Trump signs sweeping reciprocal tariff
plan, says more coming
Posted By: Dreadnought, 2/13/2025 3:03:29 PM
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a presidential memorandum laying out his plan to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on foreign nations. "They charge us a tax or tariff and we charge them," Trump said during a press event in Oval Office. The president said that under the plan, the U.S. will treat other countries' non-tariff policies as unfair trade practices that warrant tariffs in response. Those include value-added taxes, or VATs, and other practices that the office of the U.S. trade representative deems to be unfair trade limitations. He also suggested that additional tariffs, including on auto imports,
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Dreadnought"
JD Vance: Everything We Do Should be to
Defend Democracy, But Europe is Abandoning
Shared Values 1 reply
Defend Democracy, But Europe is Abandoning
Shared Values 1 reply
America finds Europe’s retreat from shared values as the continent turns away from democracy and towards censorship “shocking”, Vice President JD Vance told leaders in Germany in a hard-hitting speech. Europe is increasingly acting like the ‘bad guys’ in the Cold War as it turns towards censorship and fails to uphold democracy, U.S. Vice President JD Vance told a stunned hall at Germany’s major annual Munich that despite obsession among the European elite about subversion by Russia and China, actually the greatest threat to the continent is “the threat from within”. In a withering check-list of failures
Elon Musk's group at DOGE is moving to scrutinize the agency responsible for the most federal spending at the direction of President Donald Trump.
DOGE agents arrived at the Pentagon on Friday, a source confirmed to DailyMail.com, and are conducting meetings.
The Wall Street Journal published an image of an unofficial sign featuring the faces of 15 known DOGE agents posted in the bathroom in the Pentagon.
'Meet the DOGE Team,' the sign read.
Trump's Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has stated that he welcomes additional scrutiny to the department and its spending.
'We welcome DOGE to the Pentagon, and I hope to welcome Elon to the Pentagon very soon,' Hegseth said
Vice President JD Vance confronted European leaders at the Munich Security Conference on Friday over their support for authoritarian restrictions on speech, putting the assembled dignitaries on notice that the Trump administration expects the continent to revive its commitment to Western values.
“The threat that I worry most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values,” Vance said. “When I look at Europe today, it’s not clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners.”
MUNICH - U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Washington would be able to wield economic and military leverage in talks with Russia to ensure a good peace deal over Ukraine, but his spokesman later denied he was making any threats against Moscow.
Vance also urged Europe to spend more on defence in remarks before arriving for the Munich Security Conference, a major annual gathering of political leaders, military officers and diplomats. In his keynote address to the conference, Vance lambasted the European Union for its regulation of hate speech and misinformation, which he said amounted to censorship.
He only briefly referred to Ukraine, saying he hoped a "reasonable settlement"
I Was Wrong About Trump
20 replies
No, I am not in love with Trump. He still makes me cringe sometimes, and I still don't understand the Canada/51st state thing at all, and want nothing to do with Gaza if he is serious about that.
But there are two vital things about him which I got completely, totally, and without question wrong.
Walter Kirn slapped me in the face (not literally) with a single tweet. Boom. At least it was a "boom" for me, because I was one of those people who was absolutely certain that Trump was too immature, too narcissistic, and too lacking in self-awareness to put his ego in check and hire
A group of 14 states have sued DOGE and Elon Musk claiming that Musk is a "designated agent of chaos" given unlimited power to make them sad. Okay, that last part is made up but the rest is real. They are demanding that Musk be confirmed by the Senate.
"Musk's seemingly limitless and unchecked power to strip the government of its workforce and eliminate entire departments with the stroke of a pen, or a click of a mouse, would have been shocking to those who won this country's independence," reads the complaint, which was filed Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Led by the state of New Mexico,
Among Democrats, those are fighting words. Among Republicans, it would be a compliment. In the real world, the call for La Résistance 2.0 is as tone-deaf as Florence Foster Jenkins singing a Mozart aria -- the real problem Democrats refuse to acknowledge.
That's not the only problem facing Hakeem Jeffries either.
The Washington Examiner and Newsmax both report that Democrats have grown restive under Jeffries and the long string of losses under his leadership. They want a full-on return to Nancy Pelosi-style tactics, and that's awkward while Pelosi remains in the caucus, to be sure:
In the days since Trump won a second term, everything has changed
Democratic senator: ‘DOGE is now at
the IRS’ 21 replies
the IRS’ 21 replies
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Thursday that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers are now examining the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), warning against access to U.S. taxpayer data.
