Trumponomics - Fake News
Only 1,330 days to go...
“The fake news and the lying doesn't surprise me anymore. The one thing we know he is consistent about - Trump is lying.” ~ Ana Navarro
What's more, when Reuters reached out to corroborate the Financial Times' story, Trump Media went so far as to slam both the Financial Times and Reuters as "fake news" outlets.
Well, just a day later, the "fake news" outlets have been vindicated. To wit, Trump Media and Technology Group has now announced that it has entered into subscription agreements with around 50 institutional investors, whereby the company will raise ~$1.5 billion by selling its common stock to these investors, and another $1 billion by issuing convertible senior secured notes.
Trump's attacks on your access to news are all part of Project 2025
TRUMP: “the price of eggs had come down like 93%, 94% since we took office.”
THE FACTS: The truth is that the price of eggs hit a record high in March.
Believing anything that Trump has to say about the economy is a fool’s errand. He has made a lot of promises during the last year. This is a record of how well he is following up with them:
TRUMP: “Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods.”
THE FACTS: During his 100 days in office, inflation has cooled from 3% to 2.4%. Prices, especially at the grocery store, have continued to rise, especially because of the tariffs on imported foods. Consumer confidence hit a 12-year low in March.
TRUMP: “Under my administration, we will be slashing energy and electricity prices by half within 12 months, at a maximum 18 months”
TRUMP: “Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening. And it will happen rather quickly. There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re OK with that. It won’t be much.” Speaking of automakers raising prices after announcing he would impose 25% tariffs on all foreign-made automobiles: “I couldn’t care less if they raise prices”.
THE FACTS: Most economists say Trump’s tariffs would hurt the country, as they’re tax increases that could raise the costs of goods in ways that could also harm economic growth.
TRUMP: “Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families. As you know, we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.”
THE FACTS: Inflation peaked at 9.1% in 2022 under President Joe Biden, but Trump did not inherit a disastrous economy by any measure. The unemployment rate ticked down to a low 4% in January, the month he took office, while the economy expanded a healthy 2.8% in 2024. Inflation-adjusted incomes have grown steadily since mid-2023. And inflation, while showing signs of stickiness in recent months and still elevated at 3% in January, is down from its 2022 peak.
TRUMP: Tariffs could bring in "billions and billions," "even trillions of dollars," in revenue. He has floated the idea of using tariff revenue to offset or even replace income taxes. Trump has stated that his tariffs will provide "growth like you haven't seen before".
THE FACTS: Now what? Tariff ruling creates chaos on top of chaos
The levies, while causing huge economic strain, were also generating significant revenue for the government — almost $23 billion so far this month. They were meant to be a cornerstone of the administration's fiscal plans — trade adviser Peter Navarro wrote in an op-ed Wednesday that tariffs would generate up to $3.3 trillion in revenue over the next decade. Not all the income will disappear, though; tariffs imposed under a different legal authority called Section 232 — including on imports of autos, steel and aluminum — are unaffected by the ruling.
Trump's Tariffs Are Causing an Economic Boom for D.C. Lobbyists. Trump has reportedly told Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to “have some programs in place that would potentially mitigate any economic catastrophes that could happen.” Congress and the farm organizations are already discussing how to structure such a taxpayer bailout. Another farm bailout should infuriate taxpayers. Consumers and businesses who paid $16 billion in tariff costs last month are not receiving any federal taxpayer bailouts. Don’t Bail Out the Farmers
Trade Crime Is Soaring, U.S. Firms Say, as Trump’s Tariffs Incentivize Fraud
As President Trump’s tariffs have ratcheted up in recent months, so have the mysterious solicitations some U.S. companies have received, offering them ways to avoid the taxes. Shipping companies, many of them based in China, have reached out to U.S. firms that import apparel, auto parts and jewelry, offering solutions that they say can make the tariffs go away. “We can avoid high duties from China, which we have already done many in the past,” read one email to a U.S. importer. “Beat U.S. Tariffs,” a second read, promising to cap the tariffs “at a flat 10%.” It added: “You ship worry free.”
