With a few exceptions, global trade has been good for the USA, but it took lowering tariffs to do it: goods imported into the US had, on average, tariffs of just 2-3% on most items before Trump came into office. This literally flooded the country with cheap goods. Now much of that trade is in turmoil and the products are starting to stack up in foreign ports because buyers can’t afford to pay the tariffs to bring the products in. Every time President Trump changes his mind about tariffs it delays resolution of these trade decisions. It also keeps the world financial markets in turmoil with huge downturns and upswings that only a few big players who have insider knowledge can use to make big gains playing the futures markets to their advantage. This week Trump started a dangerous game of picking favorites by giving exceptions to the huge 145% Chinese import tariffs for a select list of big tech companies like Apple, Dell computer and some chip manufacturers under the idea that this would give them more time to move production back to America (which will take years), and then he threatened them with revoking their exemptions if they don’t do it soon. You can’t rush these major relocation decisions without causing huge cost increases. Even if some do bring manufacturing back to the US, it brings up a fairness issue: Trump's exemptions favor only those rich enough to gain access to him. Giving time to move manufacturing to America could apply to any number of smaller companies too—but they don't have the cash to do so or the ability to talk to Trump—he only gives access to famous and powerful billionaire CEOs and companies. No one should have “pull” with Trump if he’s going to be uniform and fair. This week I’ll also cover how Congress ceded their constitutional power over tariffs to the President and why they’ll never be able to get it back under Trump. To receive a free one-time sample of the Brief, along with options on how to subscribe, click on Request a Sample on the left.
“So far our [US] whole power projection platform is aircraft carrier and the ability to project power that way strategically around the globe,” said Hegseth in a recent interview. However, Hegseth added that China’s 15 hypersonic missiles “can take out 10 aircraft carriers in the first 20 minutes of the conflict,”
Trump was reviving the enforcement of a 1940 law requiring migrants to register their names and fingerprints with federal agencies. If they fail to do so, those individuals could face criminal penalties resulting in a possible fast-track to deportation. They could also be barred from becoming legal.
Starting in August 2026, the manufacture of certain semiautomatic firearms that can accept detachable ammunition magazines will be outlawed in Colorado, and their sales will be significantly limited (we’ll get into that below). That will include AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, as well as a long list of their popular variants. The law affects tactical shotguns and a small number of handguns.
TUCKER CARLSON: We recorded the interview you’re about to watch five days ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. It’s with a former congressman from Pennsylvania called Curt Weldon. Curt Weldon was a very significant figure in Washington 20 years ago. He was not some obscure backbencher. He was one of the most powerful Republicans in the Congress about to take over the Armed Services Committee until he asked questions about the official story on 9-11, at which point the Bush administration sent the FBI to his daughter’s house, destroyed her life, never charged her with a crime, and effectively got Curt Weldon bounced out of Congress.
“More SNAP money is spent on sugar drinks and candy than on fruits and vegetables. That changes today,” Braun said as he signed one of nine executive orders under his new “Make Indiana Healthy Again” initiative.
In 2023, the Global Equality Fund invited projects led or supported by LGBTQ organizations and communities to apply to win awards of between $750,000 and $1.5 million. In 2021, the fund offered up to $1 million to LGBTQ “empowerment” projects in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
The program, formally known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund but more commonly called the “green bank,” was approved under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and saw the EPA award $20 billion in grants to eight entities to launch climate-related projects. In announcing the cancellation of the program in March, Zeldin described it as a “gold bar” scheme. He said the decision to terminate the program was based on “substantial concerns regarding program integrity, objections to the award process, programmatic fraud, waste and abuse, and misalignment with the agency’s priorities.”
The idea, as we laid out in not so many words, is to extract commitments from U.S. trading partners to isolate China’s economy in exchange for reductions in trade and tariff barriers imposed by the White House. US officials plan to use negotiations with more than 70 nations to ask them to disallow China to ship goods through their countries (the so-called "transshipment" loophole), prevent Chinese firms from locating in their territories to avoid U.S. tariffs, and not absorb China’s cheap industrial goods into their economies.
