THIS STUFF ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
TRUMP IS MAD AT THE BOND MARKET AND HE’S NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE !!!!! If the Federal Reserve doesn’t cut interest rates this fall, President Trump has an ingenious plan. The business genius who styles himself the “king of debt” says he will put a halt to US trade with every country that has a trade surplus with the United States.
This is possibly the dumbest thing any US president has ever said. But we have to give Trump some breathing room because, who knows, maybe he’ll say something even dumber tomorrow.
There are 97 countries that have a trade surplus with the United States, including China, Mexico, Taiwan and Germany. If Trump blocked trade with even some of them, it would be an economic disaster. Prices would soar way beyond the inflation of the Joe Biden era. Stocks would crash. There would be widespread shortages and almost certainly a recession.
Trump is angry that interest rates are going up. He wants them to go down. He thinks the Fed can solve the problem, but it probably can’t. The Fed controls short-term rates that mostly affect banks. It doesn’t set long-term rates such as those on mortgages and car loans. If the Fed did cut short-term rates, it could actually send long-term rates even higher. That’s because looser monetary policy can make inflation worse, and bond investors would demand higher interest rates to protect against the eroding value of money.
At least one person in the Trump administration, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, knows how interest rates work. Markets must think he’ll talk Trump off the ledge, because stock movements were pretty normal after Trump’s unhinged post. The market doesn’t take it seriously. Let’s hope that instinct is correct.
Illegal Trump coin sells out. The US Mint now sells a $1 coin with Trump’s face on it for a minimum of $1.55 apiece. Trumpflation has even hit coins.
The coin is probably illegal, because US law says there can be no currency featuring the likeness of a living person. The Mint says the coin is not “in circulation,” so it doesn’t count as currency. Yet you can still buy stuff with it. Typical Trump duplicity.
Here, you have everything that’s wrong with America today in one tidy package: A narcissistic leader breaks the law to flatter himself and gullible fools lap it up. Eww.
ICE Melt. Trump’s immigration gestapo, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, threw quality and procedural standards out the window as it rapidly staffed up last year to send swarms of agents out hunting for migrants, according to at least one agency whistleblower. A 17-year veteran of ICE told the New York Times that ICE gave unqualified applicants badges and weapons, sometimes without proper training or background checks to assure they weren’t putting psychopaths on the job.
It shows. Trump’s immigration goons have killed at least six people during his second term, and fired at many more. Many of the targets were in cars, threatening nobody. Everybody saw the unjustified and cowardly killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January. The ICE agent who killed a Colombian national in Maine in July had a history of mental health problems and violent behavior toward women when ICE hired him. A local police department wouldn’t hire him because of “too many red flags.” The word must be out: If you’re angry and you want to shoot people, get a job with ICE.
Graftville, USA. The portion of Americans who think the federal government is corrupt jumped from 73% in 2024 to 79% in 2025 to a record-high 89% this year, according to Gallup. Can anybody think of a reason why that might have happened?
House sneakers. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic minority leader in the House of Representatives, says he may allow members to wear sneakers in official chambers if his party takes control of the House and he becomes Speaker next year. Hey, why not? The business attire members of Congress wear is kind of a sham, anyway, falsely signaling that these are serious people doing serious work. In reality, Congress has let a gargantuan national debt fester, passed tax cuts for the wealthy that the wealthy don’t need, cut benefits for poorer Americans, and allowed the government to shut down repeatedly. They may as well dress the part.
Jeffries typically sports dark-colored dress sneakers, and he triggered some huffing back in 2023 when he wore a pair—along with striped socks—to an Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden. Pearl-clutchers trembled at the breach of decorum. Trump, by contrast, is a Florsheim man, occasionally gifting a pair of the starchy oxfords to associates. Honestly, if these people could just do their jobs competently, it wouldn’t matter if they wore Birkenstocks or combat boots.
Bartirometer? Trump mouthpiece Maria Bartiromo, who spent 12 years playing an anchor on the fictional news network Fox, has left her job, according to the network. Real journalists report that she got caught passing Fox News’s coverage plans to Trump. Why would that be a surprise? She’s a quack who’s been a Trump cultist for years. Bartiromo was one of the leading Fox spokesmodels parroting Trump’s claims of fraud after the 2020 election, which got Fox sued by two companies that manufacture voting machines. Fox settled one of those lawsuits for $787 million. The other is ongoing. At any real news organization, you’d get fired immediately for bringing such ignominy upon the institution.
Fox’s parting with Bartiromo may contain an interesting tell, however. CNN reports that Fox has decided not to repeat any Trump claims of election fraud following this year’s midterm elections. That’s the info Bartiromo passed to Trump. If so, that’s a sharp reversal of Fox’s usual stance, which is basically to repeat and amplify any outrageous Trump claim.
Maybe Fox is sick of getting sued and coughing up money. But it might also feel Trump is in permanent decline and not worth backing any more. Bartiromo might be so beholden to her master that she can’t get with the program and sign on with the next Republican charlatan lucky enough to receive the Fox blessing. Don’t worry, she’ll land on her feet as a celebrity endorser of Trump merch or some other MAGA functionary.
Enjoy a real cartoon.
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If tRump isn't the stupidest person on the planet he must come awfully close. The breadth of what he doesn't know or understand seems to be gargantuan.
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FYI according to NOTUS, House members are already allowed to wear sneakers and the rule change would be for people in the Speaker's Lobby (staff and media):
"Hakeem Jeffries says he’s leaning toward changing the strict footwear rules for the Speaker’s Lobby should he lead the chamber next year.
"Congressional Sneaker Caucus Chair Jared Moskowitz told Final NOTUS that while members are allowed to wear sneakers, that standard doesn’t apply to staff or media. 'That adversely affects the female staffers and reporters who stand there all day in heels,' the Florida Democrat said in a statement. 'One could argue I could dramatically benefit from a three-inch heel, but let’s move the rules into the future.' "
Today I felt compelled to hit the heart emoji less than halfway thru the first paragraph. Quite a doozy there, Rick!
I turned my eyes away for something after opening the newsletter and when I looked back, the snark juice was flowing off my desk and chewing up the carpet (rest assured my small-claims lawsuit will be filed just as soon as Trump recants all his election lies).
I'm sure you had to leave a bunch of deserving candidates off this week's WTF list -- so much raw material, so little space.
Kudos, well done!