“I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don’t know if it can be both.” ~Elon Musk
If you’re looking for any clarity about what is happening with this administration just remember:
Donald Trump’s Statements = Fake News
Thought for the day in honor of his birthday…
“The future is no more uncertain than the present.”
~ Walt Whitman
Must Read Articles
Trump’s Most Successful Business Venture
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.
President Donald Trump issued a total of 17 official pardons and eight commutations on Wednesday and Thursday, including to Lawrence Duran, who was serving a 50-year sentence for attempting to defraud Medicare of $205 million; former GOP Reps. Michael Grimm and John Rowland, convicted on charges including tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud the U.S., respectively; and reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted on charges including bank fraud and tax evasion. Trump also commuted several life sentences for Larry Hoover, a Chicago gang co-founder, though he will remain in prison to serve a 200-year state-issued sentence for the murder of a 19-year-old drug dealer in 1973.
The Trump Presidency’s World-Historical Heist
The record of Trump real-estate and business projects is one of almost unbroken failure; from 1991 to 2009, his companies filed for bankruptcy six times. Few if any legitimate investors entrusted their money to Trump’s businesses when he was out of office. But since his return to the White House, Trump has been inundated with cash from Middle Eastern governments. Obscure Chinese firms are suddenly buying millions of dollars’ worth of Trump meme coins. So are American companies hard-hit by the Trump tariffs and desperately seeking access and influence. After Trump invited major holders of his crypto funds to dinner, Wired quoted a crypto analyst about the coin’s value proposition: “Before, you were speculating on a TRUMP coin with no utility. Now you’re speculating on future access to Trump. That has to be worth a bit more money.”
The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History
The House cemented the bill’s majority support with a series of last-minute changes whose effects have not been digested. The Congressional Budget Office has not even had time to calculate how many millions of Americans would lose health insurance, nor by how many trillions of dollars the deficit would increase…
The bill spikes the deficit, largely because it devotes more money to lining the pockets of lawyers and CEOs than it saves by immiserating fast-food employees and ride-share drivers. Massive deficit spending is not always bad, and in some circumstances (emergencies, or recessions) it can be smart and responsible. In the middle of an economic expansion, with a large structural deficit already built into the budget, it is deeply irresponsible.
Quotes of the day…
“There’s a difference between promoting the United States as a favorable investment environment and cutting these deals where the president is benefiting personally from the deal, whether it’s financially or to tailor this to his political benefit.”
~ Adam Hersh
“There’s a distinction between bluster and misjudgment and Trump manages to collapse both…He doesn’t deserve the loyalty of the people who trusted him with their vote.”
~ Pete Buttigieg
What I’m reading….
Trump is expanding that war in an especially shameless fashion. Not only is he lying about his desire to cut deficits, he’s also obfuscating about his spending priorities and preferences — especially as they relate to Social Security and Medicaid.
The result is budgeting as Big Lie, as Republicans immiserate the public, give massive handouts to billionaires, jack up enormous deficits, and then pretend to be the party of compassion and fiscal responsibility.
Donald Trump and the power of the big (fake) number
If there’s one thing Donald Trump loves more than a deal, it’s the announcement of a deal, the part where he comes before the cameras in triumph to tell the world that through his superhuman negotiating skills he has secured an agreement that will bring a future of unfathomable riches to all Americans.
Trump’s big crypto play (This article is quite helpful if you want an explanation about bitcoin.
What makes the news so notable is that Trump Media will use the cash to buy cryptocurrency, creating a “bitcoin Treasury” which will serve to further advance the president’s already deep financial interest in the crypto space.
It’s the latest in a series of moves aimed at increasing Trump’s stake in an industry that’s in the midst of a series of regulatory battles. Trump’s family has financially backed the crypto ventures World Liberty Financial and American Bitcoin, and Trump even rolled out his own memecoin days before the inauguration called $TRUMP. On Thursday, Trump hosted a black tie gala for $TRUMP’s biggest supporters, which sparked criticism from congressional Democrats as a pay-to-play scheme. In the hours after the event, $TRUMP plunged 16 percent.
