Free Republic

CBO projects $3T added to debt from bill that tackles tax policy, border security, healthcare reforms President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" is projected to increase the debt by $3 trillion, with interest, or $5 trillion if made permanent, according to estimates. An estimate of the House-passed bill by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects it would add more than $2.4 trillion to primary deficits before interest over 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a nonprofit public policy organization. As of Wednesday, the national debt, which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors,...

Calling the trade talks a stalemate, US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 50% tariff on the EU on June 1. European markets took an immediate tumble following Trump's social media post. US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is recommending a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union, citing a stalemate in trade talks. "Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025," he wrote on social media. In a post on Truth Social, Trump reiterated his criticism of...

May 16 (Reuters) - Moody's on Friday downgraded the credit rating of the United States by a notch to "Aa1" from "Aaa", citing rising debt and interest "that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns". "Successive US administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs," Moody's said in a statement.

SummaryTrump's Middle East focus shifts to Gulf business deals PM Netanyahu's right-wing govt at odds with some U.S. policy shifts U.S.-Israel relations strong but diverging priorities evident, say observers JERUSALEM, May 14 (Reuters) - Israel's right-wing government has maintained a diplomatic silence this week as U.S. President Donald Trump fired off a blizzard of announcements that have shaken Israeli assumptions about their country's standing with its most important ally.Trump's decision to bypass Israel during his current visit to the Middle East had already been seen as a marker of the his administration's increased focus on lucrative business deals with wealthy...

Rarely has an economic policy been repudiated as soundly, and as quickly, as President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs—and by Mr. Trump’s own hand. Witness the agreement Monday morning to scale back his punitive tariffs on China—his second major retreat in less than a week. This is a win for economic reality, and for American prosperity. Make that a partial win for reality. The Administration agreed to scrap most of the 145% tariff Mr. Trump imposed on Chinese goods on April 2 and later. What remains is his new 10% global base-line tariff, plus the separate 20% levy putatively tied to...

President Donald Trump is pushing hard for interest rate cuts. He should be careful what he wishes for, because he is begging for more inflation. Literally. Trump started badgering Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about rate cuts even before his inauguration, saying last January that "interest rates are far too high." In fact, this running battle with Powell over rates dates back to Trump's first term. As the Fed finally tried to normalize rates in 2017 after holding them at zero for nearly a decade in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Trump frequently criticized Powell and urged him...

Washington -- The infighting and backstabbing that plagued President Donald Trump’s first term have returned as a threat to his second, with deepening fissures over trade, national security and questions of personal loyalty. The latest turmoil threatens to engulf the Pentagon, where Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has pushed out top advisers and faces fresh controversy over sharing sensitive information about airstrikes in Yemen outside of classified channels. A former Pentagon spokesperson who was ousted last week wrote in Politico that Trump should fire Hegseth for presiding over a “full-blown meltdown.” The interpersonal drama is not - at least yet -...

China has halted exports of seven critical rare earth elements to the United States, a move that threatens to disrupt supply chains across key American industries, including automotive, semiconductor, and aerospace sectors. China’s Ministry of Commerce recently added seven rare earth elements—including dysprosium, terbium, and lutetium—to its restricted export list. These elements are essential for manufacturing high-performance magnets used in electric vehicles, advanced weaponry, and consumer electronics. NY Times reported:

Just hours after implementing tariffs of varying levels on trade partners worldwide, President Donald Trump said he would pause the 'reciprocal' import taxes for 90 days. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the pause would be effective immediately and the base tariff of 10% will still be enforced. He said he felt the pause was needed because more than 75 countries had contacted his administration to make trade deals.

SUMMARY Donald Trump announces a 90-day pause on higher tariffs for dozens of countries - but hikes levies on China to 125% There will now be a universal tariff of 10% on all countries' goods, except for China He says the higher rate for China is because of "the lack of respect that China has shown to the world's markets" Earlier on Wednesday, China announced an 84% tariff on US imports after Donald Trump imposed a 104% tariff on Chinese goods entering the US Stock markets surged after Trump made his announcement - the president appears to have blinked, writes...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before! Apr 09, 2025, 8:33 AM

President Donald Trump has threatened to slap additional 50 per cent tariffs on China if it doesn’t withdraw its retaliatory measures, pushing the possible level of tariffs it faces on exports to the US to over 100 per cent. In a post on Truth Social, the US president said retaliatory Chinese tariffs on US imports of 34 per cent represented an “abuse” that added to harsh taxes US exporters were already facing. Current tariffs faced by China are estimated to be at 54 per cent when Trump’s initial duties on imports are taken into account. “If China does not withdraw...

DETROIT—If President Trump’s trade war has a physical battleground, it is Michigan, where companies and workers are already feeling the beginning of an onslaught that could blow a hole in the state’s economy. Nearly 20% of the economy is tied to the auto industry, which has become increasingly dependent on parts and vehicles from Canada, Mexico and China—imports Trump hit with steep tariffs in recent weeks. This trade has grown so large that Michigan ranks fifth in the nation by the size of its imports and exports, even though its total economy ranks 14th. Detroit’s automotive executives have shifted into...

I cannot take credit for the following but I saw this comment posted on another forum and thought I would post it here since it describes the best in the smallest amount of space why the tariffs work and how they work: "Trump is trying to crash the stock market at least 20%, causing a flight into treasuries, this will cause the fed to slash interest rates so he can refinance the debt to near 0% and cause a deflationary spiral which will lower the cost of everything. He also intends to use tariffs as an incentive for companies to...

President Trump stood by his wide-scale tariffs, calling them a “beautiful thing to behold” that will eventually be largely supported even as the stock futures dropped Sunday evening. “They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold. The Surplus with these Countries has grown during the ‘Presidency’ of Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump blasted out on Truth Social Sunday night as he attempted to justify the action he took against around 90 nations last week. “We are going to reverse it, and reverse it QUICKLY. Some day people will realize that Tariffs, for the United States of America, are...

​Several countries have announced plans to reduce or eliminate tariffs on U.S. imports in response to President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” policy, set to take effect on April 2, 2025. This policy aims to match the tariffs that other nations impose on U.S. products. The White House released a detailed chart showing how badly many countries have been ripping off American workers, charging high tariffs on U.S. goods while benefiting from America’s generosity in return.

Military force NOT ruled out by Trump to take over Greenland.

BREAKING: White House says Colombia has agreed to all of Trump's terms, including acceptance of deportation flights

President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would not rule out the possibility of using military or economic coercion to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, emphasizing their strategic significance to U.S. national security. Speaking at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump said that he “cannot assure” that military or economic coercion would not be used to take control of these two strategic locations, in response to a question. “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two, but I can say this, we need them for economic security,” Trump responded. “It might be...

Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla decamped with his top management team to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for an off-site meeting, in the latest attempt by corporate America to ingratiate itself with the US president-elect. Bourla arrived with several members of his executive leadership in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday evening, according to flight records and two people familiar with the matter. Pfizer’s executive team was using Mar-a-Lago for a planning meeting over several days, the people said. While there was no scheduled meeting between Bourla and Trump, the pair were likely to interact and the choice of venue was another...