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President Donald Trump personally selected the formula that the U.S. government will use to determine the percentage of reciprocal tariff to be implemented on a country, territory, or island, according to a Friday report. The Washington Post's Jeff Stein wrote that numerous aides at the National Economic Council, Council of Economic Advisers, Commerce Department, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative confirmed the president made the decision himself. "The now widely-mocked formula" was part of a weeks-long effort "crafting country-specific tariffs that took into account a broad range of tariff and non-tariff barriers," said Stein.ALSO READ: 'We’ve made a mistake': Trump’s trade war sends GOP into frenzyThe report cited several sources who said that there were "more sophisticated approaches" that Trump could have picked. "I can't confirm precisely who authored the one Trump picked, but it bears striking similarities to methods previously backed publicly by Peter Navarro, the ultra-trade hawk," Stein posted on X. Trump promised Americans that the trade percentages would be reciprocal, a White House fact sheet from February confirmed.“If they charge us, we charge them,’’ the president said in February while announcing a new wave of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. “If they’re at 25, we’re at 25. If they’re at 10, we’re at 10. And if they’re much higher than 25, that’s what we are too.’’On Thursday, Trump repeated that sentiment: "They charge us; we charge them. We charge them less. So, how can anyone be upset?"But his tariff formula relied on a simplistic approach of dividing the U.S. trade deficit with a country by its exports to the U.S., rather than calculating actual tariff rates. The resulting numbers rattled global markets, disrupted supply chains, and threatened to escalate trade wars with key U.S. allies and trading partners.Peter Draper, professor and executive director of the Institute for International Trade and international trade lecturer Vutha Hing, at the University of Adelaide, wrote for The Conversation that the Trump tariffs were not reciprocal as he indicated they would be.The "Trump administration hasn’t directly matched specific foreign tariffs. Instead, they’ve opted for a crude formula based on bilateral trade deficits between the U.S. and each specific country. Those aren’t the same things," they explained.The Dow Jones fell more than 1,000 points on Thursday and Friday, the Wall Street Journal confirmed. Still, the concerns are inconsequential to Trump, one staffer told the Post. “He’s at the peak of just not giving a f--- anymore,” the official who knew Trump’s thinking told the Post. “Bad news stories? Doesn’t give a f---. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. He’s going to do what he promised to do on the campaign trail.”Read the full report here.

CNN's Dana Bash was gobsmacked that President Donald Trump opted to play golf Friday while the U.S. economy was melting down due to the tariffs he imposed on dozens of countries earlier this week. On Friday, stocks continued their downward spiral, losing more than 3,000 points in two days. China announced it was retaliating with 34% tariffs on U.S. goods. And Fed chairman Jerome Powell said Trump's tariffs "raise risks of faster inflation and slower growth," according to The New York Times. Trump was already lambasted Thursday for deciding to attend a LIV Golf event at his Doral course in Miami instead of presiding over the dignified transfer of the four U.S. soldiers who died in Lithuania. "The president right now is playing golf," Bash began. "He went to Florida. he's going to go to a Saudi-backed golf tournament, but he's playing golf right now." ALSO READ: 'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffs She continued, "Now, presidents play golf. Almost every president plays golf. He really trashed Joe Biden for playing golf. No one's questioning the need for presidents to let loose a little bit...But, now? Given what's happening right now in the world, on world economies, for only one reason — that is because he wanted to launch this trade war." She added, "This is a very volatile time because of his policies!" Correspondent Phil Mattingly interjected, "The certainty of his economic team, particularly on the kind of data research side that — the people that have been telling you this can't work, the markets that are reacting — are wrong. 'They're wrong. We know they're wrong. We believe the first-term stuff worked, we just didn't go big enough.' I cannot stress to people enough how much that is internalized in the people that work for him." Bash agreed, saying, "It's definitely a very, very deeply held credo that this is all going to work out." Watch the clip below via CNN or click the link here.

Former GOP insider Steve Schmidt, who worked for prominent Republicans like former President George W. Bush and the late Sen. John McCain, has written a damning assessment of Donald Trump and the "shame" he has brought to America.In a new Substack article, Schmidt claimed that the "crisis" facing America is based completely on Trump's character and psychology, which precludes him from ever being told "no" or that he is "wrong." Schmidt claimed it's the same mentality that drew Trump to billionaire Elon Musk, because like recognizes like."They are predators, takers and extremists, who inflict misery based on whim because they feel entitled for no reason other than their disordered personalities and inability to feel emotion or empathy," Schmidt wrote of Trump and Musk. "Their mental illness is not only America’s burden. It is now a profound threat."ALSO READ: The new guy in charge of USAID doesn't believe in foreign aidSchmidt wrote that because Trump can never be wrong, "The American people will be told increasingly what is happening to their savings, security and pensions is someone’s fault — not Trump’s. Then they will be told it is their fault. It will never be Donald Trump’s fault. Ever."Schmidt posited that, "The great sickness in America is that there were enough people in American politics, business, tech and media" who bought in to Trump's version of reality and enabled him to get away with virtually anything he wanted.Schmidt warned that the trade war brought on by Trump's massive tariffs was inescapable because everything he does is "pushed as winning" and funneled from his press secretary to Rupert Murdoch's Fox News."Donald Trump promised prosperity. He will deliver penury," Schmidt wrote. "Donald Trump promised peace. He will bring war. Donald Trump said that he would make America great again. He has brought shame to America. He is everything I have ever said that he was. Things will get bad, and then they will get worse."Read the Substack article here.

