. . .Last week, President Trump dropped an economic neutron bomb by declaring tariffs on virtually every country on the planet – tariffs based not on reciprocal tariff rates, but on trade deficits. After an initial stock dump of approximately 10% and then days of the markets bouncing up and down like a hyperactive corgi, President Trump finally announced that he would be undoing his threatened tariff regime with regard to our allies.

In a statement posted to TruthSocial, he said:

Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, 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.

Conversely, and based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

This was reality setting in, and President Trump respecting it. As I wrote last week, “Now, Trump is unlikely to carry his policies to their full fruition if markets respond as expected. He is too canny a politician for that.”

(Read more from “Trump’s Reality-Driven U-Turn” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

For the past week, President Trump has been urging calm — and with good reason. Far from chaos, the financial reaction to his tariff announcement has revealed something far more profound: the world still wants to do business with America, and Trump is calling the shots.

“I know what the hell I’m doing,” the president told Republicans on Tuesday, shrugging off media doomsaying and elite panic. “BE COOL!” he posted on Truth Social the next morning. “Everything is going to work out well.”

At 9:37 a.m. Wednesday, Trump doubled down, posting: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”

He was right.

The market bounce came swiftly. Although President Trump’s announcement that some of the tariffs would be paused for 90 days got all the attention, the real fireworks began several minutes earlier, when the U.S. Treasury held its much-anticipated 10-year bond auction. Instead of panic or retreat, the auction showed overwhelming demand. Indirect buyers — including foreign central banks — lined up to purchase U.S. government debt.

In other words, far from turning against America, the world was signing up to support it. (Read more from “Even Before Tariff Relief, Global Bond Investors Rallied Behind Trump’s Trade Push” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

The Trump administration will be allowed to resume deporting suspected Venezuelan gangbangers under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act after the Supreme Court on Monday lifted a lower court order that blocked the deportations.

In a 5-4 decision, the high court ruled that the Trump administration was “likely to succeed on the merits” in a lawsuit filed in a Washington, DC district court challenging the removal of five Venezuelan men under the centuries-old law.

“The detainees are confined in Texas, so venue is improper in the District of Columbia,” read the conservative majority opinion.

The court also determined that anyone the Trump administration is seeking to deport under the Alien Enemies Act must be afforded notice “within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek [a court hearing] in the proper venue before such removal occurs.” (Read more from “Supreme Court Lifts Order Blocking Trump From Using Wartime Law to Deport Suspected Venezuelan Gang Members” HERE)