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‘Trump wants to shift the news off his tariff economic disaster,’ says Congressman Greg Casar
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Reacting to the news that Donald Trump has authorized the military to take jurisdiction over public land along the southern border, Rep. Greg Casar accused the president of wanting to move on from the market turmoil caused by his chaotic tariffs rollout.
In a memorandum released late Friday, the president ordered a “phased implementation” to occupy a “limited sector of federal lands” at the U.S.-Mexico border, as chosen by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It can also be expanded at any time.
Casar, a Texas Democrat, wrote on X: “Trump wants to shift the news off his tariff economic disaster, so he’s deploying the military into our own country and targeting immigrants. Insane, an abuse of our military, and true to form.”
U.S. markets ended a turbulent week higher despite the escalating trade war against America’s trading partners that threatens to upend global supply chains. China increased its tariffs on American imports to 125% in retaliation for the 145% levy on its exports.
Reassuring statements from the Federal Reserve helped stocks, with the S&P 500 closing up 1.73%, the Nasdaq rose by 1.97%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.53%.
Rachel Clun reports:
Economic experts have told The Independent the risk of a global recession remains despite the 90-day delay in Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff increases.
Trump made an abrupt U-turn on Wednesday when he announced the three-month pause to all affected countries bar China, following economic meltdown and widespread backlash.
But Pau S Pujolas, who wrote a study that was cited by the Trump administration to justify the tariff hikes, says the president’s “recklessness” means it may be too little, too late.
Read on…
Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal flamed Donald Trump in yet another critical editorial, this time accusing him of “making it up as he goes,” with his tariff decisions hurting the United States and its allies.
“You almost have to smile” when the president claims the shuddering economy is “all going according to plan,” scoffed the editorial Thursday.
The “reality is that Mr. Trump is making it up as he goes, and it would help if he had an actual strategy to deal with China.,” the newspaper added.
Mary Papenfuss reports.
Taiwanese officials held their first tariff talks with U.S. officials on Friday, the island’s government said on Saturday.
The two sides exchanged views on a video conference on reciprocal tariffs between Taiwan and the United States, non-tariff barriers to trade, and a number of other economic and trade issues, including export controls, Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it is ending a settlement agreement regarding wastewater problems in a rural Alabama county where most residents are Black, closing an environmental justice probe launched by the Biden administration.
Justice Department officials said they were ending the agreement reached with the state regarding wastewater issues in Lowndes County. Federal officials said the decision follows President Donald Trump’s executive order forbidding federal agencies from pursuing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Read on…
President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday evening that as part of his annual physical, he took a cognitive test.
“I got every answer right,” he announced.
Read on…
In an appearance on Fox News this evening, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that not only is the first Trump trade deal close to being finished but also “more than 15 offers are on the table” from other countries out of the supposed 75 that have reached out to the administration.
“I’m told that deal number 1 is close to being finished, is that true?” asked Sean Hannity.
Leavitt replied: “It is a true. We believe there could be several deals very soon. More than 75 countries have reached out to the administration, more than 15 offers are on the table. And the president’s trade team and the president himself are working very hard to negotiate tailor-made trade deals with every country that has reached out.”
She continued: “No other president has had the courage to fully use the leverage of the United States of America. Not just our economic might but our military and national security might as well.”
The White House has refused to provide any list of countries looking to negotiate new trade terms with the U.S., as Gustaf Kilander reports.
A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot cut off Maine’s federal school lunch funding due to the state’s refusal to ban transgender women from sports.
U.S. District Judge John Woodcock Jr. did not weigh in on the dispute over Maine’s transgender athlete policies but determined that the U.S. Department of Agriculture failed to follow proper legal procedures under the Administrative Procedure Act when it froze the grant money used for state nutrition programs.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, whose office filed a lawsuit seeking to block the freeze, said in a statement that the ruling by the judge in Portland, Maine, confirms that the Trump administration did not follow the law when it “cut program funds that go to feed school children and vulnerable adults.”
The dispute stems from President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports at schools receiving federal funding.
Read the full court order here
Binance executives met with U.S. Treasury Department officials last month to discuss reducing government oversight of the company while exploring a deal with President Donald Trump’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, according to an exclusive report byThe Wall Street Journal.
Executives from the cryptocurrency exchange sought Treasury officials’ assistance in removing a U.S. monitor that oversees its compliance with anti-money laundering laws, as reported by the Journal, citing sources familiar with the discussions.
Additionally, Binance has been negotiating to list a new dollar-pegged cryptocurrency from World Liberty Financial, the report said.
At the meeting, Binance CEO Richard Teng and Chief Legal Officer Eleanor Hughes asked for the removal of monitorship or reduction of its duration and scope, the Journal said.
Law firm Susman Godfrey released the following statement after filing a complaint against the U.S. government for being targeted by President Donald Trump: “The executive order targeting Susman Godfrey is unconstitutional and retaliatory. No administration should be allowed to punish lawyers for simply doing their jobs, protecting Americans and their constitutional right to the legal process.”
The statement continues: “Today it is our firm under attack, but tomorrow it could be any of us. As officers of the court, we are duty-bound to take on this fight against illegal executive order.”
Here’s Justin Baragona with the background to the complaint filed by the firm:
President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs have stirred widespread anxiety about a severe economic downturn — and curiosity, for some, about how it might affect the world’s warming climate.
Experts say a slowdown in international trade might have a brief and slight benefit in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which come in part from fuels like gas and oil that are used to move goods around the world via ships, planes and vehicles. But any such benefit in reducing emissions, which cause climate change, will be swamped by sharply rising costs worldwide that will hurt efforts to transition to green energies.
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Trump distracting from tariff mess with military at border, says Texas rep: Live – The Independent
