19-Year-Old Arrested For Sparking Massive New Jersey Wildfire
19-Year-Old Arrested For Sparking Massive New Jersey Wildfire
A 19-year-old from Ocean Township, New Jersey, has been arrested and charged with sparking what could be the Garden State's largest wildfire in decades.
On Thursday morning, the https://www.facebook.com/OCPONJ
wrote on Facebook that Joseph Kling was charged with aggravated arson and arson in connection with a wildfire that scorched 15,000 acres in the New Jersey Pine Barrens area.
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The latest New Jersey Forest Fire Service update indicates that the wildfire is 50% contained.
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Ocean County Prosecutor's Office provided additional color about the suspect, Joseph Kling:
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette and Ocean Township Chief of Police Michal Rogalski announced that on April 23, 2025, Joseph Kling, 19, of Ocean Township (Waretown), was charged with Aggravated Arson and Arson in connection with a wildfire that started in Waretown on April 22, 2025, and continued to spread throughout the southern Ocean County area
On April 22, 2025, at approximately 9:45 a.m., the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower located a column of smoke coming from the area of Jones Road and Bryant Road in Ocean Township. Upon arrival, emergency personnel observed a fire within the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust's Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area, which is on the east side of Jones Road.
As of April 24, 2025, the fire has burned approximately 15,000 acres in Waretown and Lacey Townships, and has destroyed a commercial building.
A thorough and extensive investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, New Jersey Forest Fire Service, Ocean County Fire Marshal's Office, and New Jersey State Fire Marshal's Office, plotted the origin of the fire via Global Positioning System (GPS). The cause of the fire was determined to be incendiary by an improperly extinguished bonfire.
Further investigation has revealed that Kling was the individual responsible for setting wooden pallets on fire - and then leaving the area without the fire being fully extinguished. Kling was taken into custody at Ocean Township (Waretown) Police Headquarters; he was thereafter transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he is presently lodged pending a detention hearing.
There are no indications yet as to whether stupidity, political motives, or climate activism played a role in Kling's actions that sparked the fire. Certainly, we'll leave it to federal investigators to comb through social media profiles, voting records, and other databases to determine who Kling is and possible reasons why the blaze started.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 17:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/19-year-old-arrested-sparking-massive-new-jersey-wildfire
Who Are Possible Contenders To Succeed Pope Francis?
Who Are Possible Contenders To Succeed Pope Francis?
(emphasis ours),
The world awoke on April 21 to news that Pope Francis, the 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, had died at 7:35 a.m. local time.
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The 88-year-old pontiff had recently suffered a bout of double pneumonia, complicated by the chronic bronchial infections that had plagued him over the past decade. The Vatican has revealed that Francis died after suffering a stroke and heart failure not long after getting out of bed on April 21.
Behind the scenes, preparations for the next conclave—the papal election—have begun.
The papal https://x.com/Pontifex
on social media platform X, previously bearing the name of Pope Francis, has been changed to Apostolica Sedes Vacans, Latin for “the apostolic seat is empty.”
While Catholics around the world mourn the late pontiff ahead of his funeral on April 26, speculation has begun about a possible successor. However, the process has historically often ended with an unexpected outcome. When the most recent conclave convened to replace resigning Pope Benedict XVI, few predicted that Francis, then Jorge Mario Bergoglio, would be elected.
An old Italian saying riffs on the historical difficulties that observers have had in predicting the new pope.
“He who enters the conclave as pope, leaves it as a cardinal,” it states.
Nevertheless, there are some expected frontrunners in the race to become the leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide.
A few months ago, Vatican journalists Edward Pentin and Diane Montagna assembled a https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/
examining some potential candidates—and their viewpoints on different issues facing the church.
Whoever is chosen will face the heavy task of guiding the Catholic Church during one of the most tumultuous times in its history, in which multiple wars and cultural clashes loom daily.
Here is a brief look at a few of the top contenders.
Cardinal Sarah
Cardinal Robert Sarah, a native of Guinea, is viewed as a conservative and champion of orthodoxy in Catholic teaching. Author of the book “The Power of Silence,” Sarah is the former head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship, which regulated the liturgical norms of the church. In 2019, he co-authored another book with Pope Benedict XVI defending priestly celibacy.
Cardinal Pizzaballa
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa first came to public attention shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Gaza, when he offered himself to Hamas in exchange for the release of children being held hostage. The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, he is viewed as conservative-leaning and may appeal to centrists.
Cardinal Erdo
Cardinal Peter Erdo is the archbishop of Budapest, Hungary, and is also considered as leaning conservative. At a speech before the 2015 Synod on the Family, he quoted the church teaching that “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family” but also noted that such individuals should be treated with respect and dignity.
Cardinal Parolin
Cardinal Pietro Parolin is the Vatican secretary of state and was one of the nine cardinals who made up Pope Francis’s inner circle of advisers. Parolin is the architect of the 2018 China–Vatican agreement, which gave the Chinese regime wider control over the Catholic Church in China, although the details are still unpublicized.
Cardinal Tagle
Cardinal Luis Tagle, archbishop of Manila, Philippines, has long been considered a possible successor to Francis and is known for his progressive, informal approach, including singing and dancing in church. Tagle has also been supportive of the Vatican’s agreement with China, which he said is meant to “safeguard” the Catholic Church in that country.
Cardinal Zuppi
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, Italy, is viewed as another possible candidate. Aligned with the more liberal wing of the church, Zuppi is seen as likely to continue Francis’s legacy if elected pope. Zuppi’s family has ties with the Vatican, while Zuppi himself has strong credentials within the church. Under Benedict, Zuppi was appointed auxiliary bishop of Rome, while under Francis, he was appointed as archbishop of Bologna, where he has served since.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 17:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/who-are-possible-contenders-succeed-pope-francis
Kremlin Issues Nuclear Warning Aimed At West As Ukraine Peace Efforts Stall
Kremlin Issues Nuclear Warning Aimed At West As Ukraine Peace Efforts Stall
Russia has issued a fresh nuclear warning aimed at the West at an ultra-sensitive moment that diplomatic engagement with the US on efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine are stalling.
Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu laid out in https://www.newsweek.com/russia-nuclear-warning-ukraine-peace-talks-2063465
that Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if under direct aggression from Western nations, which includes close ally Belarus coming under threat.
Shoigu reminded the world that new amendments made to Russia's nuclear doctrine back in November means Russian leaders can "use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against it or the Republic of Belarus, including with the use of conventional weapons."
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He further warned nuclear doctrine can be activated "in the event of foreign states committing unfriendly actions that pose a threat to the sovereignty and territory integrity of the Russian Federation, our country considers it legitimate to take symmetric and asymmetric measures necessary to suppress such actions and prevent their recurrence."
There was a carrot-and-stick aspect to the fresh warning, given that Shoigu pivoted to saying Russia is ready to forge a new nuclear pact with Washington, despite soaring tensions centered on Ukraine.
"Russia is prepared to resume talks on nuclear arms control with the US, two years after suspending the last accord limiting their atomic arsenals," he has been further https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/3010667/russia-ready-for-talks-on-new-nuclear-pact-with-us-shoigu-says
in international reports as saying.
"The administration of Donald Trump is currently demonstrating a readiness to resume dialogue on the issue of strategic stability," Shoigu told TASS in an interview published Thursday. “We are ready for such work.”
The hope is that some kind of new strategic pact could come out of recent efforts of US and Russian delegations to normalize diplomatic relations during bilateral talks.
Both sides have by now recognized that the conflict in Ukraine is a proxy war pitting NATO against nuclear-armed Russia. Russia increasingly has international backers too, and is reportedly using Iranian and North Korean advanced weapons.
Prior to the war's start, one activist group and nuclear monitor, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), estimated that a nuclear war between the US and Russia would see nearly 100 million casualties in just the first few hours of nuclear warhead exchanges alone.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/Russia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
— Giovanni Staunovo🛢 (@staunovo) https://twitter.com/staunovo/status/1915461001278788052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"34.1 million people could die, and another 57.4 million could be injured, within the first few hours of the start of a nuclear war between Russia and the United States triggered by one low-yield nuclear weapon, according to a new simulation by researcher’s at Princeton‘s Science and Global Security program," the group https://www.icanw.org/new_study_on_us_russia_nuclear_war
.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 17:00
Trump: Russia's Concession To Ukraine Is Not Taking Over The Entire Country
Trump: Russia's Concession To Ukraine Is Not Taking Over The Entire Country
Update(1650ET): Reporters in the White House press pool challenged President Trump over some of his latest remarks regarding Ukraine and the possibility of peace.
While in the Oval Office sitting across from Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Trump was asked what concessions Russia has "offered up thus far to get to the point where you’re closer to peace." He quipped somewhat sarcastically, "Stopping the war, stopping from taking the whole country" — which he called a "pretty big concession."
