Monday, May 12, 2025

May 12, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Trump promises to order that the US pay only the price other nations do for some drugs . . . The order Trump is promising will direct the Department of Health and Human Services to tie what Medicare pays for medications administrated in a doctor's office to the lowest price paid by other countries. "I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION'S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World," the president posted Sunday on his social media site, pledging to sign the order on Monday morning at the White House. Associated Press

Trump says the executive order, to be signed this morning, will cut prices by 30%-80%. Global stocks

Politics

Trump administration poised to accept 'palace in the sky' as a gift for Trump from Qatar . . . In what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government, the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar -- a gift that is to be available for use by President Donald Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation. According to aviation industry experts, the estimated value of the aircraft Trump will inherit is about $400 million. ABC News

Trump blasts Democratic criticism of Qatar plane gift: 'World Class Losers!!

GOP Budget Includes Medicaid Work Requirements, Blocking Transgender Procedures on Minors . . . A key House committee has drafted a far-reaching proposal that would restructure Medicaid eligibility, restrict health care funding for transgender procedures, and dismantle several Biden-era climate initiatives, according to a document obtained by The Daily Signal. According to the document, the Energy and Commerce Committee is looking to require states to add community engagement requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents to receive federal Medicaid assistance. Daily Signal

Trump's Budget Hawk Takes Over the DOGE Agenda. First Up: The Military . . . Russ Vought, President Trump's top budget official, is looking to lock in many of Elon Musk's cost-cutting efforts once the billionaire CEO steps aside from government. The White House budget blueprint proposed maintaining military spending at current budget levels of $892.6 billion. Vought will oversee a series of initiatives, from cutting agency regulations and working with Congress to claw back funds to reclassifying federal workers and advancing a 2025 budget proposal that seeks to slash spending. Wall Street Journal

Trump heads to Saudi Arabia eyeing more investment in US . . . With US President Donald Trump due to visit Gulf states this week, a key focus will be securing significant new investment for the US economy. Trump is due to arrive in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Tuesday 13 May, to meet the country's de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump is then expected to attend a summit of Gulf leaders in the city on 14 May, before travelling to Qatar that same day, and then ending his three-day trip in the United Arab Emirates on 15 May. BBC

Trump's Family Is Rapidly Striking Business Deals in the Mideast . . . When President Trump tours the Middle East this week, he will be looking to secure investments in the U.S. from the world's richest petrostates. His family businesses and close associates already have been striking deals in the region at a rapid clip. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, the three countries on the president's itinerary, stand out for their warm embrace of Trump Inc. Wall Street Journal

The true cause of Biden's reemergence: He's need the money . . . Mark Halperin reports on what is likely the real reason behind Joe Biden's return to the public spotlight in recent days, which some have suggested is an attempt to "fight back" against damning revelations about his cognitive decline. "Biden, Inc., needs a source of revenue," he said, citing a source familiar with the Biden family. "The trough is empty, the spigot has shut down. They need a way to get back in the game to make big money to have the grandchildren fed and clothed and flown first class." Washington Free Beacon

Culture

Brown University charges The Brown Spectator for name, use, trademark violations . . . The board of The Brown Spectator — an on-campus libertarian journal — faced a disciplinary hearing Wednesday on charges that they violated Brown University's name, licensing and trademark policies. "Brown has just charged every member of the board of directors of The Brown Spectator for violating Brown's 'Name Use, Trademark, and Licensing Policy' for having the word 'Brown' in the name of our independent non-profit and our website domain," Alex Shieh told Fox News Digital. Fox News

Well, looks like today's lesson for the kids at Brown is "Advanced Censorship Techniques."

National Security

How Wall Street Loopholes Funnel US Capital to Chinese Communist Party . . . American investors are unwittingly funding Chinese Communist Party activities through Wall Street loopholes, according to a securities expert who recently testified before Congress. Chris Iacovella, CEO of the American Securities Association, told The Daily Signal these activities include "the internment of Uyghurs, funding [People's Liberation Army] weapons systems, a cyber army that relentlessly attacks this country, our businesses, and our people, as well as numerous other atrocities from a human rights perspective, including genocide." Daily Signal

