Trump to impose higher-than-expected tariffs, markets drop: Live updates excerpt: "The plan imposes steep tariff rates on many countries, including 34% on China, 20% on the European Union, 46% on Vietnam and 32% on Taiwan. The White House clarified to CNBC's Eamon Javers that the tariff rate on Beijing comes in addition to existing 20% tariffs on Chinese imports, meaning the true tariff rate on China is 54%."
U.S. stocks drop after hours as Trump imposes sweeping tariffs, S&P 500 ETF falls 2%: Live updates excerpt: What's likely spooking traders is that these rates will end up being much higher than expected for many nations. For example, the effective tariff rate for China will now be 54%. Traders had hoped a 10% rate would be a universally applied cap, not a starting baseline rate. "What was delivered was as haphazard as anything this administration has done to date, and the level of complication on top of the ultimate level of new tariffs is worse than had been feared and not yet priced into the market," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management.
Social Security blackouts expected as Musk continues to take a hatchet to the system. Social Security recipients warned blackouts could last three days
Social Security recipients warned blackouts could last three days excerpt: "The Senate Democratic Caucus, in a statement released March 25: "As Elon Musk calls Social Security 'the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,' his team at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency is crippling the agency, gutting up to 12% of its staff, shuttering local and regional offices, and hindering phone services for beneficiaries. All combined, the agency will be far less efficient, causing fears of late and missed checks and dangerous effects to those disabled and rural seniors who need aid the most."
The chaos Musk is creating in government agencies like SSA is a field day for criminals, the ones whom Musk claims he is stopping with his creation of chaos.
Some of Trump's supporters will still be painting their faces orange, wearing red MAGA hats, and cheering him on as he destroys the system upon which they depend.
And if they were were working remotely, forcing them back to work in-person at a facility that in one case for a government worker turned out to be a boat storage shed with no windows, lighting, desks, or bathrooms.
Musk and his young assistants are having a field day for themselves. If anyone else had done it, they would have been arrested and charged with serious crimes. Musk and his entourage are an insurgent group destroying some of the most critical parts of government from the inside out.
The sabotage itself is criminal but also that it's an act of aiding other criminals by creating opportunity for them to take advantage of the damage, akin to someone breaking locks and windows to render a building vulnerable to other criminals.
Musk is behaving like the Florida business Cyber Ninjas that tried to investigate the Arizona 2020 election for Trump when it didn't know what it was doing. It thought the same people were voting multiple times when in fact it was different people with the same or similar names. Musk made the mistake of thinking that people were stealing from SSA because of ages in the system of over 150 years old. It is a mathematical quirk in the system that Musk doesn't know or understand. No, 150-Year-Olds Aren’t Collecting Social Security Benefits excerpt: "The fact that the Social Security system contains millions of entries from people who are dead is likely distinct from a potential COBOL-caused error, and also not news. A report written by the SSA’s inspector general in 2023 found that 98 percent of those aged 100 or older in the Social Security databases are not in receipt of any benefits. The report added that the database would not be updated because it would cost too much money to do so."
Dow tumbles 1,100 points and S&P drops 2% after Trump announces new tariffs on all countries. Dow futures tumble 1,100 points on fear Trump's tariffs will spark trade war: Live updates
Trump says more tariffs would have prevented the Great Depression. Trump Says Tariffs Could Have Stopped the Great Depression
Trump says tariffs would have prevented the Great Depression. Trump Says Tariffs Could Have Stopped the Great Depression excerpt: “Then, in 1913 for reasons unknown to mankind they established the income tax so citizens, rather than foreign countries, would start paying the money necessary to run our government,” he said. “Then in 1928 it all came to a very abrupt end with the Great Depression, and it would have never happened if they had stayed with the tariff policy, it would have been a much different story,” Trump said. “They tried to bring back tariffs to save our country, but it was gone. It was gone. It was too late, nothing could have been done.”
Foreign countries don't pay the tariffs to the U.S. U.S. businesses and consumers pay it to the U.S. government.
Four GOP members in Senate joined Democrats in rejecting Trump's national emergency. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/...oin-dems-in-rejecting-canada-tariffs-00267480 excerpt: "Senators voted 51-48 Wednesday to reject the national emergency Trump declared earlier this year to justify his plan to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports. The vote took place hours after Trump delivered remarks from the White House rolling out his latest plans to slap new tariffs on a wide range of products. Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul joined all Democrats in backing a resolution from Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine that would end that national emergency. Paul, of Kentucky, co-sponsored the measure."
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/...oin-dems-in-rejecting-canada-tariffs-00267480 excerpt: "The dissent from this handful of Senate Republicans is purely symbolic: Speaker Mike Johnson has already moved to prevent a floor vote in the House to end the types of national emergencies upon which Trump is relying to levy his tariffs."
That post was two months ago. The rest of the world seems like it's starting to realize that it has to stand up to a bully instead of trying to appease. Trump's tariffs risk a global trade war, as leaders plan next steps excerpt: "That is what I see, that Donald Trump will buckle under pressure, that he corrects his announcements under pressure, but the logical consequence is that he then also needs to feel the pressure," he said during a press conference, according to a CNBC translation. "And this pressure now needs to be unfolded, from Germany, from Europe in the alliance with other countries, and then we will see who is the stronger one in this arm wrestle," Habeck said.
