Marc Caputo | 04/16/25

Beyond tariffs and court battles over Trump policies, two pieces of White House palace intrigue emerged Tuesday: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suspended two top Pentagon officials, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, as part of an investigation into who leaked word of a planned top-secret briefing on China for Elon Musk. Axios learned that Musk or Hegseth didn't just decide to call off that briefing after the leak. President Trump himself ordered staffers to kill it. "What the f**k is Elon doing there? Make sure he doesn't go," Trump said, a top official recalled to Axios. ... Read more

Trump blames Zelensky again: "Millions dead because of 3 people"
Axios | Dave Lawler,Barak Ravid | 04/15/24

President Trump once again accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of starting the war with Russia on Monday, saying "you don't start a war with someone 20 times your size and then hope people give you some missiles."

Why it matters: Trump's comments come a day after a "60 Minutes" interview in which Zelensky suggested the Trump administration was operating in an "altered reality" in terms of the origins of the war. ... Read more

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sits down with Scott Pelley to discuss U.S. support for Ukraine, the war, the Oval Office meeting | 60 Minutes | 04/12/25 | 13:41

Gold bars and an FBI probe: Inside Trump's effort to pry back $20B from Biden's climate spending
Politico | Jean Chemnick | 04/15/25

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin (left) looks on as President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order in the White House on Tuesday. | Evan Vucci/AP

Former President Joe Biden's appointees crafted an unusual strategy for funneling hundreds of billions in government and private dollars to climate projects in lower-income communities - and for doing it fast enough that an incoming Trump administration would be unable to stop it.

Now, the program is fighting for its life.

A federal judge has given herself until Tuesday to rule on whether EPA can continue freezing the $20 billion in federal dollars at the heart of the climate effort, while the courts sort out whether the administration can cancel the grants entirely.

The nonprofits have already committed over $2.6 billion of the money to projects across the U.S., according to a POLITICO analysis of investments by five of the eight groups. But most of that is now halted. ... Read more

Trump & Tariffs: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | John Oliver | 04/13/25 | 27:05

The World's Highest Security Prison: CECOT (The most evil are kept here) | Ruhi Cenet | 02/14/25 | 20:51

Trump's hardline stance
Axios | Marc Caputo | 04/14/25

Business leaders are calling and back-channeling President Trump to dump on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, trade adviser Peter Navarro and their pro-tariff views, hoping to end the trade war.

Why it matters: Make no mistake: Trump is wholly unmoved, top White House officials tell Axios. This is his disruptive policy, done his disruptive way. "This is the team," one said.

The Trump administration is trying to present a unified front as it implements its controversial tariff policies that have rocked financial markets. Officials loathe palace-intrigue stories that make the team look divided.

CEOs want the Treasury-Secretary-Scott-Bessent-on-truth-serum approach. But they keep running into the reality that Trump is more Navarro. ... Read more

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sits down with Scott Pelley to discuss U.S. support for Ukraine, the war, the Oval Office meeting | 60 Minutes | 04/12/25 | 13:41

Whiplash: Trump adds fresh chaos and uncertainty to his flailing tariffs agenda
MSNBC | Steve Benen | 04/14/25

"I know what the hell I'm doing," the president said last week, referring to trade tariffs. There's fresh evidence to the contrary.

As the world struggled to keep up with the White House's erratic approach to trade tariffs, Rep. Jim McGovern told his congressional colleagues last week, "How is any company supposed to forecast for their future, build a plant, hire workers, if they have no idea what the hell this president is gonna do in his next tweet?"

The Massachusetts Democrat added, "I need a neck brace to be able to get through all this."

Alas, that was before the administration added even more uncertainty to its own flailing plan. ... Read more

Xi's counterpunch: How China will ensure the trade war hurts the U.S.
Axios | Dave Lawler | 04/11/25

Chinese President Xi Jinping has no shortage of pressure points to ensure Americans feel the pain from President Trump's superpower trade war.

The big picture: China on Friday increased its tariffs to an eye-watering 125% in response to Trump's 145% levies. And ever since trade war 1.0, Beijing has also been developing a wider array of tools that it's now putting to use.

