Competence questions pose risk to Trump’s political image

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/11/trump-competence-questions-second-term/

President Donald Trump regained the White House in large part by trumpeting his ability to get things done, accusing his opponents of ineptitude and senility and promising that on Day 1 he would restore basic competence to government.

But 2½ months in, agencies such as the Social Security Administration have struggled to provide basic services. Trump’s team issues edicts, then reverses them. A leaked Signal chat suggests top security officials were unfamiliar with the basics of protecting military secrets.

Crucial government workers have been fired, then rehired. A much-ballyhooed immigration detention center at Guantánamo Bay has faced logistical problems. Trump’s team told laid-off workers at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to contact a particular individual if they felt they were being discriminated against; she turned out to be dead.

These and other missteps are now being compounded in dramatic fashion by a roiling stock market and bond sell-off prompted by Trump’s tariff policies, raising fears of a collapsing economy. Trump’s formula for calculating the tariffs has been widely panned by economists. And on Wednesday, he paused many of the levies just hours after they took effect, even while leaving a 10 percent blanket tariff in place and further hiking duties on imports from China.

Many Americans who disliked Trump’s bluster and bombast, polls suggest, voted for him in 2024 in the belief that at least he could get results. They saw him as a highly successful businessman, and they remembered a booming economy in Trump’s first term before the coronavirus pandemic.

Shapiro says ‘arsonist set fire’ to Pennsylvania governor’s house

 https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5246802-shapiro-arsonist-set-fire-pennsylvania-governors-house/

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said an “arsonist set fire” to the governor’s residence early Sunday morning, prompting his family to evacuate.

The governor and his family were present in a separate part of the house, and they were “evacuated safely and were not injured,” according to a statement from the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP).

“Last night at about 2AM, my family and I woke up to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg,” Shapiro wrote in a post on the social platform X.

The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire “successfully extinguished” the fire, but “it caused a significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence,” the PSP said.

Republicans fear Trump’s trade war could lead to political wipeout

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5245595-trump-trade-war-political-dangers/

Republican lawmakers say there’s a good chance that President Trump’s trade war will boomerang on Republicans politically in 2026, as rising prices and shrinking growth could offset other accomplishments by the GOP.

Republican senators are pointing to the 1932 and 1982 elections as historical examples of when trade wars and resulting price inflation hurt their party at the ballot box, and they are worried that history could repeat itself.

On Tariffs, It’s Good to Be Tim Cook

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/on-tariffs-its-good-to-be-tim-cook-5b8f05ad?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

Trump’s exemptions for big companies expose the arbitrary political nature of his border taxes.

Tariffs are advertised in the name of helping American workers, but what do you know? They turn out to favor the powerful and politically connected. That’s the main message of President Trump’s decision to exempt smartphones and assorted electronic goods from his most onerous tariffs.

Trump makes false claims about China, Japan and the EU at Cabinet meeting

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/10/politics/cabinet-meeting-trump-china-japan-eu/index.html

President Donald Trump made a series of false claims in televised remarks Thursday at a meeting of his Cabinet, including inaccurate assertions about US relations with China, Japan and the European Union.

Trump repeated his frequent false claim that because of the tariffs he imposed during his first term, China paid the US hundreds of billions of dollars. In fact, US importers, not foreign exporters like China, make the tariff payments to the US government, and study after study has found that Americans bore the overwhelming majority of the cost of Trump’s first-term tariffs on China. It’s easy to find specific examples of companies that passed along the cost of the tariffs to US consumers.

Israel fears Trump may cut 'mediocre' nuke deal, impede IDF's ability to strike Iran

 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-849751

There is a real danger that US President Donald Trump could agree to a mediocre nuclear deal with Iran, multiple top Israeli sources have told The Jerusalem Post.

If Trump does agree to such a deal, some of the sources are deeply concerned that the president may circumscribe the IDF’s current unique opportunity to strike the Islamic Republic.

We Just Saw the Cracks in Trump’s Wall of Power

 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/04/10/donald-trump-vulnerabilities-tariffs-budget-00283251

It was a striking one-two punch attacking the narrative that has surrounded Trump since November — that he is a political juggernaut able to run roughshod over his party and beyond to get his way on everything from economic policy to his choice for Cabinet secretaries. On Wednesday, Trump implicitly acknowledged there are, in fact, checks on his power: the markets and, if you squint, his own party.

Vocal supporter and hedge fund mogul Bill Ackman warned Trump of a “self-induced economic nuclear winter” and accused Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick of profiting from a bad economy. And the discontent even spread to the podcasting bros who helped connect Trump with a legion of young men during the 2024 campaign, including Barstool Sports’ David Portnoy, who claimed to have lost $20 million after Trump introduced his latest tariffs, with Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro calling it “about as bad a rollout as you can do.”

“The idea that this is inherently good and makes the American economy strong is wrongheaded,” Shapiro told his viewers. “It’s untrue. The idea that it is going to result in massive re-shoring of manufacturing is also untrue.”

Does Trump Have a China Trade Strategy?

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/china-tariffs-donald-trump-trade-markets-scott-bessent-tiktok-b30bce47?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

It’s all going according to plan, says the White House, and you almost have to smile at this spin in trying to sell President Trump’s partial tariff reversal this week as a triumph. The reality is that Mr. Trump is making it up as he goes, and it would help if he had an actual strategy to deal with China in particular.