So when people ask me why my yard is the only one within a mile to have a VOTE HARRIS sign and not a Scum Trump sign.... I have to explain that there are a few things I don't like about Trump and what he has done so far to America...... • Like when he incited an insurrection against the government, • mismanaged a pandemic that killed over a million Americans • separated immigrant children from their families, and now they are lost in the bureaucracy. AND..... • tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo op holding a Bible in front of a church • tried to block all Muslims from entering the country • got impeached • got impeached again • had the worst job record of any president in modern history • pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden • fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia • bragged about firing the FBI director on TV. AND... • took Vladimir Putin’s word over the US intelligence community • diverted military funding to build his wall • caused the longest government shutdown in US history • called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate” • lied nearly 40,000 times and still lying. AND.... • banned transgender people from serving in the military • ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions • vetoed the defense funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers • refused to release his tax returns • increased the national debt by nearly $8 trillion AND... • had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. history • called veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers • coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after he ordered the execution and dismembering of a US-based journalist • refused to concede the 2020 election • hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House • walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl • called neo-Nazis “very fine people” • suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID AND... • abandoned our allies, the Kurds to Turkey • pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans • incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic • withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords • withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal • withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was designed to block China’s advances • insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter • pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op AND... • failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies • called Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries • called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation” • claimed that he single-handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere • forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader • believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize • berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe • suggested the US should buy Greenland AND.... • colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justices after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges • repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people.” • claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID, we’d have fewer cases • violated the emoluments clause • thought that Nambia was a country • told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in public • called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “p---y” for following the Constitution • nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet • nominated a corrupt head of the EPA • nominated a corrupt head of HHS • nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department • nominated a corrupt head of the USDA AND • praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticizing allies • refused to allow the presidential transition to begin • insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death • spent an obscene amount of time playing golf after criticizing Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president • falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote • called the Muslim mayor of London a “stone-cold loser” • falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year • considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions • mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID • locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones AND... • used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus” • hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offenses, including his campaign manager and national security adviser • pardoned several of his shady associates • gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressmen who amplified his batshit crazy conspiracy theories • got into a telephone fight with the leader of Australia(!) • had a Secretary of State who called him a moron • forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history AND .... • botched the COVID vaccine rollout • tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him • charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties • constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate • claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear • called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas” • used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise • opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling • got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers AND.... • claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US • ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings • blew off honoring American war dead in France because it was raining • redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle • got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters” • threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution • botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico • threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them • pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes • thought that the Virgin Islands had a President • drew on a map with a Sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane AND..... • allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing • rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos • pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID • rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers • held blatant campaign rallies at the White House • tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man • refused to attend his successors’ inauguration • nominated the worst Education Secretary in history • threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted • attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci AND.... • promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (it didn’t) • allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues • struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble • called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ” • threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders • went ahead with rallies filled with maskless supporters in the middle of a pandemic • claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts,” • seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution • demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director • praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic pedophiles • completely gutted the Voice of America • placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service AND... • claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower • suggested that the US should allow more people from places like Norway into the country • suggested that COVID wasn’t that bad because he recovered with the help of top government doctors and treatments not available to the public • overturned energy conservation standards that even industry supported • reduced the number of refugees the US accepts • insulted various members of Congress and the media with infantile nicknames AND... • gave Rush Limbaugh a Presidential Medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address • named as head of federal personnel a 29-year-old who’d previously been fired from the White House for allegations of financial improprieties • eliminated the White House Office of pandemic response • used soldiers as campaign props • fired any advisor who made the mistake of disagreeing with him • demanded the Pentagon