According to Ynet, Israel is trying to stop the US from withdrawing over concerns that it could lead to an increased Turkish presence in Syria
Ukraine’s martial law system allows for military conscription and the suspension of certain political activities, including regular democratic elections.
The Chinese regime has long been preparing for war, but it’s still too risky for it to launch an invasion of Taiwan, experts say.
The Chinese regime’s Ministry of State Security posted a message on its official WeChat account on March 23, warning of the alleged threat posed by radio waves, which can carry and spread a large amount of information. The notice accused some radio enthusiasts of regarding foreign radio equipment as “novel toys” and purchasing them illegally, posing a so-called threat to national security. It emphasized “guarding against cross-border radio undercurrents” and preventing their illegal use.
“Animal experiments have shown that its ability to bind to mammalian cells has increased, and the risk of human-to-human transmission has increased from low to medium,” the leaked document read.
The federal government announced on April 14 that it is freezing $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard after the university said it would not comply with the Trump administration’s demands to dismantle diversity programs and limit student protests.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that while Chinese diplomats ‘enjoy broad access’ in America, U.S. diplomats cannot travel to Tibetan areas in China.
some online users questioned the Chinese regime’s long-standing claim of “providing extensive support for the development of Tibet.” One user, commenting on a video about the Dingri County earthquake, asked, “Tibet has been ‘liberated’ for over 70 years—why are the houses still in such poor condition? Where has the funding for Tibet gone?” Another user remarked, “I always thought Tibetans were rich, but this earthquake has shown us the reality of Tibet.”
Three of the five reservoirs have been emptied, which a hydrologist said indicates serious problems.
Mencken was a literary giant of his time, a leading voice followed by all intelligent people. It’s odd to me that today he is so unknown, and that is probably because our times are less tolerant of eccentricity and intellectual provocation than his. He never joined a partisan clique, preferring instead to carve out his own niche as an independent. For anyone who loves ideas, Mencken is impossible to put down. As you read, you feel your internal constitution change. It is exhilarating and transforming. You sense that you are thinking hard for the first time in a long time. With him as your guide, you throw off conventions that surround us. You feel liberated, prepared for new things, renewed in spirit, defiant, courageous.
Every year since COVID-19, a wave of respiratory infections has swept across China.
Tech companies such as Apple stand to gain relief from the exemption.
Now that even the shoeshine boy is speculating whether China is selling its US treasuries (to kill three birds with one stone: i) hammer the dollar, ii) push yields higher and iii) prop up the yuan, if only to give the impression that China is winning the trade war something we described here), Mizuho has a “pretty high” degree of confidence that data will eventually show if China has been selling US Treasuries, according to Jordan Rochester, EMEA head of FICC strategy at the bank.
Another win for election integrity is unfolding in Arizona, where state officials are partnering with DHS to verify voter rolls. Make no mistake about it —this is exactly the kind of action we need to protect our elections from fraud and abuse.
But he seemed to reserve his most aggressive criticisms for Zelensky, once again blasting him for asking for more and more weapons and money, while knowing full well Ukraine can't defeat Russia, which is "twenty times your size" - as Trump said.
In short - MAGA guy fired after Rubio and pals want to keep USAID money flowing.
The US Dismantled Its Nuclear Arsenal While China Raced to Build Up
U.S. stocks continued their roller-coaster ride this week, driven by rising Treasury bond yields and media headlines that stirred investor sentiment. All major averages posted weekly gains, thanks to two strong rallies on April 9 and April 11, led by gold producers and Big Tech.
The Chinese regime’s control of large databases enabled the leaking of private information, and it’s hitting party officials like a ‘boomerang,’ analysts say.
The communist regime may look for alternative ways to offset the impact of U.S. tariffs, such as creating distractions, say China watchers.
Biden appointees Gwynne Wilcox of National Labor Relations Board and Cathy Harris of Merit Systems Protection Board were fired soon after Trump took office.
The court said state attorneys general who sued over the firings don’t have standing.