Trump says that Russia’s concession to Ukraine is not taking over the entire country https://t.co/n6NbQArmP6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1915468998621229145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Zelensky has made clear over the last few days that he's not on board with Trump's strategy, which has featured offering recognition of Russian ownership of Crimea as a key concession. These latest words from the US President yet again illustrate that he believes Ukraine has no chance of winning the war, and that he's being a pragmatist and realist in seeking substantial concessions by Kiev.
When asked about whether the US might (again) cut weapons to Kiev and intelligence-sharing, Trump responded, "Let’s see what happens; I think we’re going to make a deal; ask that question in two weeks."
* * *
Amid stalled US-led peace talks, Russia launched a massive overnight attack on Ukraine, including raining down ballistic missiles on the center of Kiev, unleashing large-scale death and destruction.
At least nine people have been reported killed and over 70 injured in the capital city, in what was one of the largest and deadliest missile strikes on Ukraine in months. Some other cities, including Kharkiv, were also hit.
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Anti-aircraft systems began engaging inbound missiles and drones at about 1am local time. But after drones and missiles were able to make it through, several buildings - including a factory - and a house, as well as cars, were set on fire.
BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7v0lgg18xo
, "An apartment block was completely flattened during the attack and the windows of surrounding buildings were blown out and balconies ripped down."
"Russia has launched a massive combined strike on Kyiv," Ukraine’s state emergency service announced on Telegram. "According to preliminary data, nine people were killed, 63 injured."
President Trump early Thursday condemned the attack, saying he's "not happy" with the Russian move. "Vladimir, STOP!" he wrote on Truth Social. "5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let's get the Peace Deal DONE!"
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A large rescue effort has been underway given a missile head a densely populated area, with Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, saying of Svyatoshinsky district of Kiev, "Mobile phones can be heard ringing under the ruins. The search will continue until everybody is got out. We have information about two children who cannot be found at the scene of the incident."
Ukrainian officials have cited that some 70 missiles and up to 150 drones were used against several cities in the devastating overnight attack.
BBC footage from the Russian attack in Kyiv last night.
According to available information, at least 8 people were killed during the strikes in the Ukrainian capital.
Ukrainian Air Force informed that Russia launched 11 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, 37 Kh-101… https://t.co/zucVYlpWi9
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) https://twitter.com/Archer83Able/status/1915350700424392816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
This new Thursday attack on the capital was the deadliest since last year's July 8 attack on Kiev, which left 34 people dead and 121 injured.
It comes after the Zelensky government has expressed frustration that the White House should be more concerned and standing by Ukraine's side, instead of holding bilateral talks toward diplomatic normalization with Russia.
The latest Trump and Zelensky back-and-forth has focused on Crimea. Trump on Wednesday slammed the Ukrainian leader for rejecting a US proposal that would see Kiev give up all claims on Crimea. Trump pointed out that Crimea "was lost years ago" and that Zelensky has "no cards to play".
Zelensky then cited the 2018 "Crimea declaration" by Trump's then secretary of state Mike Pompeo, which laid out that the United States "rejects Russia's attempted annexation".
Emotions have run high today. But it is good that 5 countries met to bring peace closer. Ukraine, the USA, the UK, France and Germany. The sides expressed their views and respectfully received each other’s positions. It’s important that each side was not just a participant but… https://t.co/lDFV5WK8tw
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1915120034487189631?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"There is nothing to talk about. This violates our Constitution. This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine," Zelensky had initially told reporters of the question of giving up Crimea permanently.
But Vice President JD Vance had also articulated while traveling in India, "We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process."
Kyiv is under Russian attack. 21 people are hospitalized, including a pregnant woman and three children. https://t.co/IQZw9TkV8I
— Marta Havryshko (@HavryshkoMarta) https://twitter.com/HavryshkoMarta/status/1915195583931048024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
He emphasized "The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing and to get on with the business of actually building a better Russia and a better Ukraine."
Freezing the war now would certainly give Russian forces a huge advantage, given the immense territory in the East they now hold, and this is in large part why Zelensky is refusing such a deal.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 16:50
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-launches-massive-missile-strike-kiev-leaving-9-dead
What Is Democratic 'Legality'?
What Is Democratic 'Legality'?
https://amgreatness.com/2025/04/24/what-is-democratic-legality/
Since 2021, the left has waged a veritable war against the American legal system in a variety of ways.
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One serial target of Democrats and the Left has been the Supreme Court.
In 2020, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke to an angry throng of pro-abortion protestors assembled at the very doors of the court chambers.
He threatened two of the justices, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, by name. Schumer yelled to the volatile crowd that the justices’ views would make them “reap the whirlwind,” and the two would not know what “hit” them.
In the ensuing months, protestors mobbed some of the conservative justices’ homes—likely committing felonies. The sympathetic Biden Justice Department chose not to follow the law, and so did nothing—although eventually a would-be assassin turned up.
Joe Biden himself bragged that he would try to ignore the Supreme Court ruling banning his arbitrary cancellation of billions of dollars in student loans. Indeed, he boasted, “The Supreme Court blocked it, but that didn’t stop me.”
In response, no one on the left ever complained about endangering the “rule of law” or Biden as “a dictator.”
For three years, four local, state, and federal prosecutors warped the law to neuter Donald Trump. Most of the charges had never been brought against other political figures in similar circumstances.
The vast majority of the 93 weaponized indictments backfired on the liberal prosecutors, who had contorted the legal system for political purposes and now face their own ethical or legal quagmires.
The federal prosecutor Jack Smith belatedly reported accepting $140,000 in free legal services.
Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis was removed from the Trump case and fined, and is now under further investigation.
New York prosecutor Letitia James is now facing allegations of falsification of documents and loan fraud.
Federal immigration law prohibits the illegal entry into and residence within the United States. Yet the Biden administration deliberately violated the law by allowing somewhere between 10-12 million illegal aliens to cross the border. Thousands had criminal records.
No one on the left decried any of these various affronts to the legal system.
In polls, by overwhelming majorities—above 70 percent—the public wants the Trump administration to close the border, begin deportations, and start with criminals or those with violent histories and gang ties.
The recent deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien from El Salvador, to the vast majority of Americans seems to fit that profile.
Garcia entered the U.S. illegally and was later found consorting with members of M-13—a State Department-designated terrorist organization—who were selling drugs. Informants reported that he was a gang member. His own tattoos likely confirm those accusations.
Two prior immigration judges found such evidence sufficient to allow deportation proceedings. In 2019, a third judge allowed Garcia to stay temporarily, but only on the grounds that hostile gangs might harm him should he return to El Salvador.
Garcia was pulled over for speeding without a driver’s license—but with eight illegal aliens who reportedly all lived at the Garcia residence. The officer released him, despite suspicions that Garcia was engaged in human trafficking.
Garcia’s live-in girlfriend, now wife, was physically assaulted by Garcia on two occasions, suffered injuries, and initially sought restraining orders against him.
The left claims Garcia is a “Maryland man” without an arrest record.
But he is not a U.S. citizen or a legal resident of Maryland. Instead, Garcia is in legal limbo and remains what he always was—a citizen of El Salvador with gang ties and formerly residing illegally in the U.S.
Garcia is now back home on El Salvadorian soil and was mistakenly sent to a high-security prison. But his own government in El Salvador will ultimately decide how involved Garcia is or was with M-13 gangs. And then, as a sovereign nation, it will act according to its own policies about its own citizens’ associations with that terrorist organization.
The left has demanded that Garcia be returned to the U.S. He has become a cause célèbre as a purported victim of the supposedly fascist Trump. Returning Garcia is seen by leftists as a performance art-act to derail the Trump agenda, which otherwise they have neither the power nor public support to thwart.
The left also ignores its own hypocrisies and ironies.
Those who weaponized the court system and destroyed the border now rail that Trump is acting unlawfully by not returning an illegal alien, an M-13 member, and a domestic abuser with a propensity to ignore our laws.
How ironic that those who rail about colonialism now sound like 19th-century Yankee imperialists.
Democrats do not own El Salvador - although they act like it when dictating to its government that El Salvador cannot detain one of its own citizens on its own soil for its own reasons.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 16:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/what-democratic-legality
Alphabet Surges After Easily Beating Estimates, New $70 Billion Stock Buyback
Alphabet Surges After Easily Beating Estimates, New $70 Billion Stock Buyback
In our preview of Alphabet's Q1 earnings, we said the company was "https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/alphabet-q1-earnings-preview-cheap-room-error-and-optimism-worst-over
", and sure enough, the company is surging after hours after the company reported earnings that largely beat expectations across the board, including capex (with the exception of cloud which came in light on revenue but more than made up for it on profit).