throw him a Soviet-style military parade • hired a shit ton of white nationalists • politicized the civil service • did absolutely nothing after Russia hacked the U.S. government • falsely said the Boy Scouts called him to say his bizarre Jamboree speech was the best speech ever given to the Scouts AND.... • claimed that Black people would overrun the suburbs if Biden won • insulted reporters of color • insulted women reporters • insulted women reporters of color • suggested he was okay with China’s oppression of the Uighurs • attacked the Supreme Court when it ruled against him • summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House to pressure them to overturn the election • spent countless hours every day watching Fox News • refused to allow his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas • hired Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer • tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him • acted as if the Attorney General of the United States was his personal attorney • attempted to get the federal government to defend him in a libel lawsuit from a woman who accused him of sexual assault AND.... • held private meetings with Vladimir Putin without staff present • didn’t disclose his private meetings with Vladimir Putin, so the US had to find out via Russian media • stopped holding press briefings for months at a time • “ordered” US companies to leave China even though he has no such power • led a political party that couldn’t even be bothered to draft a policy platform • claimed preposterously that Article II of the Constitution gave him absolute powers • tried to pressure the U.K. to hold the British Open at his golf course • suggested that the government nuke hurricanes • suggested that wind turbines cause cancer • said that he had a special aptitude for science • fired the head of election cyber security after he said that the 2020 election was secure • blurted out classified information to Russian officials • tried to force the G7 to hold their meeting at his failing golf resort in Florida • fired the acting attorney general when she refused to go along with his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban • hired Stephen Miller AND... • openly discussed national security issues in the dining room at Mar-a-Lago, where everyone could hear them • interfered with plans to relocate the FBI because a new development there might compete with his hotel • abandoned Iraqi refugees who’d helped the U.S. during the war • tried to get Russia back into the G7 • held a COVID super spreader event in the Rose Garden • seemed to believe that Frederick Douglass is still alive • lost 60 election fraud cases in court, including before judges he had nominated • falsely claimed that factories were reopening when they weren’t • shamelessly exploited terror attacks in Europe to justify his anti-immigrant policies • still hasn’t come up with a healthcare plan • still hasn’t come up with an infrastructure plan despite repeated “Infrastructure Weeks" • forced Secret Service agents to drive him around Walter Reed while contagious with COVID AND.... • told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” • screwed up the Census • withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the middle of a pandemic • did so few of his duties that his press staff were forced to state on his daily schedule, “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings,” allowed his staff to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act • seemed not to know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican • stood before the sacred CIA wall of heroes and bragged about his election win • constantly claimed he was treated worse than any president, which presumably includes four who were assassinated and his predecessor whose legitimacy and birthplace were challenged by a racist reality TV show star named Donald Trump • claimed Andrew Jackson could’ve stopped the Civil War even though he died 16 years before it happened • said that any opinion poll showing him behind was fake • claimed that other countries laughed at us before he became president when several world leaders were literally laughing at him • claimed that the military was out of ammunition before he became President, AND... • created a commission to whitewash American history • retweeted anti-Islam videos from one of the most racist people in Britain • claimed ludicrously that the Pulse nightclub shooting wouldn’t have happened if someone there had a gun, even though there was an armed security guard there • hired a senior staffer who cited the nonexistent Bowling Green Massacre as a reason to ban Muslims • had a press secretary who claimed that Nazi Germany never used chemical weapons even though every sane human being knows they used gas to kill millions of Jews and others • bilked the Secret Service for higher than market rates when they had to stay at Trump properties • apparently sold pardons on his way out of the White House • stripped protective status from 59,000 Haitians • falsely claimed Biden wanted to defund the police • said that the head of the CDC didn’t know what he was talking about • tried to rescind protection from DREAMers AND .... • gave himself an A+ for his handling of the pandemic • tried to start a boycott of Goodyear tires due to an Internet hoax • said U.S. rates of COVID would be lower if you didn’t count blue states • deported U.S. veterans who served their country but were undocumented • claimed he did more for African Americans than any president since Lincoln • touted a “super-duper” secret “hydrosonic” missile, which may or may not be a new “hypersonic” missile or may not exist at all • retweeted a gif calling Biden a pedophile • forced through security clearances for his family • suggested that police officers should rough up suspects • suggested that Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs • tried to stop transgender students from being able to use school bathrooms in line with their gender • suggested the US not accept COVID patients from a cruise ship because it would make US numbers look higher • nominated a climate change skeptic to chair the committee advising the White House on environmental policy • retweeted a video doctored to look like Biden had played a song called “Fuck tha Police” at a campaign event AND... • hugged a disturbingly large number of U.S. flags • accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding his State of the Union address • claimed that the FBI failed to capture the Parkland school shooter because they were “spending too much time” on Russia • mocked the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault • obsessed over low-flow toilets • ordered the re-release of more COVID vaccines when there weren’t any to release • called for the construction of a bizarre garden of heroes with statutes of famous dead Americans as well as at least one Canadian (Alex Trebek) • hijacked Washington’s July 4th celebrations to give a partisan speech • took advice from the MyPillow guy • claimed that migrants seeking a better life in the US were dangerous caravans of drug dealers and rapists • said nothing when Vladimir Putin poisoned a leading opposition figure AND... • falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraudulent • announced a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Syria, which not only handed Russia and ISIS a win but also prompted his defense secretary to resign in protest • insulted the leader of Canada • insulted the leader of France • insulted the leader of Britain • insulted the leader of Germany • insulted the leader of Sweden (Sweden!!) • falsely claimed credit for getting NATO members to increase their share of dues • blew off two Asia summits even though they were held virtually • continued lying about spending lots of time at Ground Zero with 9/11 responders, • said that the Japanese would sit back and watch their “Sony televisions” if the US were ever attacked • left a NATO summit early in a huff • stared directly into an eclipse even though everyone over the age of five knows not to do that • called himself a very stable genius despite significant evidence to the contrary • refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and kept his promise And I can’t remember many other things at the moment. Copy and paste to your heart's content. ~ Obama Is My Choice
Trump fires three NSC staffer after meeting with Loomer. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/04/03/us/trump-news-updates