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multifanhoe99 · 9 months ago

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Kinktober Day 2- Sex Machine

Pairing: The8 (Minghao) x Idol!AFAB!reader

Warnings: Nicknames (my love, baby, good girl, love, slut, bad girl, my girl), pampering, lingerie, toys, app-controlled machine, long distance, phone sex, slight dom!Minghao, orgasm denial (kinda), begging, overstimulation, multiple orgasms.

=Let me know if I missed any.=

18+ MDNI

PROMPT LIST

MASTERLIST

Dating an idol is not easy especially if they are out on a world tour but you love Minghao more than anything. You loved him back home in China so much that when he wanted to follow his dreams you followed him to Korea. Even if you weren't dating then you couldn't deal with being away from your best friend since childhood for that long so you came with him. Now, you are dating, and living together, and both are members of very successful groups.

You are very proud of him and the success of Seventeen but now that they are on tour and your group is not while you work on the next album you are cursing that success. Of course, you two talk whenever you can but some things just aren't the same over the phone. For instance when either of you needs release. He is very good at talking you through pleasuring yourself while he gets off just watching you but your fingers or the toy by itself with his words guiding you aren't always enough. That is until today. You came home and saw two packages delivered to the house you live in with Minghao. One of the packages is a huge box and the other is a smaller box that says ‘OPEN ME FIRST’ on the front. After bringing both boxes inside you open the smaller package. There is a note and another box inside.

The note reads, “ Hello my love. I know this may come as a surprise but I figured you would miss me a lot while I am gone so I planned this surprise for you. I got you some things that I think will make you miss me less while I am gone. If I timed it right we should be on a break right now so video call me when you've followed the rest of the directions. I love you! -Mingao ;p”

If you weren't curious before you definitely are now. You open the smaller box that was with this note and inside is a lingerie set that you two were looking at before he left and a new dildo. Something is different about this one though because it looks strangely familiar rather than just a standard factory-made toy. Before you can wonder about it anymore another note falls out of the lingerie set when you pick it up.

This note reads, “I hope you like this pretty little outfit I picked out for you. I want you to pamper yourself a little. Take a nice hot shower and then put this on for me. When you have done that you can open the big box. Also, don't you think that toy looks a little familiar?”

He's too much always spoiling you. You do as he says and go take a nice, hot, relaxing shower. When you get out you put on some lotion and the new set he got for you. It is his favorite color, crotchless, and fits you perfectly. You spray on a little of his cologne just to feel him close to you and go back out to the main room to open the big box. Inside the box is a machine and instantly everything clicks. You pull out the machine and like clockwork out floats another little note.

“ I know how much you miss me fucking you dumb baby so I got you this to see if it will help while I am gone. I can control it from anywhere through the app and I even made that new toy so it would be like I am actually deep in you just how you like. Go get yourself all set up and then call me so we can see if it works.”

You do as he says feeling yourself getting wetter at the thought of him doing all this just because he knew you'd miss him. When everything was ready you video-called him and he answered after a couple rings.

“Look at you baby,” he says as his greeting, “ You follow directions so we'll.” You blush at his praise, feeling a warmth spread through your body.

"I always do for you," you reply softly, biting your lip. Minghao's eyes darken as he takes in your appearance.

"Turn around slowly for me, let me see all of you," he commands gently. You comply, moving deliberately to give him a full view. When you face the camera again, his gaze is hungry.

"Perfect," he purrs. "Now, why don't you lie back and get comfortable? I want to see how well my gift works." Heart racing with anticipation, you position yourself on the bed, angling the camera so he can see everything.

"Good girl," Minghao says approvingly. "Let's start slow, shall we?" You hear a faint buzz as the machine whirs to life. The dildo begins to move, and you gasp as it enters you slowly. The cloned dildo of Minghao's cock feels the closest to the real thing than any other toy has before. You moan softly as the dildo pushes deeper, your body quickly responding to the familiar shape and size. Minghao's eyes are glued to the screen, drinking in every reaction.

"How does it feel, baby?" he asks, his voice low and husky.

"So good," you breathe out. "It feels just like you."

A satisfied smirk plays on Minghao's lips. "That was the idea. Now, let's see what this machine can really do." The pace suddenly increases, making you cry out in pleasure. The dildo moves in and out with perfect precision, hitting all the right spots. You arch your back, gripping the sheets as waves of sensation wash over you.

"Look at you, taking it so well," Minghao praises, "You're so beautiful like this, all spread out for me." His words send a shiver down your spine. You moan Minghao's name, your eyes locked on his through the screen. His gaze is intense, filled with desire and adoration. The machine continues its relentless pace, bringing you closer and closer to the edge.

"That's it, baby," Minghao encourages, his voice thick with arousal, "Let me hear you. Show me how good it feels." Your cries grow louder, more desperate as the pleasure builds. The dildo moves perfectly inside you, mimicking Minghao's familiar rhythm. You can almost imagine it's really him there with you, driving you wild with his touch.

"Minghao, please," you whimper, teetering on the brink of release, "I'm so close."

"Not yet," he commands softly. "Hold on for me, love. I want to savor this." You whine in frustration and as you do the machine slows to a torturous pace.

“Awe,” Minghao coos, “Such a slut for my cock you can't even be patient and let me enjoy watching you huh? I want to make you cum baby but not yet. Can you be patient for me or are you going to be a bad girl after being so good for me so far?” You take a deep breath, trying to regain some control.

"I'll be good," you promise breathlessly, "I'll wait for you."

Minghao's eyes soften with approval. "That's my girl. You're doing so well for me." The machine continues its slow, teasing pace. Every thrust sends sparks of pleasure through you, building the tension without allowing release. You whimper and squirm, but force yourself to stay on the edge, determined to please Minghao.

"Look at you," he murmurs, his voice low and full of desire, "So beautiful, so obedient. I wish I could touch you right now, taste you..." His words make you shiver, imagining his hands on your skin, his lips trailing kisses down your body. The ache for his physical presence intensifies, but the toy inside you, the smell of his cologne on your skin, and his voice in your ears help him feel closer.

"Tell me how much you miss me, baby," he says, "How much you need me."

"So much," you whimper, your hips unconsciously trying to grind against the dildo for more friction, "I miss you every day, Hao. I miss your touch, your kiss, your voice in my ear. I need you here with me."

He hums appreciatively, "I miss you too, my love. Every night on stage, I imagine you're there in the crowd, watching me. It makes me dance harder, and sing better." The machine suddenly increases its speed. You can tell by his voice that Minghao is getting close to cumming as well. Your breath hitches as the machine's pace quickens, matching Minghao's growing arousal. His eyes are dark with desire as he watches you writhe on the bed.

"That's it, baby," he encourages his voice husky, "Show me how good it feels. Let me hear you."You moan loudly, no longer able to hold back. The dildo hits all the right spots, mimicking Minghao's expert touch. Your back arches off the bed as the pleasure builds to an almost unbearable intensity.

"Hao, please," you beg, teetering on the edge, "I need to cum. Please let me cum."

Minghao's breath is ragged as he responds, "Not yet, love. Just a little longer. You're doing so well for me."The machine's relentless pace continues, pushing you closer and closer to the edge. You whimper, your body trembling with the effort of holding back your orgasm. The pleasure is almost overwhelming, each thrust of the machine sending shockwaves through your body. Minghao's eyes are fixed on you, drinking in every reaction, every moan, every shudder.

"God, you're beautiful," he breathes, his voice strained with his own arousal, "I wish I could taste you right now, feel you clenching around me." His words send another wave of heat through you. You're so close, teetering right on the edge of release. The machine continues its relentless pace, the dildo hitting your sweet spot with every thrust.

"Hao, please," you beg, your voice breaking, "I can't... I need..."

"Okay, baby," Minghao finally relents, his own breathing heavy. "Cum for me baby.”As soon as the words leave Minghao's lips, you feel the floodgates open. The pleasure that's been building crashes over you in waves, your body arching off the bed as you cry out his name. The machine doesn't slow, prolonging your orgasm as you writhe and moan.

"That's it, baby," Minghao groans, his voice thick with arousal, "Let me see you fall apart for me." Through half-lidded eyes, you see him on the screen, his hand moving rapidly as he chases his own release. The sight of him pleasuring himself to you pushes you even higher, a second orgasm building quickly on the heels of the first.

"Hao," you whimper, overwhelmed by the sensations, "I'm gonna cum again."

"Fuck," he hisses, his movements becoming more frantic.

"Cum with me, baby," Minghao commands, his voice strained, "I want us to finish together." The machine's pace increases one final time, pushing you over the edge. You cry out Minghao's name as your second orgasm washes over you, even more intense than the first. Through the haze of pleasure, you hear Minghao's deep groan as he reaches his own climax. For a moment, there's nothing but the sound of heavy breathing from both sides of the call. The machine slows to a stop, and you whimper softly as the dildo slides out of you. You feel boneless, completely spent, but deeply satisfied.

"That was..." you start, still catching your breath.

"Amazing," Minghao finishes, a soft smile on his face. "You were incredible, love."

You blush at his praise, “Baby, if we keep doing this I think I might just survive you being away on tour,” you say with a giggle and he laughs along with you.

Minghao's eyes soften with affection, "I'm glad it helps, my love. I hate being away from you."

You stretch languidly, feeling pleasantly sore, "This was such a thoughtful gift, Hao. Thank you."

"Anything for you," he says softly, "I wish I could hold you right now."