Companies are struggling with unstable tariff rates, bond-market swings, canceled federal contracts, rising import costs, and visa challenges. They’re unsure about the economic outlook. They’re unsure about tax rates. They’re unsure about borrowing costs….This is a year of chaos, so dramatic in its upheaval that it sometimes obscures how weird things have been, and for how long. Over the past half decade, businesses have contended with a pandemic, a recession, an inflationary spiral, and a trade war. They have negotiated swift changes in consumer behavior and input prices and interest rates, as well as significant shifts in policy…But that resilience may be wearing off, and we may have reached the end of our ability to withstand the disruptions.
Hit by Trump trade wars, U.S. economy falls 0.2% in first quarter, an upgrade from initial estimate
The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in three years, as President Donald Trump’s trade wars disrupted business, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade of its initial estimate.
First-quarter growth was brought down by a surge in imports as companies in the United States hurried to bring in foreign goods before the president imposed massive import taxes.
Top Trump ally publicly contradicts him on one of his biggest campaign promises
White House adviser David Sacks admitted over the weekend that the GOP’s tax bill will include significant cuts to Medicaid, despite claims from his boss and other MAGA loyalists that it will not.
Japan Will Spend $6.3 Billion to Shield Its Economy From Trump’s Tariffs
Japan has joined a growing list of nations, including Spain and Canada, that are assembling aid plans to help blunt the domestic impact of President Trump’s tariffs.
On Tuesday, Japan approved a $6.3 billion spending package to “fully support” businesses and households adversely affected by the tariffs, Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a briefing. The funds will bolster the finances of small and medium-size businesses and subsidize household energy costs, he said.
The effect of this policy, animated by the conviction that coverage is too generous and too easy to obtain, will be to deny Medicaid eligibility to millions of those currently covered – leaving them without access to basic health services, including preventive care and the management of ongoing conditions such as asthma or diabetes….Arkansas got the furthest with adding work requirements to Medicaid at that time. The results were disappointing.
“We found no evidence that the policy succeeded in its stated goal of promoting work,” as one research team concluded, “and instead found substantial evidence of harm to health care coverage and access.”
The Debt Is About to Matter Again
Then Donald Trump took office and threw the world economy into chaos.
The interest rate on government debt is ultimately determined by investors’ confidence that the U.S. will eventually pay it back. (When fewer people want to buy your debt because they view it as excessively risky, you have to offer a higher return.) The mere possibility of a global trade war and a huge, unpaid-for tax cut has shaken that confidence.
Pope Leo warned about fake news. President Trump just showed us a worst-case scenario.
Just days later, the president of the United States offered a vibrant demonstration of the kind of worst-case scenario Pope Leo may have had in mind about the collapse of critical thinking. Somehow undeterred by the previous Oval Office ambush of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, in March, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa came to Washington on May 21, seeking to halt a serious slide in relations between the United States and his nation.
Trump's pardons highlight Justice Department's pullback from public corruption cases
“It’s clear that this administration doesn’t believe that tamping down on public corruption is a priority. Pardoning a sheriff who took cash for deputy badges is just the latest in a string of actions this president has taken to undermine any effort to hold officials accountable to the public they are sworn to serve.”
White House cuts aid for state unemployment systems
The White House is terminating $400 million in funds for states meant to modernize their unemployment insurance systems. Why it matters: These systems fell apart when unemployment soared in the pandemic, leading to rampant fraud and delays for beneficiaries. Without updates, similar problems could be on tap for the next recession.
What killing the penny means for you
Low-income and older Americans are more likely to use cash, raising concerns about fairness and unintended consequences if rounding isn't consumer-friendly.
How Washington broke Elon Musk
Last week, Musk said he would be taking a step back from donating to GOP political candidates, shocking Republicans who had come to see him as the source of almost unlimited campaign cash. On Tuesday morning, the break was complete: CBS News aired a clip of Musk bashing the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill,” saying he was “disappointed” by Trump’s landmark legislation, which he said would undermine DOGE’s spending cuts. Later that day, he watched his SpaceX rocket, Starship, tumble out of control. Elon Musk No Longer the Most Hated Man in Washington (Because He’s Leaving)
What I’m listening to…
What I’m watching…
What I read every day…
Love Brooks and Capehart