Here is what the company just reported for Q1:
EPS $2.81 vs. $1.89 y/y, smashed estimate $2.01 (Bloomberg Consensus)
Revenue ex-TAC $76.49 billion, +13% y/y, beat estimate $75.4 billion
Total TAC $13.75 billion, +6.2% y/y, higher than estimated $13.66 billion
Revenue $90.23 billion, +12% y/y, beat estimate $89.1 billion
Google Services revenue $77.26 billion, +9.8% y/y, beat estimate $76.31 billion
Google advertising revenue $66.89 billion, +8.5% y/y, beat estimate $66.39 billion
Google Search & Other Revenue $50.70 billion, -6.2% q/q, beat estimate $50.3 billion
YouTube ads revenue $8.93 billion, +10% y/y, missed estimate $8.94 billion
Google Network Revenue $7.26 billion, -8.8% q/q, beat estimate $7.13 billion
Google Subscriptions, Platforms and Devices Revenue $10.38 billion, -11% q/q, beat estimate $9.91 billion
Google Cloud revenue $12.26 billion, +28% y/y, missed estimate $12.32 billion
Other Bets revenue $450 million, -9.1% y/y, missed estimate $473.9 million
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Operating income $30.61 billion, +20% y/y, beat estimate $28.86 billion
Google Services operating income $32.68 billion, +17% y/y, estimate $30.42 billion
Google Cloud operating income $2.18 billion vs. $900 million y/y, estimate $1.94 billion
Other Bets operating loss $1.23 billion, +20% y/y, estimate loss $1.12 billion
Operating margin 34% vs. 32% y/y, beat estimate 32.3%
Number of employees 185,719, +2.7% y/y, estimate 183,718
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Notably, in a time when many are expecting capex to be slashed, Alphabet's capital expenditures came in hotter than expected, at $17.2BN, up 43% YoY, and just above the median estimate of $17.1BN.
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Commenting on the quarter, Sundar Pichai, CEO, said: “We’re pleased with our strong Q1 results, which reflect healthy growth and momentum across the business. Underpinning this growth is our unique full stack approach to AI. This quarter was super exciting as we rolled out Gemini 2.5, our most intelligent AI model, which is achieving breakthroughs in performance and is an extraordinary foundation for our future innovation. Search saw continued strong growth, boosted by the engagement we’re seeing with features like AI Overviews, which now has 1.5 billion users per month. Driven by YouTube and Google One, we surpassed 270 million paid subscriptions. And Cloud grew rapidly with significant demand for our solutions.”
That said, Alphabet needs to ensure momentum in its search advertising and cloud businesses in order to justify its heightened investment in the artificial intelligence race. Competition is prompting the company and its rivals to spend heavily on infrastructure, research and talent, and as noted above, While Google benefits from AI startups spending on its cloud and business tools, it’s also racing to present an answer to popular conversational AI chatbots, which consumers are beginning to think of as an alternative to using Google Search.
Google’s beginning of the answer to that threat: its “AI Overviews” and “AI Mode” in search, in which summarized responses are drafted by generative AI and highlighted ahead of Google’s web links, have seen mixed success. Meanwhile, Google’s AI changes to search have decimated traffic to independent websites across the open web.
Tough for them, as for Alphabet, just to make sure the stock would not slump despite the solid beat, the company also announced a new $70 billion stock buyback authorization. Then again, with $75BN in LTM FCF and soaring capex, one wonders if GOOGL will soon need debt to meet all its funding needs.
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GOOGL stock jumped as much as 5% after hours, precisely what the straddle implied move said it would do, rising just above $169 - the highest price since mid-March and well above its Liberation Day levels - before fading some of the gains.
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https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 16:29
Gabbard Asks DOJ To Prosecute 2 Alleged Leakers
Gabbard Asks DOJ To Prosecute 2 Alleged Leakers
Two alleged intelligence community leakers have been referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution, according to Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard.
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Gabbard https://x.com/DNIGabbard/status/1915150870255210774
in an April 23 post on the social media platform X that besides the two already referred for prosecution, a third referral is on its way.
Gabbard wrote that “politicization of our intelligence and leaking classified information puts our nation’s security at risk and must end” and that “those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
“These deep-state criminals leaked classified information for partisan political purposes to undermine POTUS’ agenda. I look forward to working with [the Justice Department and FBI] to investigate, terminate and prosecute these criminals,” she said.
Gabbard’s office did not respond to a request for more information, and the DOJ did not return an inquiry.
Gabbard said that the unidentified officials leaked information to The Washington Post, which had reported recently on a classified assessment of the Tren de Aragua gang that allegedly found Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is not directing the invasion of the United States.
President Donald Trump in March https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/invocation-of-the-alien-enemies-act-regarding-the-invasion-of-the-united-states-by-tren-de-aragua/
the Alien Enemies Act, finding that Tren de Aragua, at the direction of the Venezuelan government, was invading the United States.
“The weaponization of intelligence to undermine the President’s agenda is an assault on democracy. Those behind this illegal leak of classified intelligence, twisted and manipulated to convey the exact opposite finding, will be held accountable under the full force of the law,” Gabbard https://x.com/DNIGabbard/status/1914449185618767911
on April 21.
She said that her office “fully supports the assessment that the foreign terrorist organization, Tren De Aragua, is acting with the support of the Maduro Regime, and thus subject to arrest, detention and removal as alien enemies of the United States.”
Gabbard also said that “rooting out this politicization of intelligence is exactly what President Trump campaigned on and what Americans overwhelmingly voted for.”
Federal law states that a person who communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available classified information to an unauthorized person can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
in March that it was probing the disclosure of other intelligence concerning Tren de Aragua.
“The Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation relating to the selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified, information from the Intelligence Community relating to Tren de Aragua,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the time.
“We will not tolerate politically motivated efforts by the Deep State to undercut President Trump’s agenda by leaking false information onto the pages of their allies at The New York Times.”
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 15:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/gabbard-asks-doj-prosecute-2-alleged-leakers
2nd Federal Judge Blocks Trump DEI Ban In K-12 Schools In Same Day
2nd Federal Judge Blocks Trump DEI Ban In K-12 Schools In Same Day
Update (1538ET): And moments later, a second federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from withholding funds from schools with DEI initiatives.
Alex Brandon/AP
Shortly after US District Court Judge Landya McCafferty, an Obama appointee, issued a similar order - U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher of Maryland, a Trump appointee, issued a broader ruling that prohibits the Department of Education from using federal funding to end DEI initiatives in public schools.
"This Court takes no view as to whether the policies at issue here are good or bad, prudent or foolish, fair or unfair," wrote Gallagher. "But this Court is constitutionally required to closely scrutinize whether the government went about creating and implementing them in the manner the law requires. The government did not."
Siding with the groups that brought the lawsuit, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Sociological Association and a public school in Oregon, Gallagher determined that they had successfully argued that they would be irreparably harmed, and that an Education Department https://www.ed.gov/media/document/dear-colleague-letter-sffa-v-harvard-109506.pdf
likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
"This Court ends where it began—this case is about procedure," the judge continued. "Plaintiffs have shown that the government likely did not follow the procedures it should have, and those procedural failures have tangibly and concretely harmed the Plaintiffs. This case, especially, underscores why following the proper procedures, even when it is burdensome, is so important."
* * *
A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Department of Education's push to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) from K-12 schools. Raise your hand if you're shocked.
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US District Court Judge Landya McCafferty, an Obama appointee who last year https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1915462251932508200
a law in New Hampshire that would have kept transgender biological men out of women's sports in public schools, sided with the National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in their lawsuit against the Trump administration to block the effort, arguing that the directive violated teachers' due process and First Amendment rights.
In her order, McCafferty said that the Trump administration's argument is "unconstitutionally vague."
"The letter does not even define what a 'DEI program' is," she wrote.
🚨 NEW: Obama-appointed Judge Landya McCafferty (2013) strikes again!
Her ruling BLOCKS Trump’s defunding of K-12 schools with DEI programs, calling it “viewpoint discrimination.”
She also allowed trans athletes in girls’ sports (2024)
Another Left-Wing Activist Judge… https://t.co/motwIkq9Lv
— Publius (@OcrazioCornPop) https://twitter.com/OcrazioCornPop/status/1915477282959090114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The Trump administration has until Thursday to comply with her directive, including a prohibition on enforcing use of its "End DEI Portal" and a certification requirement it had imposed, https://www.axios.com/2025/04/24/judge-pause-dei-ban-k-12-schools-trump-doe
reports.
In January, Trump ordered the end of DEI in public schools and federal contractors in an https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/
.