International

Hamas will release U.S.-Israeli hostage, but Israel says no ongoing ceasefire . . . Hamas will release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander from Gaza on Monday, the Palestinian militant group said, although Israel's prime minister said there would be no ceasefire and plans for an intensified military campaign would continue. Fighting will pause to allow for Alexander's safe passage, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, and three Palestinians in Gaza told Reuters early on Monday afternoon that there had been calm since midday, with no sound of drones or warplanes. Reuters

ICC Set Plan to Charge Netanyahu Just After Prosecutor Was Accused of Sexual Assault . . . Two months after the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, pressure was mounting on Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as he considered charges against Israeli officials for their conduct of the war in Gaza. One assistant, a woman in her 30s who often traveled with him for her job, said in testimony to U.N. officials, Khan began to touch her sexually after summoning her to his hotel room, a pattern of behavior that she said had been going on for months. Wall Street Journal

After days of heavy firefights, calm reported along Indian and Pakistan borders . . . Indian and Pakistani authorities said Monday there was no firing reported overnight along the heavily militarized region between their countries, the first time in recent days the two nations were not shooting at each other. India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all military actions on land, in the air and at the sea Saturday in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to stop the escalating hostilities between the two nuclear-armed rivals that threatened regional peace. Associated Press

Of course, it's always the US, vilified around the world, that steps in to preserve peace, feed the starving, defend democratic countries, etc. etc.

Kurdish Militant Group PKK to End Four-Decade Conflict With Turkey . . . A Kurdish militant group said it would end its armed struggle and dissolve itself after four decades of conflict with Turkey, a news agency aligned with the group said Monday.

The decision by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, will have significant security and political ramifications for the region, not only in Turkey but also in neighboring Syria, where Kurdish forces are fighting Turkish-backed militias. Wall Street Journal

Money

US and China call trade truce, roll back some tariffs . . . U.S. and Chinese officials said Monday they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs and call a 90-day truce in their trade war for more talks on resolving their trade disputes. Stock markets rose sharply as the globe's two major economic powers took a step back from a clash that has unsettled the global economy. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points to 30%, while China agreed to lower its rate on U.S. goods by the same amount to 10%. Associated Press

You should also know

Did You Shoot Somebody in Self-Defense? There's an Insurance Policy for That . . . About two million people have signed up, according to industry executives, some of whom estimate their membership has doubled in the past five years. The insurers offer a range of services, including bail and criminal-defense lawyers. Some also cover the cost of litigating civil lawsuits brought by victims of the shootings. The policies aren't limited to shooting incidents; most companies will cover a member charged with other crimes, such as threatening somebody with a gun, so long as there's a plausible self-defense claim. Wall Street Journal

Zepbound beats Wegovy for weight loss in first head-to-head trial of blockbuster drugs . . . People taking Eli Lilly's obesity drug, Zepbound, lost nearly 50% more weight than those using rival Novo Nordisk's Wegovy in the first head-to-head study of the blockbuster medications. Clinical trial participants who took tirzepatide, the drug sold as Zepbound, lost an average of 50 pounds over 72 weeks, while those who took semaglutide, or Wegovy, lost about 33 pounds. That's according to the study funded by Lilly, which was published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Associated Press

New Pompeii discovery reveals the tragic true extent of human suffering . . . The fiery ash and pumice quickly clogged the streets and rose up the walls. Then the weight of volcanic rock caused part of their home's roof to collapse. Four adults and the child retreated into a bedroom. There, they desperately sought to wedge a bed against the door to hold back the growing weight of rubble. "They didn't make it," said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. He's overseeing an extensive new excavation of the city. news.com.au

Mass. Police: Councilwoman Incites Mob, Assaults Officers to Stop Arrest of Violent Illegal Alien . . . Police are calling for an official investigation and charges against a city councilwoman for allegedly assaulting officers and inciting a violent mob trying to stop the arrest of an illegal alien criminal suspect in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is another in a slew of incidents where government officials have stepped in to try to block immigration enforcement as the Trump administration cracks down on aliens with criminal records in the U.S. Breitbart

Guilty Pleasures

ep. Jasmine Crockett Says Dems Already Backing 'Safest White Boy' for President . . . Democrats are eying the "safest white boy" ahead of the 2028 election, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett told "Urban View" hosts Clay Cane and Reecie Colbert in a clip from a town hall shared online Friday. She didn't name names, but suggested the party already has "one specific candidate" in mind. "It is, it is this fear that the people within the party, within the primary system, will have about voting for a woman because every time we voted for a woman, we've lost," she explained. The Wrap