President Donald Trump left Washington on Thursday to fly back to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend. By Friday morning, the stock market was in freefall for a second day in a row. From his Truth Social page, Trump posted a video from a person going by the handle @AmericanPapaBear, claiming Trump is purposely tanking the stock market so he can get the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. MAGA followers were quick to call the strategy "genius" and compare it to playing chess while others are playing checkers. Another even claimed Trump was playing 3D chess. BBC News economics reporter Faisal Islam wrote on X, "President just shared a video on Truth Social saying 'Trump Is purposely CRASHING the market' in order to lower US Treasury yields and the dollar. The Mar A Lago theory I wrote about two months ago, written by his chief adviser that said tariff chaos would lead to $ deal."ALSO READ: Crashing the economy: Inside Trump's blueprint for more griftingAfter sharing the video he noted, The "Dow down another 1000 points… Obviously, RT are not endorsements but why is the President choosing to share this stuff? And if you are another country seeing this, how do you negotiate with this?"Trinh Nguyen, an expert economist in emerging markets in Asia, posted on X that if true, Trump's actions would be akin to "Burning the house to cook steak.""The amazing thing is that he thinks it is a win & so is his base," she continued. "Golfing now to enjoy his win of crashing equities to boost bonds or to lower bond yields. Of course, they buy this narrative. They don’t own anything. So you can’t lose if you don’t own anything or have anything of meaning to protect. Better to burn it all down so everyone is equally disillusioned. Wait a minute. Stalin did it. Make Russia Great Again.""A LOT OF REACHING HERE" said software developer Mayowa A. Balogun, a self-described economics enthusiast.Attorney Jeremy I. Senderowicz, who focuses on financial services, remarked, "Darkly amused by the emerging rationalization among some on this app that the tariffs are a move designed to push interest rates lower to aid the refinancing of our debt this year. That’s an argument that Trump is deliberately crashing the economy to lower interest rates.""It reminds me of Alan Greenspan in the late 90s responding to Qs why he didn’t raise rates to choke off the stock market “bubble.” Paraphrasing his response: “if you’re asking if we can accomplish that, we most certainly can - but you really wouldn’t like the other effects.”A commodities trader who didn't identify himself specifically posted on X, "Forcing farmers to sell here....! Those 70% of farmers who voted for him must be realllllly loving Trumps genius ideas!"Another self-described, avid investor and analyst and Ph.D. historian quipped: "Well it’s confirmed… he’s purposefully liberating you from your 401(k) your IRA and soon your job."

Fears of surge in malnutrition, measles, malaria and polio as 206 World Health Organization facilities forced to close ‘I begged them, my daughter was dying’: how Taliban male escort rules are killing mothers and babiesMore than 200 health facilities run by the World Health Organization in Afghanistan, providing medical care for 1.84 million people, have closed or ceased operating after the US aid cuts announced by the Trump administration shut off life-saving medical care, including vaccinations, maternal and child health services.On his first day in office in January, President Donald Trump announced an immediate freeze on all US foreign assistance, including more than $40bn (£32bn) for international projects coming from USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. It was later confirmed that more than 80% of USAID programmes had been cancelled. Continue reading...

Brother of Jagtar Singh Johal claims he is being ‘mentally tortured’ through unwarranted detentionThe British Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal, detained for seven years in an Indian jail, has been placed into solitary confinement and under 24-hour surveillance despite being acquitted of all terrorism charges against him by a Punjab court on 4 March, his family have claimed. Johal is still facing the exact same charges in a parallel case in a clear example of double jeopardy, his brother Gurpreet said when giving testimony at Westminster to an all party committee on arbitrary detention. He said the Indian courts have not granted his brother bail, despite the prosecutor’s failure to produce any credible evidence or witnesses in the Punjab court.Gurpreet said UK consular staff met his brother in jail on Tuesday and were told he had been put into solitary confinement with a 24-hour guard, adding no explanation had been given. Continue reading...

Twenty-six-year-old rescued from hotel in Naypyidaw as agencies call for increased aid before monsoonA man has been pulled alive from the rubble of a hotel in Myanmar, five days after the country’s worst earthquake in a century flattened entire neighbourhoods and tore through temples, bridges and highways.A joint team of rescuers from Myanmar and Turkey found the 26-year-old in the ruins of the building in the capital, Naypyidaw, after midnight, the fire service and the country’s ruling junta said. Continue reading...

The Brazilian “King of Football” had been treated for colon cancer since 2021.View Entire Post ›