GOP applauds Trump tariffs as trade war looms

 https://www.axios.com/2025/02/02/trump-tariffs-republicans-applaud-trade-war

As trade war fears circulate, lawmakers are manning their posts: Democrats are warning prices will skyrocket — while Republicans say the potential discomfort will be worth it in the end.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that if "prices go up, it's because of other people's reactions to America's laws."

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) characterized Trump's tariffs as a border tool, telling NBC's Kristen Welker they "are meant to bring Canada and Mexico the table for the fentanyl that is streaming into our communities."

His fellow Virginian, Sen. Tim Kaine (D), said Trump's first-term tariffs were "a tax on Virginia consumers," predicting Americans will see "higher prices for energy, higher prices for groceries."

Kaine said he was struck by what he saw as the "irony" of Trump's executive order declaring an "energy emergency" followed by 10% tariffs on Canadian energy.

"The emergency is self-created," Kaine said.

Jordan reportedly warns it could extradite Sbarro bombing mastermind to US for trial

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-reportedly-warns-it-could-extradite-sbarro-bombing-mastermind-to-us-for-trial/

In reversal, Amman said to give Hamas one day to find Ahlam Tamimi another home or it will send her stateside, where she is wanted over 2001 attack that killed 16, including 2 Americans

Trump rips ‘always wrong’ Wall Street Journal for criticizing his tariffs

 https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5121945-trump-rips-always-wrong-wall-street-journal-for-criticizing-his-tariffs/?tbref=hp

President Trump on Sunday ripped The Wall Street Journal for criticizing his recent tariffs.

“The ‘Tariff Lobby,’ headed by the Globalist, and always wrong, Wall Street Journal, is working hard to justify Countries like Canada, Mexico, China, and too many others to name, continue the decades long RIPOFF OF AMERICA, both with regard to TRADE, CRIME, AND POISONOUS DRUGS that are allowed to so freely flow into AMERICA,” said the president on his Truth Social platform.

A Saturday op-ed from the Journal’s editorial board criticized Trump’s tariff plan and predicted a declining trend in trade and manufacturing capability in the wake of signed sanctions. 

“Mr. Trump sometimes sounds as if the U.S. shouldn’t import anything at all, that America can be a perfectly closed economy making everything at home. This is called autarky, and it isn’t the world we live in, or one that we should want to live in, as Mr. Trump may soon find out,” said the op-ed.

Musk Spews Crazy Claims After Seizing Federal Payment System

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/musk-spews-crazy-claims-after-seizing-federal-payment-system/

Elon Musk took aim at a pair of federal agencies Sunday, shortly after his Department of Government Efficiency team received access to the massive system that manages government payments.

Specifically, Musk targeted the U.S. Treasury Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), alleging with little evidence that both were “breaking the law” by approving “fraudulent” payments.

“Career Treasury officials are breaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress,” Musk wrote on X Sunday. “This needs to stop NOW!”

To back up his claim, Musk shared a summation of a relevant statute compiled by Grok, an artificial intelligence service run by his social media app, X.

The explosive claims come just hours after the billionaire and his DOGE team were reportedly granted full access to a federal payment system by President Donald Trump’s newly confirmed treasury secretary, Scott Bessent.

The Dumbest Trade War Fallout Begins

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-trump-tariff-fallout-begins-canada-mexico-vow-retaliation-economic-uncertainty-da522b44?mod=hp_opin_pos_0

President Trump conceded Sunday that there may be “some pain” from his sweeping tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but they will eventually lead to a new “GOLDEN AGE.” Nice of him to promise a glorious future because the pain is already unfolding, and the tariffs won’t even take effect until Tuesday.

We appreciate Mr. Trump’s attention, though we’re anti-tariff and not lobbyists. But bad policy has damaging consequences, whether or not Mr. Trump chooses to admit it. Mr. Trump can’t repeal the laws of economics any more than Joe Biden could on inflation.

Trump’s tariffs are a $1.4 trillion gamble with the economy and prices

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/02/business/trump-economy-tariff-mexico-canada-china/index.html

The Wall Street Journal went a step further, publishing a scathing op-ed on Saturday titled: “The Dumbest Trade War in History.”

The op-ed argued that Trump’s justification for an “economic assault” on Canada and Mexico “makes no sense” and warned the strategy could end in disaster.

With tariffs signed, Trump warns of ‘pain’ to come for Americans

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/02/politics/us-tariffs-americans-pay-imports/index.html

A day after signing steep new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, President Donald Trump acknowledged what economists, members of Congress and even some of his own aides — in their previous lives — have been saying all along: Americans may find themselves paying the costs.