On April 3, the Department of Education sent letters to K-12 agencies ordering them to comply with the administration's anti-DEI policies, a move which followed a February warning that they may lose federal funding for schools that refuse to get rid of DEI.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 15:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/obama-judge-blocks-trump-dei-ban-k-12-schools
Obama Judge Blocks Trump DEI Ban In K-12 Schools
Obama Judge Blocks Trump DEI Ban In K-12 Schools
A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Department of Education's push to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) from K-12 schools. Raise your hand if you're shocked.
?itok=qt6y8hXq
US District Court Judge Landya McCafferty, an Obama appointee who last year https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1915462251932508200
a law in New Hampshire that would have kept transgender biological men out of women's sports in public schools, sided with the National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in their lawsuit against the Trump administration to block the effort, arguing that the directive violated teachers' due process and First Amendment rights.
In her order, McCafferty said that the Trump administration's argument is "unconstitutionally vague."
"The letter does not even define what a 'DEI program' is," she wrote.
🚨 NEW: Obama-appointed Judge Landya McCafferty (2013) strikes again!
Her ruling BLOCKS Trump’s defunding of K-12 schools with DEI programs, calling it “viewpoint discrimination.”
She also allowed trans athletes in girls’ sports (2024)
Another Left-Wing Activist Judge… https://t.co/motwIkq9Lv
— Publius (@OcrazioCornPop) https://twitter.com/OcrazioCornPop/status/1915477282959090114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The Trump administration has until Thursday to comply with her directive, including a prohibition on enforcing use of its "End DEI Portal" and a certification requirement it had imposed, https://www.axios.com/2025/04/24/judge-pause-dei-ban-k-12-schools-trump-doe
reports.
In January, Trump ordered the end of DEI in public schools and federal contractors in an https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/
.
On April 3, the Department of Education sent letters to K-12 agencies ordering them to comply with the administration's anti-DEI policies, a move which followed a February warning that they may lose federal funding for schools that refuse to get rid of DEI.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 15:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/obama-judge-blocks-trump-dei-ban-k-12-schools
12 Signs That U.S. Consumers Are Experiencing Far More Financial Stress Than Most People Realize
12 Signs That U.S. Consumers Are Experiencing Far More Financial Stress Than Most People Realize
Consumer sentiment is plummeting, delinquency rates are rising, and nearly three-quarters of all U.S. consumers admit that they are “financially stressed”. If U.S. consumers are experiencing this much pain now, what will things look like six months from today if there are https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/this-is-why-empty-shelves-and-painful-shortages-of-certain-items-are-coming/
?
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We witnessed a brief period of severe financial stress during the early days of the last pandemic, but we would have to go all the way back to the Great Recession to find a time that is truly comparable to what we are enduring now. U.S consumers have been getting hammered for years, and now it appears that our problems are about to go to an entirely new level. The following are 12 signs that U.S. consumers are experiencing far more financial stress than most people realize…
#1 According to the University of Michigan, consumer sentiment in the United States has fallen https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/11/economy/us-consumer-sentiment-april/index.html
…
Americans are rarely this pessimistic about the economy.
Consumer sentiment plunged 11% this month to a preliminary reading of 50.8, the University of Michigan said in its latest survey released Friday, the second-lowest reading on records going back to 1952.
#2 According to https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/10/majority-of-americans-are-financially-stressed-from-tariff-turmoil-cnbc-survey.html
, a whopping 73 percent of U.S. consumers admit that they are “financially stressed”…
Americans are growing increasingly uneasy about the state of the U.S. economy and their own personal financial situation in the face of stubborn inflation and tariff wars.
To that point, 73% of respondents said they are “financially stressed,” with 66% of that group pointing to the tariff wars as a main source, according to a new CNBC/SurveyMonkey online poll.
The survey of 4,200 U.S. adults was conducted April 3 to 7.
#3 Approximately two-thirds of U.S. adults feel like they are https://studyfinds.org/half-of-americans-have-given-up-on-saving-money/
, and half of U.S. adults believe that they will never reach their savings goals at all…
67% of Americans feel behind on their savings goals, with nearly half (47%) believing they’ll never reach their targets
#4 More than 60 percent of U.S. adults that currently have savings accounts have taken money out of them https://studyfinds.org/half-of-americans-have-given-up-on-saving-money/
…
63% of people with savings accounts have withdrawn money since the beginning of 2025, primarily for unexpected expenses (48%) and everyday necessities (36%)
#5 The percentage of U.S. credit card accounts that are at least 90 days past due has reached the highest level https://www.cnbc.com/select/credit-card-delinquent-record-high/
…
The percentage of credit card accounts that were at least 90 days past due hit a 12-year high in the fourth quarter of 2024.
According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 0.90% of accounts were delinquent, the most since the Fed bank began its report.
other student loan borrowers will soon reach that status…
Of the more than 42.7 million student loan borrowers in the U.S., who owe a collective $1.6 trillion, the department says that more than 5 million have not made a payment in the past year. That number is expected to grow as an additional 4 million borrowers are approaching default status.
#7 For the first time in about 5 years, the Department of Eduction “will resume collections of its defaulted federal student loan portfolio”. This is going to put additional financial stress https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-begin-federal-student-loan-collections-other-actions-help-borrowers-get-back-repayment
…
The U.S. Department of Education today announced its Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) will resume collections of its defaulted federal student loan portfolio on Monday, May 5th. The Department has not collected on defaulted loans since March 2020. Resuming collections protects taxpayers from shouldering the cost of federal student loans that borrowers willingly undertook to finance their postsecondary education. This initiative will be paired with a comprehensive communications and outreach campaign to ensure borrowers understand how to return to repayment or get out of default.
#8 The average credit score in the United States just dropped at the fastest pace https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-14619603/credit-score-drops-financial-crisis-recession-sign.html
…
America’s credit score just took its biggest hit since the 2008 crash.
The average FICO score in the US has dropped to 715 from 717 — the largest one-year drop since the Great Recession, according to new data from the credit-rating giant FICO.
#9 U.S. consumers are eating out less, and as a result restaurant chains all over the country https://archive.is/3KFKX
…
Once rapidly growing commercial marvels, casual dining chains — sit-down restaurants where middle-class families can walk in without a reservation, order from another human and share a meal — have been in decline for most of the 21st century. Last year, TGI Fridays and Red Lobster both filed for bankruptcy. Outback and Applebee’s have closed dozens of locations. Pizza Hut locations with actual dining rooms are vanishingly rare, with hundreds closing since 2019.
According to a February survey by the market research firm Datassential, 24 percent of Americans say they are having dinner at casual restaurants less often, and 29 percent are dining out less with groups of friends and family.
#10 U.S. consumers are visiting shopping malls a lot less than they once did, and as a result many mall retailers https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/struggling-fashion-chain-closing-100-stores-to-avoid-bankruptcy/ar-AA1DogJv?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ed557bf4ec7b48468798d0c965566df0&ei=105
…
Merry Go Round, Bon-Ton, Lord & Taylor, The Limited, Loehmann’s, Bonwit Teller, Chess King, and Anchor Blue are just a few once-successful clothing retailers that no longer exist.
Now, a once-trendy fashion/clothing retailer finds itself having to make massive cuts and shut down 100s of stores in a fight to avoid bankruptcy.
#11 U.S. consumers are not spending as much money at hair salons, and Bloomberg is telling us that this is an indicator https://archive.is/N3rWN
…
Stylists from Manhattan to rural New Hampshire are seeing regular clients start to skip cuts and blowouts. In from the Maine town of Brewer, hairstylist Alyssa Dow said customers are choosing cheaper, “more low-maintenance” looks—and tipping less. In affluent Longmeadow, Massachusetts, where “people don’t like to walk around with roots” showing, clients who previously got color every two or three weeks are stretching it to four or five, citing the “political situation” and implying they’ve lost money in the stock market, said Michelle LaValley. “They’re cutting back in other areas as well, so it’s not just us,” said the salon owner, who has 28 years in the business. The wider pullback in spending seems to go beyond the general grumpiness that accompanied the so-called vibecession that started years ago when inflation rose, interest rates spiked and yet the US kept growing.
#12 According to the Fed, U.S. consumers https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/14/unemployment-fears-hit-worst-levels-since-covid-fed-survey-shows.html?__source=androidappshare
about inflation and unemployment…
The central bank’s monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations showed that respondents saw inflation a year from now at 3.6%, an increase of half a percentage point from February and the highest reading since October 2023.
Along with concerns over a higher cost of living came a surge in worries over the labor market: The probability that the unemployment rate would be higher a year from now surged to 44%, a move up of 4.6 percentage points and the highest level going back to the early Covid pandemic days of April 2020.
Right now, economists all over the country are arguing about whether a recession is ahead of us or not.
But to millions of hard working Americans, it feels like a recession has already begun.
If you are currently experiencing financial stress, I want you to know that you aren’t alone.
Countless others are in the exact same boat, and the outlook for the months ahead is not promising at all.
