Speaking hours after the Star-Spangled Banner was booed at a hockey game in Ottawa, Trudeau spelled out an aggressive response of his own to go toe-to-toe with Trump on the sudden trade sanctions. At almost exactly the same time, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum imposed retaliatory tariffs to match Trump’s on her country—meaning America, for the first time in history, is in a trade war with its northern and southern neighbors.
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Why Arab States Hate Trump’s Plan to Relocate Palestinians
President Trump has repeatedly said he wants Palestinians in Gaza to move out of the devastated enclave and into neighboring Egypt and nearby Jordan. The Arab world is pushing back, ostensibly because it would undermine efforts to create a Palestinian state.
The Dumbest Trade War in History
President Trump will fire his first tariff salvo on Saturday against those notorious American adversaries . . . Mexico and Canada. They’ll get hit with a 25% border tax, while China, a real adversary, will endure 10%. This reminds us of the old Bernard Lewis joke that it’s risky to be America’s enemy but it can be fatal to be its friend.
With stiff tariffs he promised now in place, Trump opens a new trade war
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/01/politics/tariffs-trump-campaign-promise/index.html
Saturday’s tariffs amount to a starting gun on what could escalate into a global trade war, with the potential for higher costs, disrupted supply chains and a loss of jobs. The duties he approved Saturday have a lower 10% rate on Canadian energy, a tacit acknowledgement that the tariffs could lead to higher gas prices. Even Trump acknowledged the potential for adverse consequences on American consumers.
Trump announces significant new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, sparking retaliatory actions
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/01/politics/mexico-canada-china-tariffs-trump/index.html
President Donald Trump announced extraordinary new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China — signing the long-promised economic policy at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday. The Trump administration said tariffs are aimed at curbing the flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants into the US, but they potentially risk substantial price increases for American consumers across an array of common goods from avocados to sneakers to cars.
Hours later, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country will impose retaliatory tariffs, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced “far-reaching” retaliatory levies. China’s commerce ministry said it will file a complaint with the World Trade Organization and “take corresponding countermeasures,” without elaborating.
The hostage deal and its implications
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/403250
As far as the Nation of Israel is concerned, this deal is one that brings degradation and dishonor to our people. One does not make deals with terrorists. One kills them and erases them from the earth. And especially when we have to accept their dictates. That is why this is a really terrible deal in my eyes and in the eyes of many others, not just because of the dangers but because of the damage done to the honor of both the heavens and Israel.
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Trump's push to deport criminal immigrants faces limits
https://www.axios.com/2024/11/29/trump-deport-immigrants-criminals
President-elect Trump is vowing to launch the "largest deportation of criminals in American history" as part of his plans to remove millions of undocumented immigrants from the U.S.
What he doesn't say: There aren't that many criminals who could be deported immediately.
Driving the news: Less than 0.5% of the 1.8 million cases in immigration courts during the past fiscal year — involving about 8,400 people — included deportation orders for alleged crimes other than entering the U.S. illegally, an Axios review of government data found.
The Trump transition team declined to address the low number of current immigration cases involving immigrants who've committed crimes.
Trump’s Reality TV Presidency Just Got Bitten By Reality
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-reality-tv-presidency-just-got-bitten-by-reality/
President Trump’s new Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s resume includes roles on three reality shows: The Real World: Boston in 1997, Road Rules: All Stars in 1998, and Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons which aired in 2002. In that last series, Duffy and his partner crushed the competition, winning challenges that included rounding up cows while riding horses and playing a version of musical chairs involving inner tubes? Sure.
He continued, offering a distressed public and grieving families insightful observations like, “Obviously, it is not standard to have aircraft collide. I want to be clear on that.”
Still, the last person Trump would blame for this tragedy is himself because, unlike Harry Truman, the buck never stops at his desk.
Meanwhile, expect more tragedies. Trump’s regime is parroting Musk’s failed Twitter tactics, slashing funds for staff and oversight on the federal government. Failing to round up a cow is one thing on TV, but failing to enforce safety regulations across air, land, and sea travel is quite another.
That’s the reality. And it’s a deadly one.
Emily Damari’s mom: My daughter was held in UNRWA facilities, denied medical treatment
The mother of freed hostage Emily Damari revealed Friday that her daughter was held by Hamas at UNRWA facilities in the Gaza Strip, and that her captors refused to give her access to medical treatment.
Emily lost two fingers in her left hand after being shot by Hamas terrorists during her abduction on October 7, 2023. Her mother Mandy said it was “a miracle that she survived,” in a post on X thanking British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for calling them earlier in the day.
“Hamas held Emily in UNRWA facilities and denied her access to medical treatment after shooting her twice,” wrote Mandy, who like her daughter has British citizenship. “It’s a miracle that she survived, and we need to get aid to the remaining hostages now.”
Trump's Justice Department launches sweeping cuts targeting Jan. 6 prosecutors, FBI agents
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-840165
Trump administration officials have pressured six senior FBI officials, as well as the heads of many field offices, to leave their posts by Monday or face termination, NBC reported on Friday.
Additionally, the Department of Justice fired two dozen federal prosecutors involved in the January 6 investigations on the same day.
The FBI was ordered to provide by Tuesday a list of all employees who worked on a 2024 criminal case brought by the Justice Department against leaders of Hamas, according to a memo seen by Reuters. A source briefed on the matter also said the FBI was asked to provide a list of employees who worked on the two Trump cases brought by Smith.
Tulsi Gabbard’s Surveillance Folly
Tulsi Gabbard faced the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday for her confirmation hearing, and her performance wasn’t reassuring. Given a chance to walk back her opposition to Section 702 surveillance policy, she reinforced why she would be dangerous as White House director of national intelligence.
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