The Donald Trump Score Card

Trump has also chickened-out on tariffs against Canada.

Canada is aiming to buy more of its products from domestic sources and looking to other countries that are more reliable trading partners than the U.S.

 

Trump orders creation of sovereign wealth fund.


Trump Orders First U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund, Suggests TikTok Might Be Put In Fund

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"Trump’s order charges the Treasury and Commerce departments to begin the process of creating a sovereign wealth fund—which is a state-owned fund that can invest in stocks, real estate, bonds, hedge funds and more to build a pool of money that can be used to insulate the government from economic stressors."

 

Tariff threats take aim at fentanyl trafficking. Here’s how the drug reaches the US

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"To pause the tit-for-tat tariffs, Mexico agreed to immediately deploy 10,000 National Guard troops to the border to battle drug-trafficking, while the U.S. committed to do more to stop the trafficking of guns into Mexico, said Trump and Sheinbaum on social media."

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/20/business/elon-musk-wealth-government-help/index.html

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"But in other ways, virtually all of his net worth can be pinned to government help. Tesla and SpaceX got started – and survived their early days – with assistance from state and federal policies, government contracts and loans.

“The foundation for Musk’s financial success has been the US government,” said Daniel Ives, tech analyst for Wedbush Securities.

And the value of Tesla and SpaceX doesn’t come from their profits so far.

Instead, their value comes from investments in their future worth, such as Tesla’s publicly traded stock and private funding rounds for SpaceX."

 

Elon Musk is speaking out against government subsidies. Here's a list of the billions of dollars his businesses have received.

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"However, over the years, Musk's companies — Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and SolarCity — have received billions of dollars from government loans, contracts, tax credits, and subsidies. According to a Los Angeles Times investigation, Musk's companies had received an estimated $4.9 billion in government support by 2015, and they've gotten more since."

 

Trump is building a sovereign wealth fund to insulate the government from economic stressors like Trump.

 

Treasury Dept. gives Elon Musk's team access to federal payment system: Sources

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In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said that any "politically-motivated meddling" in the payment systems "risks severe damage to our country and the economy."

"To put it bluntly, these payment systems simply cannot fail, and any politically-motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy. I am deeply concerned that following the federal grant and loan freeze earlier this week, these officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs," Wyden wrote in a Friday evening letter.

"I can think of no good reason why political operators who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law would need access to these sensitive, missioncritical systems," Wyden wrote.

 

Treasury Dept. gives Elon Musk's team access to federal payment system: Sources

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The payment system -- which is essentially a checkbook for the entire federal government -- is a closely held operation run by career officials, with a limited number of people authorized to access the information given it contains sensitive information about hundreds of millions of Americans.

The demand for access to the payment system reportedly caused such a rift inside the Treasury Department that the career official who previously oversaw it, David Lebryk, was placed on administrative leave last week after he resisted granting Musk and his government efficiency team access to the database.

 

Trump's mindset of zero-sum mercantilism of the 16th century.


What Is Mercantilism?

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"Mercantilism was an economic system of trade that spanned the 16th century to the 18th century. Mercantilism was based on the principle that the world's wealth was static, and consequently, governments had to regulate trade to build their wealth and national power. Many European nations attempted to accumulate the largest possible share of that wealth by maximizing their exports and limiting their imports via tariffs."

 

President Musk appears to be dismantling the free IRS Direct File program.

The service may still be available to the public for the upcoming tax season but it's fate afterwards is unclear.


Elon Musk creates confusion about IRS' Direct File — but the free tax program is still available

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"While Musk’s tweet may have intimated that the group of workers had been eliminated, an individual with knowledge of the IRS workforce said the Direct File program was still accepting tax returns. The individual spoke anonymously with The Associated Press because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

As of Monday evening, 18F’s website was still operational, as was the Direct File website. But the digital services agency’s X account was deleted.

The IRS announced last year that it will make the free electronic tax return filing system permanent and asked all 50 states and the District of Columbia to help taxpayers file their returns through the program in 2025.

The Direct File trial began in March 2024. But the IRS has face intense blowback to Direct File from private tax preparation companies that have made billions from charging people to use their software and have spent millions lobbying Congress. The average American typically spends about $140 preparing their returns each year."

 

Air traffic controllers were initially offered buyouts and told to consider leaving government

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“The fact that there’s so much uncertainty in such a short time period and the fact that the president personally seems to have blamed them,” Kettl said, “is bound to make it more difficult to hire more controllers.”

Kettl warned that there are many critical, demanding and high-skilled government jobs that are already tough to fill — from food safety inspectors to surgeons at Veterans Administration hospitals — and that may get even tougher now.