* * *
.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 14:45
North Korean Missile Used In Deadly Russian Attack On Kiev, Ukraine Claims
North Korean Missile Used In Deadly Russian Attack On Kiev, Ukraine Claims
A Ukrainian official speaking to Reuters Thursday has claimed that the missile that killed at least nine people in a major Russian aerial attack on Kiev overnight was a North Korean KN-23 (KN-23A) ballistic missile.
A residential building, factory, and cars were set on fire in the wake of the attack, which included a number of missiles and drones. Emergency crews were digging through rubble looking for victims throughout Thursday. At least one building was simply obliterated, suffering a direct hit by a powerful warhead.
Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, offered as 'proof' footage which shows a fast-moving, large missile falling on the city. However, it remains anything but clear from the video precisely what kind of missile it was, much less who produced it.
Kyiv last night during a combined Russian attack.
Reuters reports that a North Korean KN-23 ballistic missile hit the residential building in Kyiv, citing its own sources. https://t.co/28TlH03X3E
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1915357003540553934?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"The weapon that killed at least eight people in a major Russian aerial attack on Kyiv overnight was a North Korean KN-23 (KN-23A) ballistic missile, a Ukrainian military source told Reuters on Thursday," https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/missile-that-killed-eight-russian-strike-kyiv-was-nkorean-kyiv-source-says-2025-04-24/
cited.
"The missile struck a residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district west of Kyiv's center," the unnamed source described. While it's anything but clear from mere video or photographic evidence what kind of missiles were use on Kiev overnight, Russia and North Korea's deepening defense relations have been on full display since last summer.
Not only has Pyongyang sent some 10,000 of its troops to help liberate Kursk region, but huge amounts of artillery ammo has reportedly been shipped, based on a 2024 treaty.
And last year the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) produced a report which https://www.dia.mil/News-Features/Articles/Article-View/Article/3790623/dia-report-confirms-north-korean-missile-debris-found-in-ukraine/
, "Analysis confirms that Russia used ballistic missiles produced in North Korea in its war against Ukraine. North Korean missile debris was found throughout Ukraine, according to an unclassified report released today by the Defense Intelligence Agency."
"Through careful analysis of open-source imagery, DIA analysts confirms the debris found in Kharkiv on Jan. 2, 2024 is missile debris from a DPRK short-range missile," the DIA continued in May of 2024. "The report provides a comparative analysis of publicly available images of North Korean missile debris and known North Korean missiles. The report shows that the missile debris in Ukraine is almost certainly of a North Korean ballistic missile."
BBC has picked up on the allegations that a North Korean missile was used to attack a European capital:
BBC News: "according to the Reuters news agency, the missile that killed at least 8 people in that aerial attack on Kyiv was a North Korean ballistic missile"
Are you going to start reporting the origin of all the bombs & missiles that Israel uses to kill Palestinians in Gaza? https://t.co/upciY6pAdd
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) https://twitter.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1915340885891391886?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
So US intelligence has strongly suggested that it is indeed possible Russia is using North Korean-made ballistic missiles on the Ukrainian capital. Zelensky has meanwhile used this information to say that there is an 'axis' of hostile forces and enemies of the West warring against Ukraine.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 14:25
Institutions Break Up With Ethereum But Keep ETH On The Hook
Institutions Break Up With Ethereum But Keep ETH On The Hook
https://cointelegraph.com/news/institutions-breakup-ethereum-keep-eth-on-hook
Ethereum is entering one of its most precarious periods since its inception. Usage on the base layer is plummeting, core metrics are nearing multi-year lows, and even co-founder Vitalik Buterin is proposing a radical architectural overhaul.
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Institutions aren’t waiting to see how it plays out. Blockchain data shows that long-time supporters such as Galaxy Digital and Paradigm have been slashing their Ether holdings in recent weeks.
So far in April, Ethereum’s base-layer activity has continued to collapse. Ethereum’s https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-fees-drop-five-year-low-user-lull
.
But the story isn’t entirely about Ethereum’s collapse. Some whales are treating this downturn as a rare buying opportunity. Even those who are selling Ether can’t fully let it go.
Ethereum gets dumped by institutions, but for how long?
Institutions are dumping Ethereum, but it’s the ex they keep checking on. It’s not entirely out of the picture — just benched while they explore options like Solana.
In recent weeks, blockchain analysts on the lookout for large crypto movements spotted several institutions moving ETH out of their tagged wallets, likely to sell. Lookonchain https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1914492078236811451
that Galaxy Digital deposited 65,600 ETH ($105.5 million) to Binance. The investment firm’s Ether exposure rose to as high as around 98,000 coins in February, but that has dropped to almost 68,000 ETH at the time of writing, Arkham data shows.
?itok=U84jpJyJ
Galaxy dumps Ether, but not all of it. Source: https://intel.arkm.com/explorer/entity/galaxy-digital
Galaxy’s holdings may have declined in recent weeks, but they’re still higher compared to the start of the year. Its Ether holdings reflect a broader trend seen in Ethereum-based investment products. https://blog.coinshares.com/volume-230-digital-asset-fund-flows-weekly-report-c905b0aeed15
to CoinShares, ETH funds saw $26.7 million in outflows over the past week, bringing total outflows to $772 million over eight weeks. However, year-to-date flows remain positive, with $215 million in net inflows.
As Galaxy trimmed its Ether holdings, it also withdrew 752,240 SOL ($98.37 million), Lookonchain reported. Ethereum https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-activity-flips-ethereum-memecoin-frenzy
, bots and low-quality tokens, it also served as a technical showcase for Solana — proving its ability to process massive transaction volumes without major fee spikes or outages.
Paradigm is another investor that has cut back on Ether. On April 21, it https://etherscan.io/tx/0x5fea654ea6954cc8921c2ad2c5b5fb0a970b1990b77117ed3f513a3bc65a1520
.
?itok=wCa8fC1y
Paradigm Capital held about 236,000 ETH in 2019 but holds 2,873 ETH on April 23. Source: https://intel.arkm.com/explorer/entity/paradigm-capital
“While institutional investors initially bought into the ‘ultra-sound money’ narrative, they’re now facing a reality where decreasing protocol revenue and weakening tokenomics create legitimate concerns,” Jayendra Jog, co-founder of Sei Labs, told Cointelegraph.
Ethereum returns to net inflationary state
Ether deflation has been an attractive selling point to Ethereum investors. It was integrated into the network through two major upgrades. First, the https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-london-hard-fork-goes-live
, Ethereum became a proof-of-stake network and drastically cut new token issuance.
Ether’s supply consistently decreased following the Merge until April 2024, when Ether’s inflation began to accelerate. By early February 2025, the total ETH supply had surpassed its Merge level.
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Ether’s total supply is approximately 186,705 ETH higher than it was at the time of the Merge. Source: https://ultrasound.money/?timeFrame=since_merge
Part of Ether’s inflation has been due to dropping fees, which results in less Ether burned. According to data from IntoTheBlock, Ethereum collected 1,873.52 ETH in fees from April 14 to April 21. That’s slightly higher than the 1,697.61 ETH in fees from the week starting on March 17, which was the lowest amount of fees collected (measured in ETH) since July 31, 2017.
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Ethereum base layer’s fees drop to 2017 levels. Source: https://app.intotheblock.com/coin/ETH/deep-dive?group=network&subgroup=feesStats
Buterin’s radical RISC-V proposal for Ethereum
On April 20, Buterin proposed the https://cointelegraph.com/news/vitalik-buterin-proposes-swapping-evm-language-risc-v
contract language, aiming to improve the speed and efficiency of the network’s execution layer. Some view the proposal as a white flag on the existing architecture.
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Source: https://x.com/0xrooter/status/1914145769365573871
“Vitalik’s RISC-V proposal is essentially an acknowledgment that the EVM’s fundamental architecture has reached its limits. When Ethereum’s founder proposes replacing the core VM that underpins the entire ecosystem, it signals not evolution but recognition of a design limitation that can’t be incrementally improved,” Jog said.
Cointelegraph has reached out to the Ethereum Foundation and will update this article when it answers.
The proposal follows a https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-foundation-announces-new-leadership
following rising complaints on the project’s direction.
Could Ethereum be the one that got away?
Part of Ethereum’s struggles has been attributed to its rollup-centric approach to scaling its network. The idea was to build layer-2 scaling networks that would offload the transactions from the base chain but still utilize its security. That has alleviated congestion issues during times of high network demand but has also created new problems of its own, such as dropping Ether burns and fragmentation of the Ethereum ecosystem.
But there is https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-foundation-user-experience-layer-1-scaling-leadership-shift
, according to Tomasz Stańczak, the new co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation. Stańczak said on X that the Ethereum Foundation will shift its focus to near-term goals, such as layer-1 scaling and layer-2 scaling support.
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Source: https://x.com/tkstanczak/status/1914092488396091444
Some whales have taken advantage of Ethereum’s cheaper price tag. On April 23, Lookonchain https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1914880004992983301
.
In a recent client letter, Standard Chartered Bank slashed its 2025 price estimate for Ether from $10,000. However, for whales accumulating at current levels, upside potential remains, as the bank still predicts a year-end target of $4,000.
Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s head of digital assets research, https://cointelegraph.com/news/standard-chartered-drops-2025-eth-price-estimate-by-60-to-4-k
to Ethereum’s structural decline, noting that the layer-2 networks designed to improve scalability are now extracting much of the fee revenue once captured by the base layer.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 14:05
https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/institutions-break-ethereum-keep-eth-hook
"Our Export Orders Disappeared": Chinese Factories Shutting Down, Laying Off Workers, FT Finds
"Our Export Orders Disappeared": Chinese Factories Shutting Down, Laying Off Workers, FT Finds
By now it has become abundantly clear (and if it isn't, the openly biased media has certainly made it its purpose to highlight over and over) what the downside is to the US from Trump's ongoing trade war against the world, but especially China: sliding markets, rising rates, dumping dollar. The economy has so far proven resilient, with hard data surprising to the upside for the past 2 months (perhaps as a result of pre-buying ahead of tariffs), even as sentiment (among Democrats) has crashed and inflation expectations (also among Democrats) have exploded (yet oddly those same Democrats aren't rushing to spend all their hard-earned savings today instead of waiting a year from now when they are certain their purchasing power to be 6-10% lower). However, as https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fake-it-till-trump-makes-it
, if what is now effectively a US-China trade embargo remains in place, the US economy "could see shortages on shelves within weeks and/or of price rises" and then, even if there is a tariff U-turn logistics would then be overwhelmed.
In short, we know what the pressure points for the US are. But what about China, and why has the media kept such a tight lid on reporting across the Pacific (besides the obvious, namely that in a Trump world, China, Democrats and the media are all aligned in seeking to tear down the US).
To answer this all important question - because stated simply, the first country that hits a max pain point will also be the one that loses the trade war - we were one of the (very) few to take a closer look at how the sudden freeze in China's exports to the US and their various supply chains is translating into a domestic economic impact, and found that several sectors of China's economy are already in deep pain (see "https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/chinese-plastics-factories-face-mass-closure-us-ethane-disappears
").
Today, the https://www.ft.com/content/d5784258-4de3-44a1-94ae-6f763857b034
and finds that factories across all of China have begun shutting down and furloughing workers "as the trade war unleashed by US President Donald Trump dries up orders for products ranging from jeans to home appliances."
As we first explained earlier this week, with most Chinese goods now facing US duties of at least 145%, or simply lacking the raw materials needed to process goods and sent them onward to the US, Chinese factory owners told the FT that American customers have cancelled or suspended orders, forcing them to cut production.
With about 15% of all Chinese exports last year going to the US...
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... and with China increasingly transshipping billions of goods to the US using such (formerly) untariffed venues such as Vietnam...
?itok=05hPKEJG
.... it is not all surprising that as China's largest trading partner halts most imports, pain would be pervasive. And it is: in interviews with the Financial Times and via dozens of social media posts, workers shared pictures of quiet production lines or factory suspension notices, highlighting how the tariffs are starting to bite.
According to workers who opened up to the FT, trade war had prompted the suspension of production for a week or more at plants making products ranging from shoe soles to jeans, electrical outlets and portable stoves.
Some factory owners said they were cutting overtime or weekend work.
Wang Xin, head of the Shenzhen Cross-Border E-Commerce Association, an industry group representing more than 2,000 Chinese merchants, said many of them were “extremely anxious” and had told factories and suppliers to halt or delay deliveries. This had prompted some factories to suspend production for one to two weeks, she said.
Three factory recruiters in Guangdong who work with manufacturers said more factories were cutting overtime and weekend work with only the most heavily dependent on American orders putting the whole factory on leave.
“Our export orders disappeared so we’ve temporarily stopped,” said a 28-year-old plastics factory worker in Fujian province, adding that production had been halted for a week so far.
Others are bracing for a much longer shutdown: executives at DeHong Electrical Products in Dongguan, Guangdong province, gave workers one month leave on minimum wage and said the factory was under “significant near-term pressure” after clients suspended orders.
“Management is working hard to find solutions, including expanding into new markets and optimising cost structures, so we can resume normal operations as soon as possible,” DeHong said in a notice seen by the Financial Times. As Treasury Secretary https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fake-it-till-trump-makes-it
" finding a replacement market that will absorb all your US-based production.
The problem for China is that unlike the US, it has no centralized social safety net, so the longer the trade war continues and the more workers are furloughed - then fired - the progressively faster the situation will get.
Hangzhou Stellarmed, a company in Zhejiang province that makes endoscopy kits primarily for the US market, told full-time workers they could use the rest of April to find new jobs and provided them with access to a headhunting agency. Once again, good luck finding new jobs when on the margin, millions of export workers are about to be laid off everywhere.
“We don’t know how long this will last,” said Shi, the factory owner, who did not want to be identified by her full name. “We can only wait and see, there is nothing we can do.”
Similar anecdotes are prevalent across the country: plastic mould maker Dongguan Yuanguan Technology blamed the tariffs for forcing it to cancel all weekend overtime at its factory, according to a company notice and a worker.
A 26-year-old man in Zhejiang said the toy factory he worked at sold mostly to the US, forcing management to give workers about two weeks off. “It’s not easy at the moment,” he said, asking not to be named.
Needless to say, it is unclear how widespread the factory suspensions are, said Han Dongfang, founder of China Labour Bulletin, which closely tracks Chinese manufacturing and labour. “The rearrangement of China’s manufacturing sector will be a long-term process and workers will be sacrificed,” he said. Furthermore, the fact that any marginal pain will be amplified as trade war weakness will mean that Beijing will do everything in its power to prevent the full extent of the shutdowns from being revealed.
Meanwhile, China’s electronics supply chain - which employs tens of thousands of people - got a reprieve last week when Washington exempted smartphones along with some other electronics from the steepest tariffs. But domestic eletronics producers are bracing for the worst, expecting to be swept in the trade war along with the rest of their peers, and big tech companies and cities with large concentrations of exporters, such as Shenzhen and Dongguan, are rolling out support programs intended to “stabilize foreign trade”. Shenzhen last week unveiled subsidies for companies to participate in foreign trade shows and said it would expand export insurance to help cover cancelled US orders, among other policies. Yet again, good luck.
A manager at Ningbo Taiyun Electric said they had suspended production on April 12, but had since restarted reduced output of electric hair straighteners and curling irons. “We still have some orders from Europe, we’re trying to get more,” said the manager, who asked not to be named. “Hopefully the US will change its policies.” Because if it doesn't, millions will end up unemployed; and with no short-term welfare state benefits to hold them over until the economy recovers, it could get very ugly... just as Trump expects it will.
Elsewhere, UBS' Chief China Economist, Tao Wang thinks China still has a big output gap as its growth recovery has been weak, something which the nevertrump media also refuses to highlight. That’s why the Central Economic Work Conference last year said China has three priorities: 1) boost consumption, 2) support technology innovation and 3) defend the world trade order.
Regarding the trade war, it is a big demand shock to China happening now, but according to UBS China policy response will only happen later, if only so Xi does not telegraph weakness before Trump. This will drag China growth this year to only 3.4% y/y.
Tao thinks China will respond mainly with bazooka fiscal stimulus, and monetary easing will be in the secondary role, just https://x.com/zerohedge/status/1908149901185155452
.
China, which reported a record trade surplus of nearly $1tn last year, has responded to Washington’s tariffs by imposing an extra 125 per cent levy on imports from the US. While Trump has repeatedly said he wants to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping to resolve trade issues, Beijing appears in no hurry to request a call between the two leaders... But when a procession of angry unemployed factory workers heads for Beijing, Xi will be running to dial the White House.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Thu, 04/24/2025 - 13:45
Ugly, Tailing 7Y Auction Sees Lowest Foreign Demand In Over 3 Years
Ugly, Tailing 7Y Auction Sees Lowest Foreign Demand In Over 3 Years
The week's last coupon auction is in the books, and perhaps because people are just tired of dealing with the non stop headline ping pong, it was also the ugliest.
The sale of $44BN in 7Y paper priced at a high yield of 4.123%, down 11bps from March and tailing the When Issued 4.121% by 0.2bps; this was the second straight tail and follows 6 consecutive stop throughs.
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The bid to cover was largely unchanged from last month, printing at 2.55, up from 2.53 in March but below the six-auction average of 2.67.
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But it was the internals where once again all the action was: While Directs were a high 25.44%, but not abnormally high, and in fact the number was down from 26.1% last month, it was once again Indirects that was the weakest link: foreign buyers took down just 59.3% of the full allotment, down from 61.2% in March and the lowest since December 2021. Dealers were left holding 15.3%, which actually was the highest going back all the way to May 2024.
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Overall, this was a rather weak auction, not just the tail but more ominously, the continued decline in foreign demand. The flip side, of course, is that if Indirects really collapse the Fed will have no choice but to step in and start monetizing coupons. All it will need is an excuse, and at a time when Powell is feuding with Trump why the Fed should not step in, the outcome will likely be quite hilarious.
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Thu, 04/24/2025 - 13:28
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/ugly-tailing-7y-auction-sees-lowest-foreign-demand-over-3-years
Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court To Allow Prohibition Of Troops With Gender Dysphoria
Trump Admin Asks Supreme Court To Allow Prohibition Of Troops With Gender Dysphoria
The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to halt a federal judge’s order preventing it from implementing a policy disqualifying individuals who have gender dysphoria or have undergone medical interventions for that condition.
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U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court on April 24 that the Department of Defense “rationally determined that service by individuals with gender dysphoria would undermine military effectiveness and lethality—consistent with similar, longstanding determinations for a wide range of other medical conditions.”
The administration’s request for emergency relief came after a separate order in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied another of the administration’s requests to block the lower court order.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.344431/gov.uscourts.wawd.344431.104.0_2.pdf
in March that “all transgender service members are likely to suffer the irreparable harm of losing the military service career they have chosen, while otherwise qualified accession plaintiffs will lose the opportunity to serve.”
Settle said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in claiming that the administration’s policy violated the Constitution.
Developing...
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Thu, 04/24/2025 - 13:20
Pakistan Warns Of 'Act Of War' After India Cancels Landmark Water Treaty
Pakistan Warns Of 'Act Of War' After India Cancels Landmark Water Treaty
India is retaliating against Pakistan in major ways as tensions soar in the wake of the https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/gunmen-execute-26-tourists-indian-controlled-kashmir
on Indian-Controlled Kashmir, which killed 26 tourists in the picturesque region.
Not only has India closed its border to Pakistan, declaring that no visas will be given to Pakistanis, but the Indian government has downgraded its diplomatic ties with Islamabad and suspended a crucial water treaty. Pakistani visa holders in India have also been ordered leave the country within 48 hours.
The water issue will could impact hundreds of millions of people on both sides of the border, as the 1960 Indus Water Treaty delineates how water is distributed and used from six rivers that flow through both countries, starting in disputed regions of the Himalayas in the north.
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The decision was made in a meeting chaired by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who cut short a trip to Saudi Arabia. All Pakistan military advisers who were previously cooperating with their Indian counterparts have also been given a week to leave.
During the terror attack on the tourist destination in the Baisaran Valley men were separated from women and children by armed militants which had descended on the area. The men, all civilians, were then asked their names before being executed at close range.
This apparently was to confirm that they were Hindus. India has alleged that this was a Pakistan-backed massacre conducted by Islamic extremists due to the sectarian nature of the attack. Islamabad has long been accused of harboring Islamic terror groups along the disputed Jammu and Kashmir border region.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri specifically charged Wednesday press conference that "cross-border linkages of the terrorist act" had been "brought out" - in a clear reference to Pakistan. Authorities have identified that 25 victims were Indian, and one a Nepali citizen.
Pakistan has firmly rejected it had anything to do with the massacre, instead saying that terrorism in India was "homegrown". Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC3XMYXq_tk
"This is the result of a Hindutva [Hindu nationalist] government exploiting and killing religious minorities, including Christians and Buddhists," He described to a Pakistan news service this was the result of "homegrown rebels."
Accounts by the women survivors, graphic images of their husbands slain:
🚨 THEY. WERE. MASSACRED. BECAUSE. THEY. WERE. HINDUS.
Do not let the media or political elites sanitize what just happened in Pahalgam, Kashmir. This was not a "tourist attack."
It was a religious cleansing—a ritualistic slaughter committed by Islamic terrorists who asked the… https://t.co/LFZlNAcNY8
— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) https://twitter.com/AmyMek/status/1914947346099789943?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Pakistan is taking reciprocal https://www.newsweek.com/india-tells-all-citizens-leave-pakistan-tensions-rise-2063530
:
Pakistan on Thursday also announced the closure of its airspace to India; suspended all trade with the country; suspended with immediate effect all visas issued to Indian nationals under an exemption scheme; reduced to 30 the number of diplomats in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad; and asked Indian defense, naval and air advisers to leave Pakistan before April 30.
India's attempts to link the attack with Pakistan are "frivolous, devoid of rationality and defeat logic," Islamabad said, describing India's sweeping diplomatic measures as "unilateral, unjust, politically motivated, extremely irresponsible and devoid of legal merit."
The two rival nuclear-armed powers have fought no less than three wars over the status of the Muslim-majority Kashmir region, given both sides claim it in its entirety - going back to 1947.
As for India's cancelation of the landmark water treaty, Pakistan on Thursday is warning that India is committing an "act of war".
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Pakistan's National Security Committee https://www.newsweek.com/india-tells-all-citizens-leave-pakistan-tensions-rise-2063530
that if India moves forward with suspending the Indus Water Treaty, which was carefully mediated by the World Bank, it "will be considered as an Act of War."
A relatively unknown group calling itself The Resistance Front claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media post. It blamed "outsiders" who settled the region and caused a "demographic change" - strongly suggesting the terror attack was tied to Indian claims over the disputed region. Indian military and police units are still searching for the suspects, and sketch artists have issued renderings of the attackers based on survivors' accounts.
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Thu, 04/24/2025 - 13:00
Judge Halts Order Demanding Details On Efforts To Return Abrego Garcia To US
Judge Halts Order Demanding Details On Efforts To Return Abrego Garcia To US
The federal judge overseeing the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an immigrant deported to his home country despite a court order, has paused her order demanding details on the U.S. government’s efforts to facilitate his return to the United States.
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U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on April 23 paused her order for one week. She did not detail the rationale behind the pause but https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25912841-xinis-april-23-order/
that it was entered “with the agreement of the parties.”
Lawyers for Abrego Garcia, an immigrant https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/everything-we-know-about-el-salvador-deportee-abrego-garcia-5845513
, and the government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Xinis previously ordered the government to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States. When the government declined to provide details, she ordered officials to file daily updates with the court on its efforts.
The judge had also granted the plaintiff’s request for expedited discovery on the matter, including the terms of the agreement the United States reached with the Salvadoran government to house immigrants deported from America.
Xinis on Tuesday https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/judge-orders-trump-admin-to-address-discovery-requests-in-abrego-garcia-case-5846159
that the U.S. government needed to address outstanding discovery requests, finding that the Trump administration has shown a “willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations.”
“For weeks, Defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this Court’s orders,” she wrote in an order.
The government then filed a motion to stay that ruling. It was filed under seal, meaning it is not available to the public.
Lawyers for Abrego Garcia filed a sealed response to the motion.
Xinis referenced both sealed filings while entering the pause.
Garcia, who illegally entered the United States in 2011, was arrested in 2019. An immigration judge concluded that evidence showed he was a member of the MS-13 gang. A different immigration judge ordered Garcia deported but also issued a withholding of removal, which prevented the U.S. government from deporting him to his home country.
Garcia continued living in the United States until he was taken into custody by immigration agents on March 12. He was soon deported to El Salvador.
U.S. officials have said that the deportation there was a mistake because the withholding order was not listed on the flight manifest. They have more recently said the deportation was allowed because MS-13 was designated a terrorist group by President Donald Trump. Lawyers for Abrego Garcia say he should not have been deported to El Salvador and that he should be brought back to the United States to be with his wife, a U.S. citizen, and children.
In their last publicly available status report, dated April 21, U.S. officials https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25912842-april-21-status-report-on-abrego-garcia/
that the Salvadoran government told them that day that Abrego Garcia is being held at the Centro Industrial penitentiary facility in Santa Ana and is “in good conditions and in an excellent state of health.”
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Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:40
Stocks Extend Gains After Trump Says "They" Are Having Meetings With China
Stocks Extend Gains After Trump Says "They" Are Having Meetings With China
US equities extended their gains after President Trump told reporters that US was having daily ongoing talks with China.
"Well, they had a meeting this morning... we may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we've been meeting with China."
Trump added, when asked for more details:
"...it doesn't really matter who 'they' are."
REPORTER: Can you clarify with whom the U.S. is speaking with China? They're saying it's fake news that trade talks are happening.https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1915443891916210558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
This lifted Nasdaq to a 2.5% gain on the day...