Stocks staged a relief rally on Wednesday, but a day later fell again. What investors know is that the trade war is far from over and damage persists. Even with the 90-day pause, the tariffs that continue are the largest tax increase since 1982. They’re bigger than Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax increase and George H.W. Bush’s in 1990. Taxes are anti-growth.

Then there’s the trade-war escalation with China, the world’s second largest economy. The White House said Thursday that the U.S. tariff on all Chinese exports to the U.S. will now be 145%. In 2024 the U.S. imported $439 billion in goods from China, so apply 145% to that and you get a sense of the hit to U.S. consumers and businesses.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the U.S. trade goal all along has been to isolate China as a main offender. There’s good reason to treat China differently given its often predatory trade practices. These include cyber attacks on U.S. companies and government; intellectual property theft; unequal treatment of U.S. firms in China; and Covid lies.

U.S., China Are Going to Economic War, and Everyone Will Suffer

 https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/us-china-tariffs-trade-war-6f143252?mod=WSJ_home_mediumtopper_pos_1

In jacking up his tariffs on China—and pausing steep duties on dozens of other nations—President Trump is pushing the world’s two biggest economic powers into a battle that will leave neither unscathed and risks tanking the global economy. 

A US-China trade war could be catastrophic. What is Trump’s endgame strategy?

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/11/politics/trump-china-trade-war-tariffs-strategy/index.html

 The fast-worsening trade war between the United States and China – the planet’s premier geopolitical powers, whose economies are intricately entwined – threatens to wreak severe damage on both nations and will send shockwaves worldwide.

Since President Donald Trump launched this potential cataclysm, it’s fair to ask whether he’s got a strategy and how he sees the endgame.

As usual, Trump is improvising. His stunning escalation in tariffs on China this week didn’t follow any meaningful formula. He’s acting, as he always does, like a real estate shark, raising the stakes to intolerable levels to seek leverage. It’s the latest manifestation of the “madman theory,” by which Trump conjures the most extreme of circumstances to try to spook his opponents.

“We’re now in a huge (trade) war with China, and the tariffs that have been imposed on China are what I would call prohibitive,” former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga on CNN International Thursday. “They’re going to result in massive impacts on the United States and the global economy. No one knows where these policies are headed.”

If trade dies out between the US and China, the consequences will be painful. The price of goods that form a vital part of American life could shoot up. This could fuel inflation, worsening the quality of life for millions and hurting consumer confidence, which in turn could tip the US into a recession.

This means that a trade war between the US and China could become a grueling test of which populace can take the most economic pain.

Falseability is Basis of Science

 The ability to describe the conditions that a statement or belief can be said to be false is what distinguishes science from idolatry and magic. What are the circumstance that determine whether someone is a failed leader? This is not hair splitting philosophy. We have a president who has destroyed the economy destroyed the ability of government to provide basic services. And yet this is ascribed to genius not incompetence. He is a corrupt criminal vindictive individual  and yet he is described as G-d's messenger. Please let me know the parameters of competence other than saying if he supports Israel he can do no wrong

Adam Schiff Calls For Insider Trading Investigation into Trump Over Tariff Pause

 https://time.com/7276234/trump-tariff-insider-trading-schiff/

Senator Adam Schiff on Wednesday called on Congress to investigate whether President Donald Trump engaged in insider trading or market manipulation when he abruptly paused a sweeping set of tariffs, a move that sent stock prices skyrocketing.

“I’m going to do my best to find out,” Schiff, a California Democrat, tells TIME. “Family meme coins and all the rest of it are not beyond insider trading or enriching themselves. I hope to find out soon.”

Schiff’s comments regarding a formal inquiry, which has not been previously reported, came soon after the S&P 500 surged more than 9% Wednesday afternoon after Trump announced the tariff pause. “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social minutes after the market opened on Wednesday, along with the letters “DJT,” which stands for both his initials and the ticker for his media company.

Stocks Plummet as China Trade War Sinks In

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-trump-tariffs-trade-war-04-10-25?mod=WSJ_home_supertoppertop_pos_1

 Dow falls more than 1,700 points, Nasdaq sheds over 5%; White House says China tariff is 145%

Trump concedes there may be "transition problems" as markets plunge again following tariff pause

 https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-tariffs-cnn-town-hall-04-10-25/index.html

President Donald Trump offered a more sober assessment of the aftermath of his decision to pause some tariffs for 90 days, while convening his Cabinet to discuss next steps.

After taking a victory lap Wednesday, the president on Thursday acknowledged some “transition problems” could be expected – comments that come as the Dow is again tumbling after a historic rally.

“A big day yesterday. There will always be transition difficulty – but in history, it was the biggest day in history, the markets. So we’re very, very happy with the way the country is running. We’re trying to get the world to treat us fairly,” Trump said in the Cabinet Room.

He continued, “We think we’re in very good shape. We think we’re doing very well. Again, there’ll be a transition cost and transition problems, but in the end, it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”

The president praised his Cabinet, whom he has tasked with plans on how to proceed with trade deals and negotiation with China in what is becoming an intensifying trade war with Beijing.