 

Air traffic controllers were initially offered buyouts and told to consider leaving government

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"Just a day before a deadly midair collision at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., employees at the Federal Aviation Administration were sent an offer to resign with eight months’ pay.

The union for air traffic controllers recommended to its members that they not accept Tuesday’s offer, because the FAA had not decided which positions would be included in the resignation plan. An official for the Office for Personnel Management, the U.S. government’s human resources arm, said Friday that controllers weren’t eligible for the resignation plan or subject to the hiring freeze across much of the rest of federal government."

 

The White House now says that Musk is working as a special government employee.


Elon Musk tightens grip on federal government as Democrats raise alarms

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"WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk is working for President Donald Trump as a “special government employee,” according to a White House official, solidifying his controversial role in the administration but sidestepping some disclosure rules that are typical of federal workers.

The official, speaking Monday on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said that Musk has a government email address and office space in the White House complex.

Musk, the world’s richest man, has been granted broad latitude by Trump to reduce the size of the federal government. On Monday morning, the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development was abruptly shut down. Musk’s team, known as the Department of Government Efficiency, also has received access to sensitive payment systems at the U.S. Treasury Department.

Democrats fear that Musk is consolidating power within the federal government, acting without accountability and potentially against the law."

 

US hospitals suspend healthcare for transgender youth after Trump order

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The Denver hospital said it was “deeply concerned for the health and safety of our gender diverse patients under the age of 19”.

“We recognize this order will impact gender-diverse youth, including increased risk of depression, anxiety and suicidality,” the hospital stated.

The executive order, the hospital said, “includes criminal and financial consequences for those who do not comply, including placing participation in federal programs including Medicare, Medicaid and other programs administered by [the US Department of Health and Human Services] at risk.”

 

As Trump Attacks Diversity, a Racist Undercurrent Surfaces

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“His attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion aren’t about a particular program or some acronym — they’re just a sanitized substitute for the racist comments that can no longer be spoken openly,” Margaret Huang, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s president and chief executive, said during a call with civil rights leaders after Mr. Trump’s remarks. “But the message is the same, that women, Black and brown communities are inherently less capable, and if they hold positions of power or authority in government or business, it must be because the standards were lowered.”

 

Trump's cat-mouse tariff game can be expected to continue for the next four years.

Trump will keep doing it for his long list of grievances one after another.

Regarding Mexico, Trump can claim later that the 10,000 troops aren't being used properly or demand that 20,000 should be used and issue more tariff threats.

 

The Tasks of an Anti-Trump Coalition

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"Since then, new platforms have risen to dominance, especially among younger Americans and those less connected to politics. These new platforms are far more effective at detecting and manipulating user bias, fear, and anger. They are personality-powered, offering affirmation and bonding as their proofs of truth.

For pro-Trump Republicans, this new information space is marvelously congenial. They love and hate based on personal recommendations, and will flit from issue to issue as their preferred “influencers” command. Such a movement centered on celebrity and charismatic leadership has no problem with the fact that its favorite media spread disinformation and distrust. In fact, it’s useful. Trump has in effect adapted a slogan from Mussolini: “Trump is always right.” Its corollary is: “Only Trump is right.” Nothing important is lost from a Trump point of view if right-wing media encourage their users to despise science, law, and other forms of expertise."

 

The Tasks of an Anti-Trump Coalition

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"Trump’s opponents seem dazed, disoriented, and defeated. Despite the GOP’s slender majorities in both chambers of Congress, and despite Trump’s own low approval rating, the new White House for the moment carries all before it. There have been no mass protests. The demand for news and information—so voracious in 2017—has diminished, if not vanished. Audiences have dwindled; once-mighty news organizations are dismissing hundreds of journalists and staff.

Compared with eight years ago, Trump is winning more and his opponents are resisting less."

 

Putin says Trump will restore order in Europe.


Putin says Europe will 'stand at the feet of the master' as Trump's tariffs alarm allies

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"Russia's Vladimir Putin warned Europe will quickly "stand at the feet of the master" after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, provoking a global markets meltdown and alarm among European allies.

Following Trump's decision at the weekend to impose trade duties on America's closest trading partners, Russian President Putin said Sunday that Trump's second administration would "restore order" in Europe."

 

Worst of all, in Trump's mind, Canada has been booing the U.S. National Anthem at sporting events as a response to his tariff threats.

That's an insult to Trump's (formerly incarcerated and now pardoned) rioters and their perverted version of the National Anthem that portrayed themselves as model citizens who are victims. How dare the Canadians boo such a beloved song that's been perverted by Trump.

That's like denigrating, by not properly holding, a U.S. flag and its pole that were used by Trump's rioters to beat police officers nearly to death.