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How long until China denies... again?
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Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:38
Trump Says Could Meet Putin 'Shortly After' Upcoming Middle East Trip
Trump Says Could Meet Putin 'Shortly After' Upcoming Middle East Trip
President Donald Trump has said he could meet with Russia's Vladimir Putin shortly after his upcoming trip to the Middle East in May, where's he expected to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The Gulf tour, set for May 13 through the 16th, will be the first such Mideast trip of Trump's second term. TASS https://tass.com/world/1948533
this week, "In March, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told TASS that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could meet in Saudi Arabia at some point."
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While there are no clear, concrete plans for this, Trump was asked by reporters Wednesday about the possibility of talks with Putin while in Saudi Arabia.
That's when Trump https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/04/24/trump-says-he-may-meet-putin-shortly-after-middle-east-trip-in-may-a88852
, "It’s possible, but most likely not. I think we’ll meet with him shortly thereafter." But he didn't offer any details of when or where this could happen.
US special envoy Steven Witkoff has also recently suggested Saudi Arabia as a venue for a potential future Trump-Putin meeting.
The Kremlin has welcomed Trump administration suggestions that Ukraine finally give up claims to Crimea. Trump addressed Zelensky in a Wednesday social media statement and said "Crimea was lost years ago" and that he should face reality and give it up for the sake of peace.
Putin's office responded by saying, "This fully corresponds with our understanding and with what we have been saying for a long time."
But Trump had some strong words for Moscow on Thursday, following a deadly overnight Russian ballistic missile and drone attack on Kiev, which killed at least ten people.
"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV," Trump posted https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/
. "Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!"
The Kremlin has laid out that it is willing to stop the finding, and that peace can be achieved if Ukrainian forces exit the four annexed territories of the East.
Moments of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv. https://t.co/hfStanvH92
— Clash Report (@clashreport) https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1915353078166950334?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Zelensky has shown no signs that he's willing to do this, also as he's citing the national constitution to say that not even Crimea can legally be given up. At this point, any earlier progression toward peace appears stalled. Can a Putin-Trump face to face meeting lead to a breakthrough?
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Thu, 04/24/2025 - 11:40
Fake It Till Trump Makes It
Fake It Till Trump Makes It
By Michael Every of Rabobank
Fake it till Trump makes it
Markets were thrilled this week as Bloomberg reported US Treasury Secretary Bessent saying 145% US tariffs on China were “unsustainable” and a trade deal would be done soon; yet people *in the room* say that didn’t capture his real message - that China would see *it* needed to move first. Markets were just as excited by President Trump saying those tariffs would come down “substantially” but missed the context that this was *after a deal*, not as a unilateral US step.
The Wall Street Journal caused another market surge in reporting ‘White House Considers Slashing China Tariffs to De-Escalate Trade War: Levies could be cut by more than half in some cases although Trump hasn’t yet made final decision’. Within hours, one of the authors tweeted: “UPDATE: Admin official said Trump wouldn’t act unilaterally and would need to see action from China. People close to admin said Trump has plenty of room to cut tariffs without changing overall picture. “It would be kind of a pressure valve release without actually doing anything.”” The original headline was still up at time of writing over 12 hours later.
The Financial Times claims Trump’s “latest retreat” is on auto tariffs. An hour later, the president denied it. Again, the story was still up unchanged at time of writing.
Bloomberg this morning has the top headline “New Rate – Trump: China May Get New Tariff Rate Soon.” If you listen to what he said, he’s negotiating with 90 countries, and those that strike deals in the next 2-3 weeks will get a lower rate, while those that don’t will get one imposed… and China could be in either camp, the implication being it depends on what *it* does.
Moreover, not being reported prominently at all in the financial press, Bessent gave a speech at the IIF yesterday in which he stated, “Everywhere we look across the international system today, we see imbalance… My goal… is to outline a blueprint to restore equilibrium to the global financial system and the institutions designed to uphold it.” While he stressed, “America First does not mean America alone”, he made clear the US seeks “expanded leadership in international institutions like the IMF and the World Bank… to restore fairness to the international economic system [which faces] the stark reality of large and persistent US deficits as a result of an unfair trading system,” a status quo which is, “not sustainable for the US, and ultimately,… not sustainable for other economies.”
He said the US is eager to work with the IMF and World Bank, “so long as they can stay true to their missions. And under the status quo, they are falling short… We must make the IMF the IMF again… [It] must be a brutal truth-teller and not just to some members. Today, the IMF has been whistling past the graveyard. Its 2024 external sector report was entitled, “Imbalances Receding.” This Pollyannaish outlook is symptomatic of an institution more dedicated to preserving the status quo than answering the hard questions. Here in the US, we know we need to get our fiscal house in order… but we will not abide the IMF failing to critique the countries that most need it, principally surplus countries… the IMF needs to call out countries like China that have pursued globally distorted policies and opaque currency practices for many decades.”
Bessent also said the World Bank “should no longer expect blank cheques for vapid, buzzword-centric marketing accompanied by half-hearted commitments to reform… Treating China, the second-largest economy in the world, as a developing country is absurd.”
In Q&A, he underlined the US wants to work with China to help it shift to consumption as it moves back to manufacturing: but if China won’t … join, or decouple, the dots. He welcomed European defence spending but laughed at the Euro being a global reserve currency, wishing them well with the consequences that would come with it on top of the appreciation just seen. He also stressed, “I think Wall Street can continue doing well. But I think it’s Main Street’s turn to share in the prosperity,” implying he wants more lending by smaller banks to make the latter happen.
Elsewhere, Secretary of State Rubio was singing the same tune, the Defence Secretary from his, as the US Trade Representative has just done too, hammering home the US point from all sides.
In short, as central bank “Think of the asset prices!” control of markets is replaced by economic statecraft “Think of the national security!” control of the economy, we are seeing normative financial journalism determined to fake-it-till-Trump-makes-it what they want it to be - “because markets again.”
Yes, the White House worries about markets. If things get ugly enough, they offer a verbal carrot. No, Trump is not faking it, and he did not just fold. The US grand macro strategy is not changing. As wiser heads at the Wall Street Journal note, ‘Markets Think They Hold All the Cards Over Trump’, before adding, “The plunge in stocks, bonds, and the dollar matter to Trump. But there’s no assurance that he will be ruled by them.”
Yet with a de facto US-China trade embargo in place, the US economy could see shortages on shelves within weeks and/or of price rises; and even if there is a tariff U-turn, logistics would then be overwhelmed, true even if the Fed’s Beige Book overnight was typically beige in capturing those emergent risks. That’s as fake-it-till-Trump-makes-it MAGA thinking that a stronger US dollar would provide offset to any tariffs falls far short of reality. That might see some movement.
However, even a 60% tariff for China would mean the maximalist US position previously seen as unthinkable would be celebrated with relief. Moreover, those sneering at US assets as ‘uninvestable’ don’t see that these scarring experiences also mean real economy firms are scrambling to set up new supply chains in the US or outside China and will continue to do so even if tariffs go to 60% - when markets will be rallying while missing the longer-term big picture. Nobody in manufacturing assumes this goes away via a debunked Bloomberg, WSJ, or Financial Times headline. Where supply chains sit 3 to 5 years from now is open to question. Wheeling and dealing is thus underway:
12 US states have sued Trump, saying tariffs have "brought chaos to the American economy.” They may bring chaos to a US constitution that only exists due to unity over the need for tariffs.
As allegations of China’s support for Russia emerge, the European Parliament is in the ‘final stages’ of talks with China to remove sanctions on it: apparently “free trade” trumps all for some. Good luck with that, as Bessent would likely say with a smile.
The US has made a final peace offer to Ukraine --which gets security guarantees from Europe only, and the potential ability to join the EU, not NATO-- and to Russia --which gets to keep most of what it’s taken for sanctions relief and US energy cooperation-- or it will walk away. Ukraine, supposedly to sign a minerals deal today again, has perhaps has already rejected it.
The US is reportedly telling Iran it will process nuclear fuel for it under a new deal, again bringing it in from the cold on sanctions. If it doesn’t agree, does the US opt for JCPOA 2.0, and then expanded Abraham Accords and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or war?
In response to a terror attack in Kashmir, India has cancelled visas for all Pakistanis; closed the border crossing; suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, which Pakistan has in the past stated could amount to an act of war; and rumours fly of possible Indian military action.
The ex-head of the WEF allegedly fiddled with the organisation’s Global Competitiveness Index ratings -- the data were faked by Schwab while the WEF were making it -- as well as engaging in financial and moral impropriety; and
The UK has decided to approve attempts to dim the sun to control climate change within weeks: it’s called British summer. Really – on both fronts.
What a year 2025 is proving to be.
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Thu, 04/24/2025 - 11:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fake-it-till-trump-makes-it