You hum, pulling a blanket over yourself, "Soon. How much longer until you're back home?"

"Three more weeks," Minghao sighs, "But I'll call you every chance I get. And maybe we can have more fun with your new toy."

You feel a flutter of excitement at the thought, "I'd like that. I love you, Hao."

"I love you too, baby. More than anything." His smile is tender, "Get some rest now. I'll call you tomorrow."

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A/N: Honestly, thank you to the Anon who requested this. It was so fun to write and imagining the made me need a cold shower. I hope you enjoyed this kinktober is turning out to be really good so far.

#k pop smut #kinktober #x reader #kpop #kpop smut #the8 seventeen #minghao x reader #minghao seventeen #minghao smut #the8 x reader #the8 smut #seventeen smut #kinktober 2024

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xuterboo · 1 year ago

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Good time everyone!

The cutting and analysis of images continues, and today my hands finally reached the Lost Paradise.

Let's meet our beauties!

Let's start with the broken king. Lost Paradise has quite a motley crew. Also, everything on the clothes is very scattered. Lucifer is wearing a strict black suit and a white striped shirt. An interesting observation: for Luci, both when he was still an angel and when he fell, The chest is open, emphasizing the scar. And he did not appear because of a fall from heaven. The scar was probably received before these events. (Fight for Seraphim's place?)

As shown in Liouifer's stories, his snake is alive, or rather, can come to life and move on its own.

I just want to throw in one thought: the biblical seraphim were created only to fly next to God and sing into his ears that he is so wonderful. This means that all Seraphim, including Luci, have a beautiful voice)

Well first of all, gooooospaby, how I love this dragon!!

And secondly, doesn’t it seem strange to anyone that the staff of Gamigin (the dragon) are different from Gamigin (the demon)? As you know, Gamigin (dragon) devoured the demon who slept with him, and apparently the dragon's pearl greatly changed the staff.

The gamigin himself is dressed in formal attire. But the casual look of directional sleeves makes the look looser. And also sneakers. Sneakers, damn it. Okay, if he likes it, then I won't mind. Blue color evokes pleasant and gentle sensations, but also helps reduce the desire to sleep. Nice contrast between Gamigin's activity and tenderness

Marbas... His clothes are more like ordinary clothes in a mental hospital, but the factory did not have white fabric, and they took some kind of black one. I still don’t quite understand why he would chain himself in this during a fight. This is inconvenient and even dangerous. Either I don't understand something, or I don't understand something. But nevertheless, he has a very interesting design.

No shoes. My pants are constantly falling down (my friend: Was it too weak to lower my pants any lower?) I have a long-sleeve shirt that reveals my shoulders almost completely. Acts as a straitjacket, but looks good in everyday life. (I hope it doesn't hurt for him to walk😔)

My sunshine Morax!☺️ I love him so much, I just can’t 🥹

He already has a more strict form of someone like a general. It can be assumed that he is more responsible for the military part of Lost Paradise .

He is probably in the same position as Glasialabolas (I hope I wrote it correctly), but as we have already noticed, PL is a more modest country than in Hades. Origin unknown. Most likely born in LP

He's covered in bandages. God, please give him a rest. Tie him down, but let him recover.

Next up is Buer. One of two demons, behind which there is some kind of creature. You can guess from his clothes that he is from Tartarus. But with feet stained with the gold of the Tartarus River, his origins are confirmed.

Dressed in a kimono of gold, red and black. In China these colors mean wealth (who would doubt it), joy and prosperity. (Buer makes me feel like he is a Chinese healer living high in the mountains. Healing, only those who have a pure soul, hee hee hee)

Also, according to official data from the Belphegor event, I am adding Batin to this collection, since he was born in the Lost Paradise.

He is a laid back lover of travel. Like most of the demons of Paradise Lost, he is dressed in black. Apparently in Nifelheim, Batin is also something of a general. In every country, one way or another there is a demon responsible for the troops, but in Gehenna this is not visible, since everyone has the same uniform.

I'm not entirely sure what culture Paradise Lost represents, as there's a lot going on there. I think this is the people who came together piece by piece from other countries. They brought something of their own to the new lands, combining knowledge with others, and this is how they turned out to be a unique nation. Friendly and quiet by nature. But as soon as you get to know them better, you will immediately see the warmth,which they emit. Although there is another facet that is in the shadows - their cruelty and indifference. It is shown when Adu or their loved ones.

The text turned out longer than I thought. OK...Thank you for reading! Write your interesting observations or thoughts about Paradise Lost!

#what in hell is bad #whb #lost paradise #whb lost paradise #whb lucifer #luccifer whb #whb marbas #marbas whb #gaming #whb gamigin #whb morax #morax whb #whb buer #buer whb #whb bathin

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little-one-eyed-monsters · 2 months ago

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It's Wednesday, and I'm watching Domundi, GMMTV, and Boss of MeMindY (poor guy) run interference on the shenanigans that unfolded during Songkran via twitter (X).

Aoftion's out here trying to make fans believe that Domundi actors' sexual proclivities are not part of the fanservice they asked them to do (once more, fanservice reeling its ugly, homophobic-adjacent head to bite all of the people who profit from it), even though it's quite obvious that they asked their ships to amp up the flirtations while attending the festivities in pairs. Dudes went a little too far, and now fans are threatening to boycott the upcoming shows because they find the chemistry too "manufactured" and "fake".

GMMTV is in the same boat but heading in the opposite direction. As their ships tend to be less sexually-risque and more branded, fans are now asking why some of their actors went WITHOUT their partners for Songkran, and why most of them were seen heavily drinking and partying with other people instead of their ship SOs. They instead want more fanservice, but in more chaste settings.

And Boss is drifting in his small sailboat, dealing with the wave of fans accusing him of having the AUDACITY to celebrate Songkran with his friends and not his ship partner Noeul (God forbid those two are not entitled to lives of their own), for having videos on the internet of him dancing with someone else at the festival, and for kissing one of his friends (or maybe an SO-- it's his private life my dudes) on the cheek. It got so bad that Noeul's manager had to film and post Boss and Noeul being lovey-dovey after Noeul's set at the festival, just to calm the fandom down.

Meanwhile, Starhunter is out here trying to make their ships buddy up, but people are so used to the shenanigans that very few seem to care, the Change 2561 boys are out here quietly preparing for the release of Pit Babe 2, Idol Factory remains mostly absent from the festivities, Headliner Thailand is keeping their people's social media presence strictly professional (as a new company, it's crucial that they don't attract any unwanted attention), the BOC team celebrated their Songkran's individually, and our fave independent boys are minding their own business (Yin and War promoting skincare and chilling at their houses, Up travelling to China with friends, Poom spending Songkran at his family home, Billkin promoting his new project and PP Krit on vacation). Did I miss anyone? Sound off in the comments if I did.

I say to my like-minded friends that fanservice in the BL industry is leaning towards a more tongue-in-cheek, humurous, and genuine concept in 2025. Actors are doing these flirtations with a deeper sense of self-awareness for what they are, what they're selling, and what boundaries they should set for themselves and their fans. Most of them now play off of the fun and the natural chemistry that comes with deep, comfortable friendships, instead of making fans believe that the ship itself is real, and that the actors are dating. They also eschew the branded pairs now more than ever, knowing that the longevity of their ships will depend only on the reception of the fans, just like any other acting job.

In turn, fans are asked to manage their own expectations about their favorite ships, and to respect the actors' privacies. In an age where entering the LGBT genre is the fastest route to getting any recognition in the Thai entertainment industry, everyone and their sibling is scrambling to star in their own queer show. This means that regardless of their personal lives and preferences, these actors are expected to perform just the right amount of fanservice with their costar. But not too much, as to look fake, and not too little, lest they attract unwanted controversy.

In other words, no matter how fun fanservice looks in 2025, it still remains deeply homophobic. It must be so exhausting, to deal with everyone's expectations of your career.

Moving forward, I hope these actors can be judged in the future for their talent--what they bring to the industry, and to their genres. Not by how sweet they are to their costars, or how many people they've dated.

[P.S. Daou and Offroad were just having the time of their lives out there. Did people care? Maybe. Did Daou or Offroad care? Absolutely NOT 😅)

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rjzimmerman · 1 year ago

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Excerpt from this Op-Ed from the New York Times:

At first glance, Xi Jinping seems to have lost the plot.

China’s president appears to be smothering the entrepreneurial dynamism that allowed his country to crawl out of poverty and become the factory of the world. He has brushed aside Deng Xiaoping’s maxim “To get rich is glorious” in favor of centralized planning and Communist-sounding slogans like “ecological civilization” and “new, quality productive forces,” which have prompted predictions of the end of China’s economic miracle.

But Mr. Xi is, in fact, making a decades-long bet that China can dominate the global transition to green energy, with his one-party state acting as the driving force in a way that free markets cannot or will not. His ultimate goal is not just to address one of humanity’s most urgent problems — climate change — but also to position China as the global savior in the process.

It has already begun. In recent years, the transition away from fossil fuels has become Mr. Xi’s mantra and the common thread in China’s industrial policies. It’s yielding results: China is now the world’s leading manufacturer of climate-friendly technologies, such as solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles. Last year the energy transition was China’s single biggest driver of overall investment and economic growth, making it the first large economy to achieve that.