“THIS WILL BE THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA! WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!),” Trump posted, in all capital letters, on his Truth Social platform.

“WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID,” Trump wrote. “WE ARE A COUNTRY THAT IS NOW BEING RUN WITH COMMON SENSE — AND THE RESULTS WILL BE SPECTACULAR!!!”

In Plane Crash Aftermath, A Familiar Trump Returns: Blamer-in-Chief

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-plane-crash-blame-2023677

Republican strategist Matt Klink told Newsweek on Thursday that Trump's response to the plane crash in Washington "missed the mark."

"Instead of simply stating that he didn't yet have all the information to decide what caused the crash, he injected politics into an already highly emotional situation," Klink said.

He continued, "The President needs to realize that the election is over, and while he wants to smash the status quo, which people who voted for him support, at this particular moment, Americans were looking for reassurance from the commander-in-chief that he and his new team, which isn't even complete, would get to the bottom of what caused the crash and enact changes to make sure that events like the crash are rare."

Ignore reality is Secret of Existence?!

SANHEDRIN 92a says we learn from the halacha that a Cohen does not increase light in house with suspected tzaros that in general we are better off by not being too concerned  with reality

However  many other sources teach the opposite 

וְאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר לְעוֹלָם הָוֵי קָבֵל וְקַיָּים אָמַר רַבִּי זֵירָא אַף אֲנַן נָמֵי תְּנֵינָא בַּיִת אָפֵל אֵין פּוֹתְחִין לוֹ חַלּוֹנוֹת לִרְאוֹת נִגְעוֹ שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ

And Rabbi Elazar says: Forever be in the dark, i.e., anonymous, and you will continue to exist. Rabbi Zeira says: We learn a similar idea in a mishna as well (Nega’im 2:3): In a dark house, one does not open windows to illuminate it in order to see whether or not its blemish is leprosy, and the house retains the presumptive status of ritual purity. Those matters that are obscured are allowed to continue. The Gemara affirms: Conclude from that mishna that this is so.

https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.92a.

'Is it for a day or four years?' Tariff uncertainty spooks small businesses

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kmp99431mo

Trump's orders set in motion threats that the president has discussed for months, striking at shipments from America's top three trade partners, which together account for more than 40% of the roughly $3tn goods the US imports each year.

Canadian oil and other "energy resources" will face a lower 10% rate. But otherwise, there will be no exceptions, the White House said.

183 Palestinian security prisoners released after Hamas sets free 3 civilian hostages

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/183-palestinian-security-prisoners-released-after-hamas-sets-free-3-civilian-hostages/

Israel freed 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, shortly after three Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 were released by the terror group in the Gaza Strip.

According to Palestinian authorities, 18 of the prisoners were serving life sentences. Over 100 were from the Gaza Strip, arrested after October 7, 2023, and were being held without trial.

Thirty prisoners, including three serving life sentences, were released for each of the hostages Keith Siegel and Ofer Kalderon, and 12 prisoners serving life sentences were released for Yarden Bibas.

Farmers Plead ‘Stop Our Fields Flooding’ as Trump Opens Dams

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/farmers-plead-stop-our-fields-flooding-as-trump-opens-dams-in-california/

Multiple water management experts told Politico that moves like the one initially planned to hit Tulare County could have serious consequences.

“Something really bad could happen because of their nonsensical approach,” said a former official at Bureau of Reclamation, the primary agency responsible for delivering water in the western U.S. “Floods are real. This isn’t playing around with a software company.”

Hernandez was in agreement.

“Channel capacity is very dangerous,” he said. “People don’t understand that [with] channel capacity, you’re going to have flood damage down below.”

Wall Street Journal slams Trump’s tariff plans: ‘The dumbest trade war in history’

 https://thehill.com/business/5121142-wall-street-journal-slams-trumps-tariff-plans-the-dumbest-trade-war-in-history/

“Mr. Trump sometimes sounds as if the U.S. shouldn’t import anything at all, that America can be a perfectly closed economy making everything at home. This is called autarky, and it isn’t the world we live in, or one that we should want to live in, as Mr. Trump may soon find out,” they outlined. 

‘No New Wars’: Trump Boasts He Bombed Somalia

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/no-new-wars-trump-boasts-he-bombed-somalia/

Newly elected President Donald Trump, who made a campaign promise of not starting any "new wars," seemingly went back on his word when he announced on X on Saturday that he had ordered bombings in Somalia. “This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia,” Trump shared on the platform. “These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians,” he continued. His announcement wasn’t complete without throwing in a jab at Joe Biden, who Trump says “wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done.” “The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that ‘WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!’” Trump wrote at the end of his message. Underneath his post, Trump devotees applauded the strikes.