Thursday, April 10, 2025

April 10, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Trump Transforms Tariff War Into High-Stakes Showdown With China . . . Trump announced Wednesday on social media that tariffs on Chinese goods would jump to 125%, saying "hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable." So far, Beijing has hit back at each round of tariff increases from the U.S. by raising duties on American products and targeting U.S. companies. Wall Street Journal

China threatens to unleash $1.9 trillion 'tsunami' on the world in drawn-out tariff warfare with the U.S.

China Floats Possibility Of Killing More Americans In Response To Tariffs . . . Two bloggers linked to China's government floated the idea of upping the flow of deadly fentanyl into the U.S. in retaliation to President Trump's tariffs, CNBC's Eunice Yoon reported Tuesday. Both Niu Tanquin and a blogger known as Rabbit Chairman posted messages on Chinese social media suggesting the state was preparing to end cooperation with the U.S. on fentanyl, according to screenshots which Yoon posted to X. Daily Caller

The 18 hours that changed Trump's mind on trade . . . From Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon, Trump and his trade advisers spoke to several Republican lawmakers and top foreign leaders who raised concerns about the faltering global markets and the growing concerns of a worldwide recession, urging him to do something. By late Wednesday afternoon, Trump was saying he had been thinking about switching course "over the last few days."

The final decision, he said, "probably came together early this morning, fairly early this morning. Just wrote it up." Washington Post

Trump's 'buy' tip on social media before his tariffs pause made money for investors who listened . . . When Donald Trump offered some financial advice Wednesday morning, stocks were wavering between gains and losses. "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT," he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social at 9:37 a.m. Less than four hours later, Trump announced a 90-day pause on nearly all his tariffs. Stocks soared on the news, closing up 9.5% by the end of trading. The market, measured by the S&P 500, gained back about $4 trillion, or 70%, of the value it had lost over the previous four trading days. Associated Press

Politics

House passes bill to limit nationwide injunctions as orders pile up against Trump . . . The House late Wednesday passed a bill to limit district court judges from imposing nationwide injunctions — the types of rulings that have thwarted several of President Trump's wide-reaching executive orders. The 219-213 vote fell mostly along party lines. The only exception was Rep. Mike Turner, Ohio Republican, voting against the bill and his party. Washington Times

Trump Order Would Force the ACLU to Put Its Money Where Its Mouth Is on Lawfare . . . When the ACLU files a lawsuit against the Trump administration and asks the judge to issue an order forcing Trump to turn around, in midflight, the planes deporting violent gangbangers, the ACLU has to put up or shut up. The ACLU has to put down a "security" payment when asking for the court order, just in case a later judge strikes down the order after it already cost the government money to follow it. This commonsense requirement isn't a Trump wish list item. It's a rule with the force of law. Daily Signal

Trump Admin Moves To Shut Down Government's Climate Doom Factory . . . The White House moved to put an end to a costly federal initiative that has been the vehicle behind decades of government policies driven by climate alarmism. Changes have been put in motion to eliminate the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which was created by Congress in 1990 and has been funneled billions of dollars to research climate change. It is responsible for producing a National Climate Assessment, which is considered the "crown jewel" of climate research and is used by agencies across government to justify costly programs intended to alleviate climate change. Daily Wire

Trump signs executive order to 'make America's showers great again' . . . President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday lifting restrictions on how much water can be used by shower heads, saying his administration would "make America's showers great again." "I like to take a nice shower to take care of my beautiful hair," Trump said before signing the order at the White House. "I have to stand in the shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. … It's ridiculous." Washington Post

National Security

Facebook Worked 'Hand in Glove' With China, Ex-Executive Tells Senate Panel . . . Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook executive, testified on Wednesday on explosive allegations about the social media company's relationship with China. In her prepared opening statement for a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, Wynn-Williams accused company founder Mark Zuckerberg of pledging himself as a "free speech champion" while working "hand in glove" with the Chinese Communist Party to "construct and test custom-built censorship tools that silenced and censored critics of the Chinese Communist Party." Daily Signal

NJ Gov. Orders Local Police to Stop Working with Immigration Officials

Defense Secretary Hegseth Secures 'Historic' Partnership With Panama Against China . . . Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is headed back to Washington as the triumphant bearer of good tidings for President Donald Trump: Panama and the United States will partner to protect the Panama Canal from maligned Chinese interests. It was both a difficult and delicate task for Hegseth and the Defense officials who accompanied him to bilateral meetings at President José Raúl Mulino's palace in Panama City. Daily Wire

See how this worked? 1. Threaten to take over the Panama Canal. 2. Everyone says you are crazy. 3. Get a favorable deal from Panama.

International

Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina released in prisoner swap . . . Russia released Ksenia Karelina, a U.S.-Russian dual national who was sentenced last year to 12 years in a penal colony after being found guilty in Russia of treason for donating less than $100 to a U.S.-based Ukrainian charity. In exchange, the U.S. freed Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and a senior Russian intelligence official conducted the talks for the swap. Wall Street Journal

Money

Republicans mull higher taxes on wealthiest Americans to pay for other cuts . . . Republicans are discussing whether to raise the top individual tax rate or create a new bracket for millionaires and billionaires to help pay for other priorities in their sweeping tax and spending bill. Increasing taxes on top earners is not widely supported among Republicans who prefer to keep taxes low for all as a way to juice investment into the economy. But the proposal to raise taxes on top earners is on the table as both a revenue raiser for other priorities and a way to blunt political attacks that the GOP bill is designed to help the wealthiest Americans. Washington Times

Is this a joke? Should I have put this under Guilty Pleasures?

You should also know

Dozens Of Teen Boys Take Their Own Lives As Online Sextortion Cases Spike . . . Three years ago, 17-year-old Gavin Guffey was playing video games with his friends on a summer night, when he got a message from who he thought was a pretty girl on Instagram. Not even two hours later, Gavin took his own life. Sexual extortion, also known as sextortion, occurs when an offender coerces or tricks a minor into sending them sexually explicit images or video footage, and then threatens to release that material unless the minor produces additional explicit content or demands payment instead of more sexual content. Daily Wire

The Wild moment cops shoot 90s rocker's wife after car chase . . . The wife of a 90s rock star was shot by police in Los Angeles after she allegedly pointed her gun at a hit-and-run suspect invading her neighborhood. Weezer bassist Scott Shriner's wife Jillian Lauren, 51, was charged with attempted murder on Tuesday afternoon for pointing her gun at a man outside her LA home. The man had previously been involved in a three-car crash on the 134 Freeway around 3pm but fled the scene alongside two other male suspects. Daily Mail

Guilty Pleasures

Elon Musk reveals jaw-dropping DOGE find . . . Elon Musk revealed the jaw-dropping number of fraudulent unemployment claims his agency found, claiming he had to read the documents several times before it 'sank in.' The study found at least 24,500 people over 115 years old claimed $59 million in benefits. At least 28,000 people under the age of five claimed $254 million in benefits, as well as 9,700 people with birth dates over 15 years in the future claimed $69 million in benefits, according to DOGE. In one shocking case, DOGE said they found someone with a birthday in 2154 who claimed $41,000 in benefits. Daily Mail

Let's be fair, if you are dead or have not yet started Kindergarten, you are likely unemployed.

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