This raises an important question for the United States and all of humanity: Is Mr. Xi right? Is a state-directed system like China’s better positioned to solve a generational crisis like climate change, or is a decentralized market approach — i.e., the American way — the answer?

How this plays out could have serious implications for American power and influence.

Look at what happened in the early 20th century, when fascism posed a global threat. America entered the fight late, but with its industrial power — the arsenal of democracy — it emerged on top. Whoever unlocks the door inherits the kingdom, and the United States set about building a new architecture of trade and international relations. The era of American dominance began.

Climate change is, similarly, a global problem, one that threatens our species and the world’s biodiversity. Where do Brazil, Pakistan, Indonesia and other large developing nations that are already grappling with the effects of climate change find their solutions? It will be in technologies that offer an affordable path to decarbonization, and so far, it’s China that is providing most of the solar panels, electric cars and more. China’s exports, increasingly led by green technology, are booming, and much of the growth involves exports to developing countries.

From the American neoliberal economic viewpoint, a state-led push like this might seem illegitimate or even unfair. The state, with its subsidies and political directives, is making decisions that are better left to the markets, the thinking goes.

But China’s leaders have their own calculations, which prioritize stability decades from now over shareholder returns today. Chinese history is littered with dynasties that fell because of famines, floods or failures to adapt to new realities. The Chinese Communist Party’s centrally planned system values constant struggle for its own sake, and today’s struggle is against climate change. China received a frightening reminder of this in 2022, when vast areas of the country baked for weeks under a record heat wave that dried up rivers, withered crops and was blamed for several heatstroke deaths.

#China #climate change #renewable energy

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k-s-morgan · 1 year ago

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This is a belated post where I wanted to briefly address the outcomes of 2023!

While Ukraine mostly faded from the stage of world's news, unfortunately, the situation didn't get better for my people. Every day Russia kills, maims, and ruins everything it can touch. Every day civilians die from its imprecise missiles, random shootings and artillery, and outright executions. I often see that those living in other countries call this Putin's war, but it really isn't. This is the war sponsored by Putin and his regime, true, but first and foremost, this is the war of Russian people. It's hundreds of thousands of Russian people who arm themselves and go kill our defenders and our civilians. It's Russian people who fire from tanks and other deadly weapons to ruin the Ukrainians' homes, to scorch our land, to leave nothing but destruction instead of cities and villages. It's Russian people who build the missiles, load their bombers, and fly for 5+ hours to direct them at our cities, homes, factories, and even empty fields.

This is me during one of the latest massive attack that took place on January 2. At first, at night, 35+ Russian-Iranian drones bombed us. Then Russian people sent about 100 missiles at us, mainly at my city Kyiv.

Our air defense system managed to intercept the majority of them, but while it sounds like interception is an entirely positive thing, it might have terrible consequences. Because the parts of the missiles fall down randomly. They can kill any human or creature walking down the street; they can collapse on top of a residential building. There is no escape, no way to feel safe even with the best air defense systems surrounding the city. Here's one of many disastrous results of this attack.

Dead and injured people and animals. Damaged and lost apartments.

On December 29, another attack killed over 30 people in Kyiv alone. You can see their faces below. They deserve to be seen and remembered.

This is a short story of just two latest attacks that took place just within one week, just in one city. Imagine how many of them me and my people lived through during the entire year? How many more we will have to experience?

Actually, we lived through another one before I finished writing this post. It happened on January 8, and it killed even more civilians.

I know that there are good, sane, compassionate Russians. I have some relatives among them. One of them, my aunt, can't keep herself entirely silent: she's deeply religious, and a few weeks ago, in a church, she risked saying that killing Ukrainians is bad. Another man told her that she's scum and that if she dares to open her mouth again, he will report her to authorities. The headmaster of a school where my aunt teaches was imprisoned for 7 years for refusing to hold a Z-event among students. Living there must be a torture of another kind, where you are surrounded by zombies who openly promote terrorism and bless missiles sent to kill other human beings. The problem is that sane and compassionate Russians are the minority - the vast majority is happy to either kill us or they support those who kill us. Or they simply don't care, trying to claim that everything is complicated when in reality, there is nothing complicated about it at all. Russia is a terrorist state and the world allows its people and its government to keep being monsters.

Seeing the indifference and impotence of seemingly powerful countries makes me increasingly concerned and depressed. At this point, I don't think I'm simply affected by my experiences: the world is rapidly going to hell, with terrorist countries like Russia being allowed to revel in their blood-thirstiness and the other terrorist countries, like North Korea, or potential offenders like China, observing and taking notes. When a criminal sees that no one is punished for a crime, they escalate. More criminals appear. This is what I feel is going to start happening more and more, until half of the planet is plunged into death and destruction. I'll be so very glad to be wrong.

On a personal note, I lost my most beloved pet pigeon Daikiria in 2023. I love her and miss her so much that I still cry whenever I think of her. In turn, I acquired a red nightmare of a rabbit who eats everything, including my feet, and two more pigeons. Taking care of them brings me joy - I only hope that my effort will actually benefit them.

Here's a pigeon that I named Noveria the day I found her, in a video I made for my vet. Attacked by a cat, bleeding all over, with broken ribs and a missing piece of her wing, with no tail:

Here is she now. She is feeling much better, although unfortunately, she got sick because of her weakened immune system.

My kitties continue to be adorable dorks. Here's me sleeping with my cat Tom after one of the attacks - he's really scared of loud sounds, so he sleeps like a rock afterward, just like me.

My family stays strong, and I hope we will remain to be so.

Writing stories remains a huge source of relief and distraction to me, and your support, love, and care give me strength even when I feel like I'm about to run out of it.

Thank you to those who support me on Patreon and give me a chance to have a safety net shielding me from some of the horrors and insecurities - thanks to you, I can rest sometimes when I would have to work instead; I can afford some more distractions and to write more as a result. Thank you to those who leave comments, kudos, asks; thank you to my friends who never fail to message me with questions about my well-being. I love and I appreciate you tremendously, and despite all my fears and worries, I hope that we will get to see a better future still.

#personal #ukraine #kyiv #kiev #russia is a terrorist state #my fics #thank you

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ariamarks · 2 years ago

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#best sourcing company in china #buy direct from china #buy direct from china factory #buy straight from china #gym equipment from china

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umf1 · 3 months ago

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lewis hamilton is interviewed on media day, japan - april 3, 2025 (transcript under the cut)

Journalist: "Lewis, an up and down weekend in China. Congrats on the sprint pole, sprint win, but then of course the disqualification came at the grand prix. How have you and the team dealt with that and discussed it, and hopefully it won't happen again, and then looking ahead to Suzuka here, what is possible for yousrelf and for Ferrari?" Lewis: "Yeah, I was at the factory with the team during the week. Really impressed with how the team adjusted and worked through the analaysis and figuring out ways of working better, moving forwards; better processes and just hopefully make sure that doesn't happen again. And then coming here this weekend… I mean, every weekend I do with the team is a new experience, at a track that I've been to before, but obviously it's the first time in a Ferrari around this track and I don't know what to expect in terms of how the car will feel, necessarily. But I feel positive. Obviously I have two races behind me now and experienced the tires and, like for example, the C2 tire that we had in the last race, I hadn't actually driven that before, so finally got a race with that under my belt. And yeah, I feel positive coming into this weekend." Journalist #1: "Great stuff. Thank you. Go well." Lewis: "Thank you."

Journalist #2: "Well, Lewis, coming from very highs and very lows from last weekend. What can we expect this time? 'Cause everyone is still like, oh, Ferrari with super high expectations. So what do you think?" Lewis: "I mean, I think there was a lot of hype, obviously, to start the season. I think what's important to remember is that this is my first year with the team. I didn't expect to win from the get-go and I didn't expect us to be fighting for the championship straight away. I've just really tried to spend this time observing how the team operates and how we're running and learn as fast and as much as I can. And I've just been highlighting to the guys, my first time driving in the rain was [laughs] the first race on the Sunday, and then I didn't actually get to do any of the… I was reflecting, after the last two races, I didn't get to do the Abu Dhabi test, obviously, 'cause I was still with Mercedes. All the other drivers got to test the new 2025 tires, and then when I came to do my Bahrain test and do my long run I didn't even get to do it 'cause we broke down, so my first long run in the dry, twenty laps, was actually the sprint race, which I'm quite happy with how I treated those tires. And then the next day we made some changes to the car and it wasn't the right direction and made it difficult through qualifying, and then particularly in the race, so… But lots and lots of learnings to take from those two weeks and I feel that's really helped prepare us better for moving forwards."

Journalist #3: "Lewis, you were speaking about tires. Here, like in China, in the first sector there is a new tire marker. Is the difference made by eating the tire windows right away? Do you need to work on this as a team?" Lewis: "No. I think we get the tires in the… Getting the tires in the window, I think can be a challenge. I think having them in sync… So you can have the rears in the window and the fronts not in the window. You can have the fronts in the window… Trying to get them to kind of… You kind of want to enter in the first corner with the rears slightly below, and then through the corner they kind of come up, so then that… If you start with too-hot temperatures then you have third sector often is an issue. If you start too cold you have instabilities, lose too much in sector one, and you might gain some back in the next two. But trying to find the balance between that is a real challenge."