Here are seven ways China can punch back as Trump continues to dial up the pressure. ...

The world's hot new trade is "sell America"
Axios | Ben Berkowitz | 04/11/25

President Trump's whiplash tariffs may have inadvertently achieved his goal of reordering the global economy by inspiring investors to sell U.S. assets and move their money elsewhere.

Why it matters: For decades, the world has invested in America. Now, a global moment of clarity threatens to redirect trillions of dollars of capital inflows and diminish the U.S. in the international economic order.

The big picture: The U.S. receives nearly $2 trillion each year in foreign capital inflows, according to government data - things like investments in businesses and bank lending, but also foreign investors buying U.S. stocks and bonds. ... Read more

Murphy: Trump Is Dismantling Our Democracy. We Must Come Together And Act Before It's Too Late. | Senator Chris Murphy | 04/11/25 | 19:22

Stocks plunge again as volatility reigns despite Trump tariff pause
Axios | Nathan Bomey | 04/10/25

Stocks plunged Thursday, erasing a big chunk of Wednesday's market rebound as traders digested the remaining threats from President Trump's tariff frenzy.

Why it matters: As escalating trade war with China has taken center stage.

By the numbers: Red ink was everywhere as of about 3 p.m., even though stocks had rebounded well off session lows:

1. The Dow was down 825 points, or 2%, to 39,787.
2. The S&P 500 index was off 2.8% to 5,306 after Wednesday posting the third largest single-day percentage increase since 1939.
3. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 3.6% to 16,513.
4. The small-cap Russell 2000 plummeted 4% to 1,837. ...

Inside the Oval: 3 reasons Trump buckled on tariffs
Axios | Marc Caputo | 04/10/25

President Trump's boosters hailed his decision to pause tariff increases for countries around the world as a strategic masterstroke.

But few are buying the spin. Trump buckled under tremendous, mounting-by-the-minute pressure from CEOs ... friends ... GOP senators ... the markets ... and bond prices. Trump himself admits he blinked when "people were getting a little queasy" about the bond market.

Why it matters: Inside the White House, the episode highlighted the roles of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as they animated Trump's risky game with trade.

Inside the room: Both men were advising Trump in the Oval Office when he decided to post a message on Truth Social announcing the tariff pause for 90 days while the administration negotiated with as many as 75 countries. ...

Trump's tariff whiplash leaves world dazed and confused
Axios | Zachary Basu | 04/10/25

President Trump's epic tariff retreat shows there is no grand strategy for revolutionizing global trade, and that he's governing - as he always has - through gut instinct.

Why it matters: Trump's allies see a genius at work. His critics see a madman steering the economy toward crisis. And Wall Street sees, for the first time in weeks, a president who is receptive to external pain.

The big picture: Trump's stunning 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs - announced just one week after "Liberation Day" - caught virtually the entire world by surprise.

In one fell swoop, Trump shelved his maximalist tariff ambitions, intensified his trade war with China, and unleashed one of the biggest stock market rallies since World War II.

The tariff climbdown was vintage Trump: chaotic in execution, dramatic in tone, and instantly rebranded as a MAGA masterstroke. ... Read more

Dimon warns of recession, expects defaults as trade war worsens
Axios | Ben Berkowitz | 04/09/25

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday said he expects there to be a recession and for defaults to rise as President Trump's tariffs roil global financial markets.

Why it matters: Dimon's blunt forecast puts a headline on the market's broad fears that Trump's trade war has already set in motion a lasting global crisis.

The comments come amid a historic plunge in the bond market, part of what some strategists are calling a "sell America" trade. ... Read more

Trump's unknowable tariffs leave investors hanging
Axios | Felix Salmon | 04/09/25

With his new tariff announcement on Wednesday afternoon, President Trump has cemented his reputation for being unpredictable.

Why it matters: The markets like 10% tariffs more than they like the broad-brush application of a potentially erroneously calculated formula. But investors are still far from happy.

The big picture: The White House and its friends think of this as the art of the deal. (Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday it was Trump's intention all along.)

America's trading partners, and U.S. companies that crave predictability aren't likely to see much art in it. ... Read more