Democrats have sounded the alarm over DOGE and its leader, Elon Musk, attempting to overhaul the U.S. Agency for International Development and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and to gain access into the Treasury Department’s payment systems.
“My office is hearing that DOGE is now at the IRS. That means Musk’s henchmen are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America,” Wyden wrote in a Thursday post on the social platform X, which Musk owns.
JD Vance’s Strong Debut in Paris
4 replies
'Artificial intelligence is, we believe, going to make us more productive, more prosperous, and more free.” So proclaimed Vice President JD Vance at his first foreign speech, given to an AI forum conducted jointly by the French and Indian governments.
He outlined the reality that America is the current leader in AI and intends to remain so. He said the Trump administration’s view is that AI is good for economic growth, for worker productivity, and for discovering breakthrough tech, in not only the world of “bits” but the physical world as well, in medicine and manufacturing. He outlined broad principles that would guide America’s approach to AI tech. We will invest
Newly Appointed Detroit Archbishop Suggested
‘Canonical Penalties’ for Trump Immigration Officials 27 replies
‘Canonical Penalties’ for Trump Immigration Officials 27 replies
In his first week since being nominated Archbishop of Detroit, Edward Weisenburger denounced Donald Trump’s immigration policies, and criticized the president’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Pope Francis nominated Arizona Bishop Weisenburger for the position on February 11; he is slated to replace outgoing Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron, who resigned from the post in 2023 after serving the diocese since 2009. An Illinois native, Weisenburger comes to Detroit from the city of Tucson, Arizona, where he has been since 2017.
Weisenburger wasted no time after being appointed to attack the Trump administration, taking issue with efforts to eliminate USAID spending.
The Department of Health and Human Services spent $22.6 billion on assistance to illegal immigrants from 2020 to 2024 as border crossings hit all-time highs, a new watchdog report shows.
The HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, a unit that lost track of 32,000 migrant children, distributed the bulk of the funds to nonprofit organizations during President Joe Biden’s term, according to a report from government spending watchdog Open the Books, first reported by the New York Post.
In fiscal year 2023 alone, the ORR doled out $10 billion worth of grants as the Biden administration expanded the number of illegal aliens eligible for assistance. HHS distributed obligated funds of
Project Veritas dropped a shocker of a video back in December, in which an EPA manager was bragging that the Biden administration was metaphorically 'dropping gold bars off the Titanic.' They were shoving every dime they could out to their NGO buddies so they could harass the Trump administration and continue to suck off the taxpayers' teat for years to come.
We all know such things happen, but to have it so vividly described was revealing. Well, Lee Zeldin is retrieving those gold bars, and it turns out to be a lot of them. $20 billion, all sitting in the equivalent of a bank vault.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) pushed a bizarre explanation for why women might not pursue jobs in manufacturing.
Schakowsky made her remarks on Wednesday during a Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade subcommittee hearing entitled “AI in Manufacturing: Securing American Leadership in Manufacturing and the Next Generation of Technologies.”
Schakowsky suggested that perhaps the reason fewer women choose a career in manufacturing is that the term has the word “man” in it.
Schakowsky stated, “Yesterday, I met with a manufacturing company, but they also are engaged in getting young people more engaged in manufacturing. I asked them, ‘How many of those students that are signing up and want to do this, how many are women?'”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris would be the Democratic front-runner for governor of California if she jumped into the Golden State’s 2026 race to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), polling shows.
Harris snagged support for a hypothetical gubernatorial bid from nearly 6 in 10 Democratic primary voters in California, 57 percent, according to a survey from Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill.
Former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who left the House to mount an unsuccessful Senate bid last year, followed at 9 percent support.
Ex-Speaker of the California State Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa (D) and sitting Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalaki (D) brought in 4 percent each, and another 17
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said during an interview that Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) final vote against Tulsi Gabbard, the newly sworn-in director of national intelligence, indicates that President Trump’s “cult” can be “broken.”
“Mitch McConnell breaking yesterday with his Republican colleagues telling the truth to power, indicates that maybe the Trump cult, the intimidation and threats can be broken,” Blumenthal said during his Thursday morning appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“Our tools are limited. We’re in the minority. They control obviously both houses of Congress and the White House and indirectly the United States Supreme Court,” he added.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth began a tour of Europe Tuesday, starting at the headquarters of US European Command at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany. The newly minted SecDef has a heavy schedule in front of him, inspecting US forces in Europe and dealing with his first meeting with NATO. He is obviously trying to move beyond the controversies associated with his confirmation. He is also trying to lead by example and reverse the cultural rot in the US military by force of will.