Journalist #4: "Were the disqualifactions, Lewis, less of a concern over the week than trying to unlock the pace in the car, and how confident are you that Fred, who's a very calm head, can find the solutions and put the processes in place to get you where you need to be?" Lewis: "A hundred percent confident we can fix any of the problems that we have. We've got absolutely all we need within this team. I really spent these past couple of months just trying to observe the way the team operates. It's just different to what I've experienced in… Every team's been different. McLaren was different. Mercedes was different, again, to McLaren, and here again. So just observing and then seeing where I can contribute and what I can bring to the table. There's areas we need to elevate, for sure, but I think Fred's got a great approach and, again, I didn't expect to come straight into the season and win race one. Already a sprint race was a real bonus, to be honest. But this is the first time I'd actually done a long run on the tires, and then the race, that was the first time I'd actually driven the C2 tire. So yeah, I didn't feel too bummed or anything from the… I think those are the times you learn the most, as a team, and I was really impressed. It was really interesting to see how the team dealt with it, and they're just really constructive and everyone stayed positive, so we just move on."

Journalist #2: "Lewis, you mentioned really hard work has been done over the last couple of days from the team. How intensively have you been involved in this process?" Lewis: "I speak to the engineers almost every day, at the moment, and I was there on Tuesday. Flew back, got back on Monday, and I was at the factory on Tuesday, and then I left to come here early, so… But I've been massively a part of the processes that we're going through. But also I have to let the guys just get on with what they're doing. There's a lot of people within the team who are doing great work." Journalist #2: "Thank you.

Journalist #5: "Hello, Lewis." Lewis: "Hi." Journalist #5: "It's our first race this season. I must say, you look very good in red, because it's the first time I'm seeing you up close." Lewis: "Thank you." Journalist #5: "From the time you're already in Ferrari, a new chapter, what is the thing that surprised you the most in a pleasant way?"

Lewis: "I mean, I don't feel like I've been… I mean, the biggest surprise was seeing just the sheer size of the factory. Obviously they build the road cars next door, so it's like the whole team, everyone's in red, and it's a huge organization, and just seeing how passionate everyone within the whole team-the whole 5,000 plus people-are about racing and how passionate they are about the shield and being a part of the team. Seeing that firsthand and seeing that within was… I've never seen that before, to that level, so that was really positive."

#lewis hamilton #f1 #formula 1 #japanese gp 2025

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coochiequeens · 2 months ago

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Ladies, if you don't need it don't buy it. And contact your local politics to demand the end to pink taxes and pink tariffs

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Wed April 16, 2025

New York CNN — President Donald Trump is using tariffs to disrupt nearly everything about the global trade order. Except for a tariff policy that favors men over women.

For decades, the US tariff system has taxed women’s clothing more heavily than men’s. Tariffs on women’s clothing are currently about three percent higher than men’s, a policy that’s known as “pink tariffs” — similar to the “pink tax” that makes the same products for women more expensive than men’s.

That means women pay an average extra dollar per garment compared to men, costing them more than $2 billion a year, according to research by Edward Gresser, vice president and director for trade and global markets at the Progressive Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.

And with Trump imposing 10% tariffs on most trading partners, with even higher levies for Canada, Mexico and China, the cost for women could easily go higher.

“As he is instituting massive new tariffs, President Trump is missing a chance to tackle historically regressive and misogynistic traits” of the global free trade system, said Steve Lamar, the president of the American Apparel & Footwear Association.

Most manufactured apparel and footwear are classified by gender in the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), which sets out the tariff rates for all categories of merchandise imported into the United States. Tariff rates on women’s clothing were, on average, 16.7% in 2022 — 2.9 percentage points higher than the 13.6% average tariff rate for men’s clothing, according to Gresser.

Breaking it down to individual items: Women’s suits in 2017, for example, were subject to a 15.1% tariff rate, while men’s suits were subject to a 13.3% tariff. Women’s underwear was hit with a 12.8% tariff, while men’s underwear had an 8.6% tariff.

There’s no single reason why tariffs on women’s clothing are higher than men’s, but the policy has taken shape over decades.

During the 1930s and 1940s, when America helped design the global free trading system, women’s clothing production was a smaller industry while men’s clothing was a major source of employment and an economic driver. US textile and apparel manufacturers at the time were more focused on lobbying to lower tariffs and end trade barriers on men’s clothing, trade experts say. The current tariff gap is a relic of that old trade regime.

Textile workers at a wool factory operate large weaving machines, circa 1930. FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Companies have attempted to end the gender bias in tariff rates. Steve Madden, Asics, Columbia Sportswear and other companies sued the government in 2007 to strike down the tariff policy, but the suit failed because courts ruled that the tariff gaps were not designed to be discriminatory.

There also has been little movement from the federal government to fix the policy. But this year, two Democratic lawmakers, Rep. Lizzie Fletcher of Texas and Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, introduced legislation known as the “Pink Tariffs Study Act” that would direct the Treasury Department and other agencies to examine the impact of tariffs on women and other consumer groups.

Trump’s tariffs could unintentionally narrow the gender gap by raising the floor of tariffs on men’s clothing, however, said Lori Taylor, a professor in the department of public service and administration at Texas A&M who studies trade policy.

But Trump’s tariffs will ultimately impact women more than men because women spend more money on average on clothing. In 2023, household spending on women’s apparel averaged $655, compared with $406 for men’s apparel, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“My policy preference would have been to lower tariffs for both men’s and women’s clothing” to reduce the gap, Taylor said.

Hitting low-income families hardest

Trump’s tariffs will have an outsized impact on clothing because nearly all clothing sold in the United States is imported.

Consumers immediately will face 64% higher apparel prices from Trump’s tariffs, according to the Yale Budget Lab.

Tariff disparities aren’t just between women and men. Tariffs will hurt lower-income households and the goods they rely on more than wealthier households.

That’s because lower-income consumers spend a greater share of their income on basic clothing and necessities than higher-income consumers. Tariffs also tax cheap, mass-market goods at higher rates than luxury items.

Socks, underwear, t-shirts, sneakers and other clothing basics have higher tariff rates than luxury items because tariffs vary by fabric content, said Sheng Lu, an associate professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware. High-end fabrics such as wool, cashmere and silk have lower tariff rates than the cotton, polyester and nylon used to manufacture inexpensive clothing and sneakers.

Prices for clothing basics will also rise more quickly than luxury items because of Trump’s tariffs, trade experts say, because basics typically have little markup. That leaves companies with less room to absorb higher costs.

“The cost increase will be higher at the low end than at the luxury end,” Edward Gresser said. “Hourly-wage America will be carrying a lot of the tariff burden.”

#Pink tariffs #Tariffs on women’s clothing are currently about three percent higher than men’s #women pay an average extra dollar per garment compared to men #Pink tariffs cost wome more than $2 billion a year #US Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS)#Socks underwear t-shirts sneakers and other clothing basics have higher tariff rates than luxury items because tariffs vary by fabric

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mariacallous · 2 months ago

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This may be the shortest-lasting revolution in history. Just one week after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed so-called reciprocal tariffs on the world as part of a plan to replace a global trading system based on most-favored-nation status and national treatment with individually negotiated bilateral arrangements, he has effectively called off the experiment. Yes, there are still 10 percent tariffs imposed on most everyone, along with higher tariffs on autos, steel, and aluminum, but these are likely ceilings, and the only direction for these barriers to move is down.

The one exception, of course, is China, which—we must now always emphasize, as of this writing—faces U.S. tariffs of roughly 150 percent, if one includes the standard tariffs on trading partners, the penal tariffs imposed during Trump’s first term and left in place by President Joe Biden, the 20 percent on fentanyl-related goods, and the duties announced on April 9.

Trump’s fans say this is a well-concealed plan to focus on Beijing; others may see the shift as a face-saving way to reframe a retreat after markets crashed and businesses went into shock. Either way, it seems hard for China to escape unscathed, unless Trump makes another sudden U-turn very soon. The United States still can impose a lot more pain, albeit at significant cost to itself, including financial sanctions and banning exchange students or travel altogether, and can offer benefits to other trading partners that join the campaign to isolate China. A China cut off from the global economy and society would face enormous economic, political, and geostrategic troubles.

Despite this danger, my sense is that the Chinese government believes it has no choice but to stand its ground and that its leaders will not submit to negotiations in which they are the only ones expected to make concessions. Moreover, my recent travels to China and elsewhere reveal a broader, modestly more positive reappraisal by Chinese and international audiences about the resilience and strengths of the Chinese system.

During trips to China from late 2022 to late 2024, I found a country struggling along almost every continuum. The last few months of the COVID-19 pandemic were scarring, as residents of many cities faced suffocating lockdowns, and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people were severely sickened or perished. The economic rebound that was supposed to occur following the end of the government’s zero-COVID policies rapidly evaporated. In an effort to jump-start growth, mountains of capital were poured into new manufacturing facilities for electric vehicles, batteries, medical equipment, robotics, and other sectors; however, domestic consumption did not grow to meet it, leaving a huge gap between supply and demand and severe deflation at the factory gate.

Pandemic insecurity, the collapse of the housing market, and a weak social safety net led households to expand their precautionary savings and for young couples to forgo having children, worsening the demographic problem. The broader political tightening and emphasis on state security also took its toll on public sentiment. Indicators for consumer confidence dropped like a rock in early 2022 and have barely moved since.

As a result, many conversations among Chinese themselves during this period centered on why the Chinese leadership seemed unwilling to admit the extent of the problem and take the steps needed to boost growth. Hypotheses included a lack of accurate information about the country’s travails making it to the top, a weak team without a smart governing plan, the prioritization of security over economics, or a leadership fervently committed to focusing on advanced technology (what propagandists call the “new productive forces”) as the country’s most important growth driver.

These domestic anxieties were mirrored outside China. At a conference for thousands of institutional investors held by J.P. Morgan in early 2023 in Miami, the central debate was, “Is China investible?” There was no consensus, as some argued that the end of zero-COVID meant new opportunities, while others stressed the supply chain vulnerabilities and the crackdown on the private sector as reasons to hold back.

A year later at the same conference, there was a consensus answer: “No.” International investors offered a litany of worries about China’s short-term environment and long-term trajectory. Many said they had sold down their positions and reallocated their funds elsewhere, particularly to the United States.

Fast-forward to 2025, and the mood within China—and from many external observers—has perceptibly brightened. A part of the explanation lies with recent domestic developments. The first was the leadership’s admission last September of the country’s severe economic challenges and the subsequent announcement of a major stimulus plan, whose details were revealed this March. The second was the unveiling of DeepSeek’s pathbreaking large language model, which suggested that Chinese innovators were able to find workarounds to U.S.-led technology restrictions.

In discussions with business executives in China in March 2025, interlocutors suggested that the worst of the economic downturn was over and that they could see initial shoots of renewed growth. An auto executive said demand for their EV models was growing far faster than anticipated and that they would move up plans to open manufacturing facilities abroad.

An executive from a semiconductor firm sanctioned by the United States said they had improved their production efficiency and quality in the absence of service support from Western equipment suppliers. None said it was time to breathe a sigh of relief, highlighting the difference between announcing policies and having them generate results. One emphasized the continuing higher interest rate that private firms must pay for credit compared with state-owned enterprises. Nevertheless, the dark clouds of previous years had receded.

The same shift was visible among the international business community. In the early 2025 version of the J.P. Morgan conference in Miami (and in similar conferences elsewhere), investors no longer complained about the Chinese leadership’s perceived missteps; instead, they repeatedly asked two questions: “How big will the stimulus be?” and “When will the stimulus translate into faster growth?”

At the China Development Forum, the conference held every March in Beijing that brings together leading Western multinationals and Chinese leaders, business executive after business executive highlighted their plans for new investments in China.

Although changes in Chinese policies and some technology breakthroughs explain some of the mood swing, the most important source of restored confidence lies 12 time zones away in Washington. Whether in Beijing, Shanghai, New York, Miami, or elsewhere, in meeting after meeting in the first quarter of 2025, the No. 1 topic was Trump. Almost every one of the conversations revolved around befuddlement at one or more of his policies.

Most alarmingly, although the context is so immensely different, many people, without prompting, compared today’s United States with China during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, a period of unprecedented turmoil and suffering across the entire country. To be sure, the Cultural Revolution is the Chinese go-to for political analogies in bad times, in the same way that Nazi Germany is for some in the West. Yet the U.S. government’s actions have genuinely shocked Chinese observers, some of whom have worked or studied in the United States.

Many with whom I spoke in China said they understood the need to cut government waste and reduce corruption—prominent problems in their own country. But time and again, observers were puzzled why Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was leading the charge to haphazardly dismantle agency after agency and fire tens of thousands of civil servants. In a meeting to discuss possible U.S.-China cooperation on science and technology, a Chinese policy expert—after hearing a list of cuts to U.S. government agencies and universities for work on basic science research, climate, medicine, space, and other spheres—asked in amazement, “Does the U.S. government even believe in science anymore?”

On numerous occasions, people expressed shock at the attacks on the media, lawyers, and the courts. One interlocutor said he and his friends were among the most pro-American in China and were proud to have studied there and worked for U.S. companies. But the country they knew seemed to be changing before their eyes, and they could no longer consider sending their children to live or study there.

Just as prevalent as the perplexity about U.S. domestic actions was puzzlement about the fundamental changes in U.S. trade and foreign policies. In discussions held less than two weeks before Trump’s self-declared “Liberation Day” but after the fentanyl-related tariffs were imposed, Chinese could not wrap their heads around why the United States would want to dismantle the multilateral trading system that had created so much prosperity in the United States and around the world. The notion that Washington could use tariffs to engineer a radical revival in manufacturing production and employment was seen as an outright fantasy. And some wondered why Washington would abandon its allies in favor of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

The significance of these comments has little to do with whether they are correct; instead, widespread perceptions of what is viewed as governmental ineptitude and societal fragmentation in the United States have become an imperceptible mirror in which Chinese look to reevaluate their own country’s present and future.

In reality, many of China’s leaders are highly ideological; corruption is widespread; political purges still occur; information is controlled; scientists (both physical and social scientists) face substantial barriers to intellectual freedom; unfair regulatory restrictions on markets abound; and industrial policy puts foreign business at a distinct disadvantage—all of which threatens China’s development prospects and relations with others. But when refracted through the lens of the United States in 2025, China’s system is viewed differently.

For pro-regime nationalists, Trump is a gift. His illiberal turn means the United States has abandoned its ideological challenge to the Chinese political system. Moreover, his weakening of U.S. governing institutions, economy, and alliance relationships translate into “making China great again.” And his attack on the multilateral trading system makes it far easier for China to be seen as its responsible steward over the United States.

For many apolitical Chinese, they are not enthusiastic about today’s China and many specific policies, but by comparison, China feels relatively stable and predictable, leaving them minimally satisfied to live in their system and a world that supports it.

For liberal Chinese who have long admired the United States, the Trumpian turn in Washington prompts a deep sadness. For them, the United States had been, as they said, a “light on a hill” and a “beacon.” In 2008, with the global financial crisis, the United States undermined confidence in China in free markets. In 2025, with its political infighting, the United States is discrediting its political system. The consequence of such melancholy is resignation. To this group of Chinese, Liberation Day must feel like just the opposite.

In the coming weeks and months, the contest between Beijing and Washington will continue to evolve in unpredictable ways, even if Trump backs off his full-scale declaration of trade war. Both have economic strengths and weaknesses, and each could aim for the other’s weakest points. They will maneuver to outflank and isolate the other by wooing countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Plenty of drama has yet to unfold.

Yet my conversations in China and elsewhere suggest two ironic certainties. First, given the renewed resolve in Beijing, there is almost no chance the Trump administration will be able to wrangle any more concessions from China in the coming months that it could not have obtained on Jan. 20. The escalation, brinksmanship, and volatility will likely be a monumental waste of time.

And second, regardless of who is more effective at weakening the other’s economy or outfoxes the other at the negotiating table, the real contest for systemic competition, at least for now, is over. Whether in celebration or mourning, to most Chinese, Trump’s red tie is a white flag.

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brokehorrorfan · 1 year ago

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The Boy will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on September 3 via Scream Factory. The 2016 horror film was an international co-production between the US and China.

William Brent Bell (Orphan: First Kill, The Devil Inside) directs from a script by Stacey Menear. Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, Jim Norton, Diana Hardcastle, Ben Robson, Jett Klyne, and James Russell star.

The Boy is presented in 4K from the original elements with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Special features are listed below.

Disc 1 - 4K UHD:

Audio commentary by film critics Julia Cunningham and Emily Higgins (new)

Disc 2 - Blu-ray:

Audio commentary by film critics Julia Cunningham and Emily Higgins (new)

Interview with William Brent Bell (new)

Interview with writer Stacey Menear (new)

Interview with cinematographer Daniel Pearl (new)

Interview with doll designer Todd Masters (new)

Interview with doll handler Tannis Hegan (new)

Theatrical trailer

Greta (Lauren Cohan) is a young American woman who takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village. She soon discovers that the family's 8-year-old is a life-sized doll that they care for just like a real boy, as a way to cope with the death of their son 20 years prior. After she violates a list of strict rules, a series of disturbing and inexplicable events bring Greta's worst nightmare to life, leading her to believe that the doll is actually alive.

Pre-order The Boy.

#the boy #brahms #william brent bell #horror #lauren cohan #rupert evans #jim norton #ben robson #jett klyne #james russell #scream factory #dvd #gift #2010s horror

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reading-writing-revolution · 2 months ago

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(via Week 22 - The Return - by Amy Siskind - The Weekly List)

The main theme of this week’swide list is Trump’s tariff war declaration and the global disruption that ensued, but before we get to that, I want to recognize the importance of the Hands Off protests which took place on Saturday. The media was not prepared to adequately cover the size and scope of this protest, which took even its organizers by surprise. I wrote more about why the protests really mattered on my Substack, but I also want to highlight, that as millions took to the streets at more than 1,600 locations, we passed an important hurdle. Many who protested were doing so for the first time, and got to see firsthand that they could do so safely and without incident. Ironically, it was Trump who preemptively erected a fence around the White House on Friday night. Protests have been remarkably effective: just ask Elon Musk who has seen his net worth crumble as Tesla stock continued to plummet following mass protests nationwide.

A federal judge ordered the White House to lift what had been a two-month ban on the AP, while a lawsuit plays out, saying the AP has “suffered significant, concrete harms.” The judge, a Trump appointee, cited AP was likely to win its case based on the First Amendment.

Pulitzer prize winning columnist Eugene Robinson left the Post, where he had worked since 1980 and been a columnist since 2005, citing owner Jeff Bezos’s new directive for editorial content.

On Wednesday after the market closed, in what Trump dubbed “Liberation Day,” he announced a baseline tariff of 10% on 190 countries, and shared a chart showing an additional “reciprocal” tariff on 57 countries, claiming trade deficits were a “national emergency.”

Analysts noted the reciprocal tariff percentages seemed to have applied a formula of dividing a country’s trade surplus by its total export value, then multiplying the figure by 0.5, a simplistic methodology that did not differentiate allies from adversaries, and punished some poor nations.

Trump put the highest tariff rate of 50% on Lesotho, a tiny African kingdom with a gross domestic product of just over $2 billion, and a country that Trump said recently “nobody has ever heard of.” Economists said Trump’s tariff would destroy their economy.

Also included in those targeted by reciprocal tariffs were uninhabited islands, islands with tiny populations of fewer than 2,000, and islands populated by penguins and seals. Notably, Russia, North Korea, Belarus, Cuba, and Iran were not hit with any tariffs.

Trump’s 10% baseline tariff also hit ally Australia, which has no tariffs on incoming U.S. goods, and is a net importer. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the measure “totally unwarranted,” and “not the act of a friend.”

The tariffs were in addition to the already imposed 25% tariffs on U.S. allies Canada and Mexico, with exceptions for items in the 2018 agreement, and an additional 20% on China. They were also in addition to tariffs on auto imports that went into effect this week.

WAPO’s fact checker noted that Trump’s speech at the Rose Garden was full of lies and claims that have been previously debunked, including citing a tariff by Canada on dairy products that is gone, a false claim that Americans are poorer, and lies about the origin of income tax.

WSJ reported Trump’s aim was to bring an end to the decades-long era of globalization, saying his Liberation Day was about having goods bought by American consumers to be built in American factories.

The scope and size of the tariffs shocked global markets, with many saying the move was far worse than their worst case scenario. Analysts called the move “a disaster,” and “ridiculous,” and “It shows no comprehension as to what he is doing to other countries.”

Trade experts at the conservative CATO institute said in a note, “With today’s announcement, U.S. tariffs will approach levels not seen since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which incited a global trade war and deepened the Great Depression.”

Economists at ra agency Fitch said Trump’s tariff rates were the highest since 1910, and “This is a game changer, not only for the U.S. economy but for the global economy,” adding, “Many countries will likely end up in a recession.”

Late Wednesday, four Senate Republicans joined with Democrats, voting 51–48 on a measure to undo some of the tariffs on Canada, a symbolic vote opposing Trump, despite his targeting them on social media. The resolution cited a “made-up” fentanyl emergency.

Global markets plunged, with the U.S. taking the biggest hit. The small-cap Russell 2000 benchmark plummeted more than 5%, becoming the first U.S. stock measure to enter bear market territory (down 20%).

On Thursday morning, layoffs surged to 275,240 in March, the highest level since the start of the pandemic in 2020, due to Musk’s DOGE cuts of 216,215 federal workers, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

On Thursday morning, car maker Stellantis Chrysler announced it would idle two assembly plants in Canada and Mexico, and laid off 900 workers as it tried to navigate Trump’s 25% automotive tariffs that went info effect last week.

Land Rover and Audi temporarily stopped exporting cars to the U.S. NYTreported if other auto manufacturers follow, it could lead to higher car prices and widespread layoffs. Car companies have had to deal with the sudden tariffs, and uncertainty of what Trump will do next.

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers posted on X that he would have resigned in protest if “any administration of which I was a part had launched an economic policy so totally ungrounded in serious analysis or so dangerous and damaging.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters the tariffs were not negotiable. After the markets closed down by nearly 1,700 points, Trump told reporters on Air Force One he was negotiating with trade partners, saying, “Every country has called us.”

Trump claimed, “We put ourselves in the driver’s seat. If we would have asked these countries to do us a favor, they would have said no. Now they will do anything for us,” and adding, “The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.” It was unclear what he meant.

JPMorgan’s chief economist raised the odds of a U.S. recession from 40% to 60%, calling Trump’s tariffs the largest tax hike on U.S. households and businesses since 1968. Several other banks raised their odds for a recession.

Pro-Trump news networks Fox News and Newsmax removed their onscreen stock tickers. Fox News host Harris Faulkner likened Trump’s tariffs to a war, and said, “people in this country would support the war effort,” and “We gotta do 100 percent buy-in over this bumpy period.”

Overnight Thursday, China retaliated, imposing a 34% tariff on all imports from the U.S., matching the level of Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs on Chinese products, as well as several other measures against U.S. companies, and called out “unilateral bullying.”

U.S. equities tumbled Friday morning. Trump posted on Truth Social, “CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED — THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!”

Trump also shared a video on Truth Social before the market opened, suggesting chaos was part of his strategy, and he was “purposely CRASHING” the markets in part to force the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.

Trump also tried to cast blame on Powell after the Fed Chair’s speech, posting, “This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates. He is always “late,”” and adding, “CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!”

FT reported on the “speed and scale” of the American public souring on Trump’s economic agenda: just before his latest tariffs, 63% of Americans had a negative view of his economic policy, the highest figure since records began 50 years ago.

On Friday, the stock market plummeted for the second day, with the S&P 500 down 6%, down over 10% in two days, the biggest fall since the onset of the pandemic. The NASDAQ entered a bear market. Trump golfed at a Saudi-backed tournament at one of his clubs on Friday.

Trump was forced to give an additional 75 day reprieve to the TikTok ban, after being hours away from announcing a planned sale of its U.S. operations, and the Chinese government said it would not approve the deal without first discussing Trump’s tariffs and trade policy.

NBC News reported that retirees were “stunned” by the sudden market turmoil, and their shrinking 401(k)s. Some said they would pause big ticket purchases and put home renovations on hold, while others said their quality of life would be impacted.

Late Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social acknowledging the impact on Americans’ wallets, but added, “MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE,” and later wrote, “ONLY THE WEAK WILL FAIL.”

Trump missed a ceremony at Dover Air Force Base on Friday for the return of the remains of four U.S. soldiers who died during a training exercise in Lithuania, as he was in Florida golfing and then a holding a political fundraising dinner.

On Wednesday, WSJ reported that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is lobbying Trump and regime members to agree to a settlement before the company’s April 14 Federal Trade Commission trial. Some Trump aides say the lobbying has been too aggressive.

On Wednesday, Politico reported national security adviser Mike Waltz’s team regularly used Signal groups to share information on crises around the world, including Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa, and Europe. At least 20 groups were set up to communicate.

On Thursday, the Pentagon inspector general announced it had agreed to the request by top senators to launch an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sharing of military information on the Signal app. It was highly unusual for the IG to publicly announce a probe.

On Thursday, NYT reported that after a White House meeting Trump had with far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, where she laid out a list of people disloyal to Trump, he fired at least six members of his National Security Council overnight.

Waltz, who had tried to protect staffers, was brought into the meeting near the end, but no longer had strong standing with Trump to successfully defend them. Loomer is part of a group that has looked to disparage White House staffers they consider to be too hawkish.

Later Thursday, WAPO reported that Trump also fired two National Security Agency officials, Gen. Timothy Haugh, who also led the U.S. Cyber Command, and his civilian deputy, Wendy Noble.

Trump claimed Loomer was not involved in the firings; however on Friday morning, she posted on X that the two had been “disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired,” and thanked Trump for “firing these Biden holdovers.”

Reuters reported that the Trump regime fired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, who holds a senior position in NATO, as part of Trump’s continuing national security purge.

Chatfield joined a growing list of U.S. military leaders who are female and/or people of color and have been fired by the regime (all covered in The Weekly List). It was unclear whether Trump or Hegseth fired Chatfield.

WAPO reported on long lines at Social Security offices, after recipients mistakenly thought they needed to prove they are still alive, or their checks would stop. New rules that come after Musk’s claims of fraud require they come in person, not online, and phone lines are jammed.

WAPO also reported that Social Security’s website has crashed repeatedly in recent days, for periods of 20 minutes to almost a day, impacting retirees and disabled people. Many have also been unable to sign into their accounts, or if they do, find information is missing.

DOGE agents did not test new software they installed, resulting in crashes. DOGE and acting commissioner Leland Dudek are also pushingfor more layoffs in IT. Musk ally Scott Coulter, the newly named chief information officer, has demanded a 50% cut in staffing.

On Wednesday, the lawyer for Maryland man Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, expressed shock in a court filing over the Trump regime’s claim that it had little power to get him back, and urged the judge to intervene.

On Friday, Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the Trump regime had acted without “legal basis” when they arrested Abrego Garcia, and ordered that he be returned to the U.S. by the end of Monday.

On Saturday, Trump’s DOJ appealed the ruling, saying the judge did not have the authority to order the Trump regime to order the return of Abrego Garcia.

On Saturday, deputy AG Todd Blanche suspended Erez Reuveni, a senior DOJ immigration lawyer and respected 15-year veteran, for failing to follow orders on the case, after he conceded when asked by the judge that Abrego Garcia’s deportation should never have taken place.

NYT reported the thinned out DOJ staff are struggling to defend Trump’s policies in court. In the Jenner & Block case, DOJ lawyer Richard Lawson had a hard time defending why Andrew Weissmann, who left the firm four years ago, is a national security threat.

Some judges have expressed anger at the nonsensical answers and lies they are hearing, such as Judge Boasberg, Judge Edward Chen on the temporary protection of Venezuelans case, and Judge Amy Berman Jackson on the closing of the CFPB.

WAPO reported at least half of the front-line attorneys in the solicitor general’s office, an elite group within the DOJ who argue before the Supreme Court, have left or plan to leave, an usually high turnover. Many are uncomfortable with the directives from AG Pam Bondi.

On Sunday, Judge Xinis refused to pause her demand that Trump regime return Abrego Garcia by Monday night, saying the regime committed a “grievous error” that “shocks the conscience,” adding the regime had no legal authority to arrest, detain, and deport him.

On Monday, the appeals court unanimously rejected the DOJ’s request to pause Xinis’s order, saying it has “no legal authority to snatch” a person lawfully living in the U.S. and deport them without due process, and called the contention that the courts are powerless to intervene “unconscionable.”

Shortly after, Trump’s DOJ asked the Supreme Court to intervene, claiming Xinis had exceeded her authority by engaging in “district-court diplomacy,” saying it would require the regime to work with the government of El Salvador on the release.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay on the midnight deadline, to give the Supreme Court time to consider the case.

A judge in Boston held an ICE agent in contempt, after they detained Wilson Martell-Lebron, a suspect, last week as he was leaving court on an unrelated case, saying he had denied Martell-Lebron of his rights to due process and a fair trial by taking him into custody.

Reuters reported that more than 500 law professors and other legal groups submitted friends of the court briefs in support of Perkins Coie on Wednesday. One cited, “Today, Perkins Coie has fallen into the President’s disfavor. Tomorrow, it could be any one of us.”

Professors from several law schools also submitted briefs, saying Trump’s executive order against Perkins Coie is unconstitutional and threatens the integrity of the U.S. judicial system.

Scores of prominent former national security officials, of both Democratic and Republican administrations, filed a friend of the court brief, calling Trump’s executive order against Perkins Coie illegal.

On Wednesday, nearly 2,000 scientists, including elected members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, called on the Trump regime “to cease its wholesale assault on U.S. science,” adding, “we see real danger.”

On Wednesday, WAPO reported John Howard, the administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program, was among those fired in the Department of Health and Human Services’ mass firings last week. The firing could disrupt care for the more than 100,000 beneficiaries.

On Thursday, Judge James Boasberg said in a hearing that there was a “fair likelihood” that the Trump regime violated his order, after extensively questioning a DOJ lawyer about the timing of deporting the Venezuelans and not turning the plane around after being ordered to.

Boasberg asked who in the regime knew about his order and when. The DOJ attorney repeatedly said he did not know or was protected by attorney-client privilege. Boasberg said likely next week he would rule on whether the White House was in contempt for ignoring his order.

On Thursday, 19 attorneys general sued the Trump regime over his recent executive order on election administration, arguing that his order was unconstitutional.

On Thursday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the HHS from cutting $11 billion in Covid-19 related funds, after a lawsuit filed by 23 attorneys general who alleged it would upend programs including tracking infectious diseases, substance abuse services, and immunizations.

On Thursday, ABC News reported that as part of HHS cuts earlier in the week, the entire staff at the Centers for Disease Control studying outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis were fired.

NBC News reported that programs that help Americans stop smoking were also gutted by HHS. The Office on Smoking and Health at the CDC and the Center for Tobacco Products at the FDA both had mass layoffs, the impacts of which could be deadly.

On Thursday, WSJ reported that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would reinstate some programs and federal workers he had cut or fired days ago, including a CDC program that monitors blood lead levels for children and other programs.

Entire divisions and offices were haphazardly cut in the CDC, FDA, and National Institutes of Health, including groups focused on HIV prevention, violence prevention, injury prevention, and the Freedom of Information Act office.

On Friday, the Trump regime’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services dropped a Biden rule for Medicare to cover anti-obesity drugs. No reason was given.

On Friday, government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics sued the Trump regime for dismantling the CDC’s FOIA office, calling it “arbitrary and capricious” in a complaint.

On Friday, Bloomberg reported that U.S. measles cases rose 26% in the past week to reach 607 reported cases in 21 states, with 97% of the cases in people who were unvaccinated or unsure of their vaccination status.

NYT reported that a second child died of the measles in Texas on Thursday, the second confirmed measles death in the U.S. in a decade. The UMC Health System said the 8 year-old girl was unvaccinated and had no underlying health conditions.

Kennedy attended the funeral on Sunday, and made his first statement encouraging vaccinations, posting on X, “The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.” Of the 642 confirmed cases, 499 were in Texas.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy posted on X, “Everyone should be vaccinated! There is no treatment for measles.” Cassidy also called on Kennedy to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which he chairs. Kennedy declined.

On Thursday, Trump’s Department of Veterans Affairs ended a mortgage rescue program that had helped more than 40,000 military veterans keep their homes after they were late on payments.

On Thursday, Attorney General Bondi signed off on a decision to reinstate gun rights for Trump ally Mel Gibson and nine others. The Trump regime fired pardon attorney, Elizabeth Oyer, in Week 18 for refusing to reinstate Gibson’s gun rights.

On Monday, NYT reported the Trump’s DOJ claimed executive privilege in its attempt to stop Oyer from testifying before Congress about her termination, saying in a letter to her that internal conversations are covered.

The DOJ had sent armed law enforcement to Oyer’s home to deliver the its letter on Friday, a highly unusual step for an employee who has not engaged in any misconduct. Oyer said she “will not be deterred by the intimidation tactics.”

On Thursday, the right-wing Daily Caller reported the Trump regime was set to pause $510 million in federal contracts and grants for Brown University. Brown was one of a handful of colleges to agree to a board vote on divesting from Israel, although the vote was against it.

Brown’s president said the threats “raise new and previously unthinkable questions about the future of academic freedom and self-governance” and said the school “would be compelled to vigorously exercise our legal rights to defend these freedoms.”

On Friday, former president Barack Obama called on colleges to stand up to Trump and push back against actions that violate academic freedom, saying in a speech, if “you’re just being intimidated, well, you should be able to say, that’s why we got this big endowment.”

Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber wrote in an article that Trump’s attacks on Columbia are “the greatest threat to American universities since the Red Scare of the 1950s,” adding, “Every American should be concerned.”

On Tuesday, the Trump regime froze $1 billion in funding for Cornell University and $790 million for Northwestern University, pending a civil rights investigation into both schools.

NBC News reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked the visas of more than three dozen students and alumni of Californiauniversities in the past week. UMass Amherst also said that five of their international students had their visas revoked, with no known connection to campus activity.

WAPO reported Trump’s National Park Service has removed Harriet Tubman’s image from a webpage about The Underground Railroad, and rewrote the description by removing “the resistance to enslavement through escape and flight” and replaced it without mentioning slavery.

Days after the Post report, the National Park Service restored Harriet Tubman and other materials that were removed, saying in a statement that changes to the page had been made “without approval” from the agency’s leadership.

On Thursday, 130 employees of the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan foreign policy think tank in Washington that Trump wants to shutter, were placed on leave, as Musk’s DOGE agents quickly shut down most of the center starting on Monday. Just five employees remained.

The Center was created in 1968 as a working memorial to honor president Woodrow Wilson. The center was funded 30% by Congress, with the rest from private donations, and has been run by Republicans and Democrats. It was unclear what would happen to its materials.

On Friday, a coalition of federal employee unions sued the Trump regime over Trump’s executive order for agencies to terminate their collective bargaining agreements with federal employee unions.

On Friday, 21 attorneys general sued the Trump regime over its efforts to dismantle The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the federal agency that is charged with supporting the country’s libraries.

On Friday, a federal judge barred the Trump regime from limiting funds to the NIH which support research at universities and academic medical centers. The Trump regime asked for a verdict to move ahead with an appeal.

On Friday, the New York State Education Department, in response to the Trump regime’s threat to pull federal funding, said it will not comply with Trump’s DEI order, saying, “there are no federal or state laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”

State leaders in Minnesota and New York said they would not comply with the Department of Education’s demand to gather signatures from local schools certifying their compliance. California and Vermont said they did not need to respond. Chicago’s mayor said it would sue over any cuts.

On Friday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump regime to temporarily freeze $65 million in teacher-training grants that the regime claimed would promote DEI. The grants go toward placing teachers in poor and rural areas and recruiting a diverse workforce, reflecting the communities served.

On Friday, a federal judge warned the Trump regime to comply with an order calling for the unfreezing of funds for emergency preparedness through FEMA and other federal agencies, saying a manual review was being used by the regime to “covertly” withhold funds.

On Friday, Trump, Vance, and Musk stood up for far-right French leader Marine Le Pen after she was found guilty of embezzlement and barred from running in 2027. Trump called it a “witch hunt;” Vance accused European leaders of “trying to throw opposition leaders in jail;” Musk wrote “Free LePen!”

On Friday, the Trump regime awarded multi-billion space launch contracts to Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin. The SpaceX contract at $5.9 billion was the largest of three contracts awarded. Blue Origin received $2.4 billion.

On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service started a new round of firings, including the agency’s Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, which was expected to fire a quarter of its workforce.

On Saturday, WAPO reported federal immigration officials are asking the IRS to provide information on the locations of 7 million people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. Previously, DHS officials had sought information on 700,000 people with subject to removal orders.

On Monday, the Trump regime said in a court filing that the IRS and ICE had reached an agreement on information sharing, and claimed the IRS had not turned over any information yet. For weeks, top IRS officials have told the Trump regime that sharing data is illegal.

Under the terms of the deal, ICE can request information from the IRS about people who have been ordered to leave the U.S., or people they are investigating. An advocate for taxpayers’ rights called the move “unprecedented.”

On Tuesday, Melanie Krause, the acting head of the IRS, stepped down, over the Trump regime’s plan to share undocumented migrants’ personal information with ICE. The move by Krause, who took the leading role two months ago, took the agency by surprise.

On Wednesday, more senior officials at the IRS resigned. The moves come as the country is in the midst of tax season. Experts estimate that undocumented workers pay $66 billion in taxes a year, which will now be lost revenue.

WAPO reported that in the haste of Trump’s mass deportations, U.S. citizens are also being picked up by ICE agents. At least seven peoplehave been wrongfully detained and deported.

On Saturday, Secretary of State Rubio revoked visas of all South Sudan passport holders, citing the country’s transitional government had failed to accept citizens who the Trump regime was trying to deport in a “timely manner.”

Detroit Free Press reported that Amir Makled, a lawyer representing a University of Michigan pro-Palestinian protestor, was detained at Detroit Metro Airport by federal agents, questioned about his clients, and told to hand over his cellphone.

Makled said what ensued was a 90-minute back and forth, after he refused to hand over his phone. He said, “I’m an American citizen. I’m not worried about being deported.” Ultimately they released him without taking his phone, but looked at his contacts instead.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security revoked temporary legal status for roughly 985,000 migrants who entered the U.S. using the Biden-era CBP One app at the border in order to seek asylum and be given temporary work authorization.

Reuters reported that the Trump regime appointed a junior level officer hired in 2021 to lead the U.S. Foreign Service Department’s Global Talent Management bureau, a role typically held by veteran foreign service officers with decades of experience.

AP reported after mass layoffs, nearly half of the National Weather Service offices have 20% vacancy rates, as severe weather was set to cross the nation’s heartland. Meteorologists at the Louisville office were unable to survey tornado damage as they used to due to shortages.

WAPO reported the Trump regime has also cut a preparedness grant program, known as Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, which had awarded more than $5 billion since 2020, leaving states unprepared for future disasters.

On Saturday, huge crowds gathered to protest at more than 1,200 “Hands Off” rallies nationwide to protest Trump, Musk, the regime’s funding cuts, and policies. In some cities, the crowd sizes were over 100,000, despite rainy conditions.

On Saturday, Navarro downplayed the turmoil from the tariffs, saying on CNN, “The market will find a bottom. It will be soon,” adding, “The S&P 500 is going to have a very broad based recovery…and life is going to be beautiful here in America.”

On Saturday, Bloomberg reported Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was not included in the small group of Trump’s inner circle that made the decision on the tariff strategy, a rude awakening for Wall Street investors who viewed him as a grounded voice.

On Saturday, Trump continued his long weekend of golfing at a Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament at his resort in Florida. Every room at the 643-room Trump Doral, including the $13,000-a-night presidential suite, was sold out through the weekend, as were the restaurants.

As the protests were taking place and amid the tariff uncertainty, the White House posted on social media, “The President won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, FL, and advances to the Championship Round tomorrow.”

Trump also enriched himself by holding a fundraising event at his Trump International Golf Club on Friday, and posted on Truth Social, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE.”

Washington City Paper reported that Trump is planning a military parade for his 79th birthday on Saturday, June 14, which coincides with the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. The parade would stretch for nearly four miles from the Pentagon in Arlington to the White House.

On Sunday, Trump aides sought to defend his tariffs on weekend shows. Bessent said, “I see no reason that we have to price in a recession,” claiming 50 countries have called the regime to negotiate and other countries “have been bad actors for a long time.”

Bessent, a centi-millionaire, claimed without evidence that “Americans who put away for years in their savings accounts, I think they don’t look at the day-to-day fluctuations,” adding, “most Americans don’t have everything in the market,” and “People have a long-term view.”

On Sunday, one of the biggest bulls on Tesla, Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities, slashed his target on the stock by 43%, citing a brand crisis caused by Musk and Trump’s trade policies.

On Sunday, returning from his weekend of golfing, after U.S. futures closed down 4.1%, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine.” Previous posts on social media suggested he welcomed the market fall.

On Monday morning, after global markets plunged overnight and U.S. opened down again, Trump posted on Truth Social, “Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid!” adding, “Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!”

On Monday, CNBC reported 69% of CEOs expect a recession, with many worried there will be a boycott of American brands. One CEO said, “This is a Trump recession,” another called it “Disappointingly stupid and illogical.”

On Monday, Trump supporter billionaire Bill Ackman posted on X that Trump’s tariffs will cause irreparable damage to the U.S. economy, and the U.S. is “heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down.”

On Sunday, WSJ reported lawsuits are expected to be filed testing Trump’s authority to impose tariffs. No president has ever asserted such unilateral authority over trade flows. One small Florida company represented by a libertarian advocacy group has already filed a lawsuit.

On Monday, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a right-wing group backed by Leonard Leo and Charles Koch, sued Trump to stop the tariffs, saying Trump’s invoking of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify tariffs on nearly all countries is unlawful.

On Monday, seven Republican senators signed on to a bipartisan bill which would require Trump to notify Congress within 28 hours of new or increased tariffs, and provide an explanation of the rationale and the potential impact on U.S. businesses and consumers.

The White House said in a statement that if the bill passes, Trump would veto it, claiming the bill would “dangerously hamper the President’s authority and duty to determine our foreign policy and protect our national security.”

On Monday, the Dow Jones saw its biggest point swing from low to high in history, opening down as low as 1,703 and rallying as high as 892 after rumors that Trump would put implementation of tariffs on hold for 90 days, which the White House later said was “fake news.”

Trump’s economic team continued to contradict each other. In the morning, Navarro told the media there would be no negotiations. Later in the day, Bessent said he told foreign officials to “come to us with your offers…And at a point, President Trump will be ready to negotiate.”

On Monday, Trump canceled a scheduled press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room, and moved it to the Oval Office, which can fit far fewer members of the media, and those will be handpicked by the regime.

The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt granted a journalist from Musk’s social media platform X a seat in the press briefing room. Leavitt also directed the first question to the X representative.

On Monday, in a 7–4 vote, an appeals court blocked the Trump regime’s firings of two federal board leaders, Gwynne Wilcox of the National Labor Relations Board and Cathy Harris of the Merit Systems Protection Board, saying they must be reinstated.

Late Monday, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling, 5–4 saying for now the Trump regime could deport Venezuelan migrants using the Aliens Enemies Act. The narrow ruling found the migrants’ lawyers should have filed in Texas, where they were being held.

Immigration experts said the ruling would make it nearly impossible for migrants, many of whom do not speak English, to navigate the process. And for ones that do, their cases will be heard in some of the most conservative federal courts in the country.

The ruling was limited in scope, and did not address Trump’s invoking the Alien Enemies Act, or whether he followed several provisions in the act that were meant to limit how and when the law is used.

On Tuesday, the ACLU and Legal Aid Society brought another case on behalf of two Venezuelan migrants who were moved from Texas to a jail in New York in the past week. The case was brought in Manhattan to stop their removal by the Trump regime under the Alien Enemies Act.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court paused a ruling that required the regime to rehire 16,000 probationary workers, saying they had not suffered the kind of damages that would give them standing to sue. Another judge’s ruling requiring reinstatement remains in place.

WSJ reported that CEOs were breaking their silence, and publicly criticizing Trump and his trade wars. Many warned about the consequences to their business and of higher prices to consumers. CEOs have also pushed trade groups to speak out forcefully.

Bloomberg reported many of Trump’s biggest supporters in the business world are also criticizing his trade policy. Many were surprised he would upend the entire global economic order, or supported him for “selfish reasons” and now see their portfolio values plummeting.

At a Senate hearing, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, “Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong?” pushing back on claims the regime made on the benefits of Trump’s tariffs.

On Tuesday, the stock market closed down again, and bond yields started to rise as concerns about U.S. treasuries remaining the main destination for flight to quality investors. Trump further escalated, threatening to raise tariffs against China by another 50%.

NYT reported that Trump’s inner circle did not have a clear strategy for how the global trade disruption would play out. They had not gamed out beyond the stock market diving and other countries retaliating, and so were left flat-footed for managing the complexity of what came next.

Later Tuesday, Trump struck a defiant tone in a speech to House Republicans, claiming some countries would “do anything” to strike a deal with the U.S., and saying, “They’ve ripped us off left and right,” and claiming “money is pouring in at a level that we’ve never seen before.”

Later Tuesday, Trump increased tariffs on China to 104%. China responded Wednesday, raising tariffs on the U.S. to 84%. The European Union also approved its first set of retaliatory tariffs on Wednesday. Trump’s tariffs were the highest since 1909.

On Wednesday, the Delta Air Lines CEO said Trump tariffs are “the wrong approach,” citing a “reduction in broad consumer confidence and corporate confidence.” Walmart pulled its first quarter guidance citing Trump’s tariffs. JPMorgan’s CEO said a recession is “likely.”

On Wednesday, in a troubling sign, U.S. Treasury yields continued to spike, as global investors seemed to pull away from a view of the U.S. as a safe haven. A treasury auction on Tuesday got a tepid response.

On Wednesday, as the market opened, Trump posted on Truth Social to “BE COOL!,” claiming, “The USA will be bigger and better than ever before,” and “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that based on a review of U.S. legal records, about 90% of Venezuelans deported to El Salvador by the Trump regime had no U.S. criminal record.

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