Denver Public Schools has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over a policy allowing ICE immigration agents to enter schools.
The federal lawsuit claims that the policy has caused attendance to plummet due to the amount of illegal aliens in the district.
“DPS is hindered in fulfilling its mission of providing education and life services to the students who are refraining from attending DPS schools for fear of immigration enforcement actions occurring on DPS school grounds,” the lawsuit states, according to a report from ABC News.
Newly Appointed Detroit Archbishop Suggested
‘Canonical Penalties’ for Trump Immigration Officials 27 replies
‘Canonical Penalties’ for Trump Immigration Officials 27 replies
In his first week since being nominated Archbishop of Detroit, Edward Weisenburger denounced Donald Trump’s immigration policies, and criticized the president’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Pope Francis nominated Arizona Bishop Weisenburger for the position on February 11; he is slated to replace outgoing Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron, who resigned from the post in 2023 after serving the diocese since 2009. An Illinois native, Weisenburger comes to Detroit from the city of Tucson, Arizona, where he has been since 2017.
Weisenburger wasted no time after being appointed to attack the Trump administration, taking issue with efforts to eliminate USAID spending.
New York City Cries 'Highway Robbery'
After Secretary Noem's Clawback Leaves
Them Holding the Bag 25 replies
After Secretary Noem's Clawback Leaves
Them Holding the Bag 25 replies
New York City officials are accusing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of "highway robbery" after she ordered an illegal payment of $59 million targeted for illegal immigrant housing in posh hotels clawed back. [Disclaimer: this article is from Politico, so it is quite possibly funded by funds from some government; see Let's Untangle the Inappropriate Financial Deals Between the Federal Gov't., Politico, and Other Outlets – RedState.]
Top New York City officials are hitting back against the seizure of $80 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander blasting the revocation as “illegal.”
Longtime vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy is now the nation’s top health official, after the Senate Thursday voted almost entirely on party lines to confirm him atop a department of nearly 100,000 employees that run 13 agencies.
The 52-48 confirmation vote brings to a close a contentious three-month confirmation fight that served as a significant test of the Republican Party’s loyalty to President Trump.
Only Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) cast a GOP vote against Kennedy’s confirmation, after previously bucking his party on Trump’s defense secretary and national intelligence director.
Former President Barack Obama kicked off Valentine’s Day with a flirty message to his wife Michelle affirming she’s still the one after more than three decades together.
“Thirty-two years together and you still take my breath away,” the former president wrote in a post on X Friday.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, @MichelleObama,” Obama, 63, added, along with a selfie of the two beaming together. (Photo) Michelle Obama responded to her hubby with a sweet post of her own.
What the hell is this? I get why Ohio Democrats are doing this, trying to be cute with the whole ‘regulate our bodies’ narrative that no one cared about in 2024. Abortion and female voters did not save Democrats, who obsess over the weirdest issues that will keep this party in the political wilderness.
(Snip) A bill proposed to the Ohio statehouse will make male ejaculation without intent to have a baby, a fineable offense of up to $10,000.
The bill has been proposed by State Representatives Anita Somani and Tristan Rader, who wrote it to point out what they see as the absurdity of rules that control women's bodies
Current and former employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sued Elon Musk and his cost-cutting operation, levying the novel argument that the world’s richest man should have been confirmed by the Senate before wielding such enormous power.
The Trump administration, Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have moved in recent weeks to stanch the flow of foreign aid, dismantle the agency responsible for administering it and dismiss thousands of people working for the agency at home and abroad.
TIME TO NAME NAMES: Trump to Reveal the
Biggest Fraudsters and Beneficiaries of
Gov't Waste 22 replies
Biggest Fraudsters and Beneficiaries of
Gov't Waste 22 replies
We’ve been reading so much about all the rampant waste in the federal government, from USAID to the Education Department to FEMA, that Elon Musk and DOGE continue to uncover at a staggering pace.
But sometimes you wonder, who are the beneficiaries of all this fraud and waste—where’s the money going? I mean, besides to terrorists, social justice warriors and the like.
Your questions may soon be answered. Grab the popcorn and fluff the couch pillows because Donald Trump told reporters at a briefing in the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon that he plans to name names at a press conference scheduled for Thursday. Responding to a reporter's question, he charged: