Tariff Turmoil Delays Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-Orders; Will This Derail Goldman’s Bull Call On Mario Kart-Maker
We suspect Goldman analysts Minami Munakata and Haruki Kubota will soon update clients on today’s report from The Verge. The report reveals that Nintendo is delaying preorders for the new Switch 2 due to the fallout from President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff blitz and China’s retaliatory measures, which are roiling global markets and trade.
Nintendo spokesperson Eddie Garcia told The Verge:
Preorders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.
Nintendo plans to launch the Nintendo Switch 2 (the successor to the Nintendo Switch) on June 5. There’s still no word from Garcia about when preorders will begin.
There’s still no word on Switch 2 pricing following the new effective tariff rate of 24% on Japanese goods, as The Verge noted.
The Switch 2 costs $449.99 and comes with several upgrades, including a larger 7.9-inch 1080p display, 256GB of storage, and a C-button for in-game chats. We don’t know yet whether the Switch 2 or its accessories will go up in price in response to the tariffs. The Switch 2 is already significantly more expensive than its $299 predecessor, while its games have a steeper $69.99 to $79.99 price.
Last month, Goldman analysts Minami Munakata and Haruki Kubota were super bulls on Nintendo, noting that “the global games market re-entered a growth phase since 2024” and forecasted “the number of active consoles to continue renewing fresh highs globally from 2025.”
Their bullishness in the gaming industry was mainly because Switch 2 would “unlock dormant hardware and dormant users” and send “the number of active consoles to continue to renew record highs.”
However, with tariffs in play, the Switch 2 and its accessories will likely be priced higher. That raises a key question for the analysts—likely to be addressed in a client note this weekend:
Will the increased cost of the device prompt a revision to their active console forecast?
And, in turn, could a downward revision in the forecast trigger a 12mo price target cut for Nintendo shares in Tokyo?
A combat unit of NATO-trained Ukrainian soldiers was photographed using a Flyer 72-LD tactical vehicle. The Department of Defense did not report that it had transferred the platform to Ukraine, which was previously operated primarily by American special forces.
The Flyers’ presence in Ukraine became public when blogger Praise the Steph posted a photo of the vehicle with soldiers from Kiev’s 6th Separate Ranger Regiment. “Will and faith are our weapons. Victory is our only horizon!” the blogger reported the unit’s commander said.
The Flyer is designed to be a light-weight tactical vehicle that can operate in rugged terrain.
It can be carried to the front by a number of helicopters and can carry a 5,000-pound load. The Pentagon has not previously disclosed the transfer of the Flyer to Kiev. Only a limited number of NATO countries deploy the Flyer.
While the New York Times’s Adam Entous described the Department of Defense’s transfer of weapons to Ukraine as occurring “with remarkable transparency,” this is not the first time that Ukrainian soldiers have received US military equipment before the American public became aware of the shipment.
The 6th Separate Ranger Regiment is one of four Ukrainian military units trained by NATO troops that make up Kiev’s special operations force.
According to the Kyiv Post, they are designed to conduct“drone, reconnaissance, sabotage, and artillery targeting operations behind enemy lines.”
US and Ukrainian military leaders have presented the conflict as an opportunity to test Western weapons and tactics against the Russian military.
Back in 2023, CNN wrote that “the war in Ukraine has also offered the United States and its allies a rare opportunity to study how their own weapons systems perform under intense use – and what munitions both sides are using to score wins in this hotly fought modern war.”
Ukraine is “absolutely a weapons lab in every sense because none of this equipment has ever actually been used in a war between two industrially developed nations,” an official was cited as saying. “This is real-world battle testing.”
Escobar: How Trump’s Tariff Tizzy Is Burning Down The House
Authored by Pepe Escobar,
Global Majority, rejoice! And step on the high-speed rail de-dollarization train.
Circus ringmaster Trump’s Tariff Tizzy (TTT), christened by himself as “Liberation Day”, is being largely interpreted around the world – Global North and Global South alike – as Slaughterhouse Day.
This de facto uncontrolled economic demolition gambit starts with the warped fantasy that launching a customs war on China is a bright idea. As bright as collecting a few trillion extra dollars in tariffs assuming the rest of the planet will be somewhat “encouraged” to sell to the Hegemon, while pretending that these tariffs will lead to the re-industrialization of the U.S.
The tragicomic mask of a self-appointed circus ringmaster of turbo-capitalism may be as pathetic as the European chihuahua rage boosting their “revenge” via Rearmament – with funds that they plan to steal from the savings accounts of unsuspecting citizens.
The indispensable Michael Hudson has configured the key problem. Allow me a little tweak: “Sanctions and threats are the only thing that the United States has left. It no longer can offer other countries a win-win situation, and Trump has said that America has to be the net gainer in any international deal it’s made, whether it’s a financial deal or a trade deal. And if America is saying, any deal we make, you lose, I win”, that Mafia extortion gambit does not exactly reflect the Art of the Deal.
Prof. Hudson neatly describes Trump’s negotiation tactics: “When you don’t have very much to offer economically, all you can do is offer not to hurt other countries, not to sanction them, not to do something that will be against their interest.” Now, with TTT, Trump is actually “offering” to hurt them all. And they will certainly invest in all sorts of counter-tactics to “get away” from that “strategy” of American “diplomacy”.
A trade war on Asia
TTT attacks everyone, especially the EU (“born to hurt us”, according to the circus ringmaster. Wrong, because the EU was invented by the Americans in 1957 to actually keep Europe under control). The EU exports roughly 503 billion euros to the U.S. a year, while importing around 347 billion. Trump is fuming non-stop about this surplus.
So a counter-measure vendetta will be inevitably in store, as already advertised by the toxic Medusa von der Lugen in Brussels – incidentally the sponsor of every weapons producer in Europe.
Yet TTT is above all a trade war on Asia. “Reciprocal” tariffs – not exactly reciprocal – were imposed on China (34%),Vietnam (46%), India (26%), Indonesia (32%), Cambodia (49%), Malaysia (24%), South Korea (25%), Thailand (36%), earthquake-hit Myanmar (44%), Taiwan (32%) and Japan (24%).
Well, even before TTT, a first has been achieved: the circus ringmaster generated a once-in-a-lifetime consensus among China, Japan and South Korea that their response will be coordinated.
Japan and South Korea will import semiconductor raw materials from China, while China will be purchasing chips from Japan and South Korea. Translation: TTT will solidify “supply chain cooperation” among this triad that so far was not exactly too cooperative.
What the circus ringmaster really wants is an iron-clad mechanism – already being developed by his team – that unilaterally imposes whatever level of tariffs Trump may come up with on whatever excuse: could be to circumvent “current manipulation”, to counter a value-added tax, on “security grounds”, whatever. And to hell with international law. For all practical purposes, Trump is burying the WTO.
Even tariffed penguins in Heard island in the South Pacific know that the certified effects of TTT will include rising inflation in the U.S., serious pain on its – delocalized – corporations and most of all the complete collapse of American “credibility” as a reliable and trustworthy trading partner, adding to its certified reputation as “non-agreement capable” – as the Global South knows so well. > Ант: A rentier FIRE Empire (financialization, insurance, real estate, as masterfully analyzed by Michael Hudson), which offshored its manufacturing industries and was gobbled up by a pile of overleveraged hedge funds, Wall Street derivatives and Silicon Valley totalitarian surveillance in the end decides to strike…itself.
Poetic justice applies. Burning Down the House – from inside the house. As for the emerging, sovereign Global Majority, rejoice: and step on the high-speed rail de-dollarization train.
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Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.
WASHINGTON—A panel of expert witnesses that included renowned filmmaker Oliver Stone told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets on April 1 that more work is needed to uncover the truth about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
“Let us see past the lies, and let us hear what happened,” Stone told the task force. “The truth is the greatest treasure a Socratic soul can attain in this lifetime.”
The three-time Academy Award-winning director released a movie titled “JFK” in 1991 and followed that with a documentary in 2021 called “JFK: Revisited.”
He questioned the role played by the CIA, saying it “operates arrogantly outside our laws.”
A litany of motives for removing Kennedy existed at the time, including those related to expanding the Vietnam War and securing power for the military-industrial complex, among others, according to the director.
“He was changing things, changing too many things too fast. It was a major problem for some, and he was going to win a second election,” Stone told The Epoch Times after the hearing. “And he had a brother, a younger brother, and there was fear of a dynasty. They were terrified of that possibility.”
Expressing doubt about the Warren Commission’s findings in 1964, which fingered Lee Harvey Oswald as a lone gunman responsible for Kennedy’s murder, he asked the committee to reopen an investigation into the incident.
Some lawmakers on the dais acknowledged a need to follow up on questions regarding the chain of custody of evidence and discrepancies in testimony and records related to the crime, saying the lack of transparency over nearly 62 years has eroded trust in government.
“For over six decades, questions have lingered, shrouded in secrecy and speculation,” task force chairwoman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said during opening remarks. “What has been alarming to me is the amount of stonewalling the federal government put forth to hide this information from the American people.”
She said revelations in the approximately 80,000 pages of documents that were declassified by President Donald Trump on March 18 are “staggering” and raise “serious concerns.”
Task force members in both parties denounced what they called overclassification and called for increased transparency from the government.
“This is a known fact that we all should agree on. Federal agencies, obviously, have in the past obscured information and key facts from the public for too long,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said during the hearing. “The CIA and [FBI], especially in this period of time, were deeply flawed institutions.”
Others on the panel, however, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), used their allotted time to criticize the sitting president for what she described as a rush to release classified material that could result in the release of private information, such as Social Security numbers.
One witness called to testify, Jefferson Morley—an author and independent journalist who has researched the JFK assassination for 30 years and told the commission that he is a “liberal Democrat”—dismissed the line of inquiry.
He said some of the new files show that James Angleton, longtime counterintelligence chief for the CIA; Richard Helms, who was the director of the CIA; and agency liaison to Congress George Joannides all lied under oath about the killing.
“Obstructing Congress cannot be considered evidence of incompetence,” Morley said. “Three false statements by top CIA officers about Kennedy’s accused killer, that is a pattern. It’s a pattern of misconduct; it’s a pattern of malfeasance.”
Author James DiEugenio highlighted a document written by Arthur Schlesinger—special assistant to Kennedy—and long redacted by the CIA, as of paramount importance in understanding the context of the murder, as it reveals Kennedy’s intention to reorganize the agency and minimize its authority.
He called for a new investigation, warning that “secrecy is the enemy of democracy.”
“I really hope that people will learn from the past and learn from experiences,” DiEugenio told the task force. “The CIA and the FBI should not have the last word on JFK’s murder. You should.”
We’re Giving Putin “Weeks, Not Months” To Decide On Ceasefire: Rubio
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio surprised NATO counterparts by telling them on Friday that it will become clear within “weeks” if Russia is “serious” about actually reaching a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The statement was issued at the close of a two-day meeting of the Western military alliance’s foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium. “We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not. I hope they are,” Rubio said. But Kiev’s fiercest backers worry even this amount of time could see the Russian military’s momentum grow even more, and have accused Moscow of strategically stalling the start of serious negotiations.
“If this is dragging things out, President Trump’s not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations about negotiations,” he added. “We’re testing to see if the Russians are interested in peace. Their actions – not their words, their actions – will determine whether they’re serious or not, and we intend to find that out sooner rather than later.”
When questioned on whether negotiations were a delay tactic, Rubio reiterated Trump’s stance on ending the war soon, and said they are “going to wait and see”.
“The Russians know our position in terms of wanting to end the war, and we will know from their answers very soon on whether they are serious about proceeding to real peace or whether it’s a delay tactic,” he added, stressing that Trump was not going to “fall into the trap of endless negotiations about negotiations”.
Senior Nato officials have told the BBC that there is no sign Putin is preparing for a ceasefire. Rubio, however, remains hopeful.
“I hope they are. It will be good for the world if the war ended, but obviously we have to test that proposition,” he added, explaining that the US would re-evaluate their approach depending on Moscow’s response.
The remarks were intended to reassure allies as they express their impatience with Washington over its waning support to Ukraine. While a timeline of weeks was meant to be a positive thing, many European leaders are concerned that Russia will be able to take much more territory only within a matter of weeks.
For example, British foreign secretary voiced his frustrations by accusing Russia of intentionally delaying efforts at ceasefire.
“Our judgement is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet,” David Lammy told a press briefing. “We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know what you are doing,” he said.
President Trump last month said he’s aware this could be a possibility, at won’t let it happen.
Rubio: People say: ‘You can’t trust Putin’. It’s not about trusting him or anybody else – it’s about actions.
If you want peace, you stop fighting and lay out reasonable terms to end the war, not crazy stuff. 5/ pic.twitter.com/uvvATBaP2i
And French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Friday, “There will be at some point a need for military capacity or reassurance, whenever peace is reached.”
Poland’s Foreign Minister, Radek Sikorski, came out of a meeting with Rubio saying of Putin, “I think if he doesn’t agree to a ceasefire, the way Ukraine has agreed to a ceasefire, US patience will not be forever.”
A mob of roughly 30 masked protesters at UC Davis attacked a tent for a conservative student group, the UC Davis chapter of Turning Point USA. It proceeded to destroy the tent and displays without any intervention from campus police, who were shown standing nearby. The police followed the rampaging mob and did not attempt to detain anyone. The mob appears to have been led by Antifa members, a violent anti-free speech group.
Dressed in their signature black with masks and umbrellas, the group tore down the tent and assaulted some of the students by shoving and grabbing them. They actually returned to finish the job. The protesters carried a large banner with the words “ACAB,” which stands for all cops are bastards.
The university said in a news release that it is investigating.
However, the university insisted, “The event with the guest speaker took place on schedule and was completed without further incident. The university protected the free speech rights of the campus community throughout the event.”
“Without further incident” has the “other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?”
One question is whether Davis will look into why the campus police stood and watched these protesters assault students and tear down a tent without trying to detain a single person. They merely walked behind the mob as it carried off the bits and pieces of the displays and tents.
The student group was about to host Brandon Tatum, a black conservative and former police officer.
Our “Prove Me Wrong” tabling event with @TheOfficerTatum at UC Davis was completely destroyed by violent protesters.
They stole the canopy, ripped down banners, smashed foam boards, and even tried to steal the iPad and laptop of a @tpusastudents field rep.
TPUSSA stated that the “Our ‘Prove Me Wrong’ tabling event was utterly destroyed:
“They stole the canopy, ripped down banners, smashed foam boards, and even tried to steal the iPad and laptop of a @tpusastudents field rep. TPUSA students were shoved and had objects thrown at them—while police did nothing,” the organization stated.
“Only after the damage was done did law enforcement finally form a perimeter. This is the reality of free speech on campus.”
Political violence from the left is on the rise across the nation, fueled by the rage rhetoric of Democratic leaders and commentators.
“Antifa originated with European anarchist and Marxist groups from the 1920s, particularly Antifaschistische Aktion, a Communist group from the Weimar Republic before World War II. Its name resulted from the shortening of the German word antifaschistisch. In the United States, the modern movement emerged through the Anti- Racist Action (ARA) groups, which were dominated by anarchists and Marxists. It has an association with the anarchist organization Love and Rage, which was founded by former Trotsky and Marxist followers as well as offshoots like Mexico’s Amor Y Rabia. The oldest U.S. group is likely the Rose City Antifa (RCA) in Portland, Oregon, which would become the center of violent riots during the Trump years. The anarchist roots of the group give it the same organizational profile as such groups in the early twentieth century with uncertain leadership and undefined structures.”
As I have previously written, it has long been the “Keyser Söze” of the anti-free speech movement, a loosely aligned group that employs measures to avoid easy detection or association. Yet, FBI Director Chris Wray has repeatedly pushed back on the denials of Antifa’s work or violence. In one hearing, Wray stated “And we have quite a number” — and “Antifa is a real thing. It’s not a fiction.”
Some Democrats have played a dangerous game in supporting or excusing the work of Antifa. Former Democratic National Committee deputy chair Keith Ellison, now the Minnesota attorney general, once said Antifa would “strike fear in the heart” of Trump. This was after Antifa had been involved in numerous acts of violence and its website was banned in Germany.
Ellison’s son, Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison, declared his allegiance to Antifa in the heat of the protests this summer. During a prior hearing, Democratic senators refused to clearly denounce Antifa and falsely suggested that the far right was the primary cause of recent violence. Likewise, Joe Biden has dismissed objections to Antifa as just “an idea.”
It is at its base a movement at war with free speech, defining the right itself as a tool of oppression. That purpose is evident in what is called the “bible” of the Antifa movement: Rutgers Professor Mark Bray’s Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.
Bray emphasizes the struggle of the movement against free speech: “At the heart of the anti-fascist outlook is a rejection of the classical liberal phrase that says, ‘I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’”
Bray admits that “most Americans in Antifa have been anarchists or antiauthoritarian communists… From that standpoint, ‘free speech’ as such is merely a bourgeois fantasy unworthy of consideration.”
The increasing political violence from the left continues on a daily basis with only cursory coverage from the media. Even a department head was shown this week destroyed a table of conservative students.
This is the sense of license that comes from an age of rage. The fact is that this video shows how these groups are enabled by the culture in higher education.
It is a movement that has been further enabled by government officials who rationalize their actions or offer little deterrence to their conduct. For example, molotov cocktail throwing lawyers in New York were given relatively light sentences under the Biden Administration.
Then there was Thomas “Tas” Alexander Starks, 31, of Lisbon, N.D., a self-avowed Antifa member took an axe to the office of Sen. John Hoeven’s in Fargo on Dec. 21, 2020. Federal sentencing guidelines suggested 10–16 months in prison but he was only sentenced to probation and fined $2,784 for restitution . . . he then reportedly mocked the FBI for returning his axe. After his light sentence, Starks posted last month that it was all effectively a joke: “Look what the FBI were kind enough to give back to me!”
Scenes like the one on the campus of UC Davis will only encourage further attacks. The police acted as mere pedestrians as a mob engaged in political violence against students.
Sanders Leads Charge To Block Arms To Israel, Senate Votes Down Overwhelmingly
On Thursday US senators votedoverwhelmingly to reject two resolutions of disapproval on Washington’s massive arms transfers and other military assistance to Israel. The Trump White House has greenlit an estimated $20 billion arms so far, and this is largely a continuation of prior Biden administration policy.
In particular the resolutions sought to block the sale of $8.8 billion in bombs and munitions to Israel, and were offered by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
But they received the support of only 15 out of 45 Democrats in the Senate, with the final allies being 82-15 and 83-15 in the two votes.
“The United States must end our complicity in these atrocities, we cannot be part of this any longer,” Sanders said in a video statement released the day prior to the Senate vote. Liberal icon Sanders, it should be noted, is Jewish but has long criticized Israel for human rights abuses.
Among the four senators who voted in favor of Sanders’s resolutions in November and who who flipped their votes on Thursday to “No” was Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who is likely to face an intense reelection challenge from Republicans in 2026.
The others were fellow Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen — who announced earlier this month she will not seek reelection next year — and Maine Senator Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats.
And further, “The other fourteen Democrats who voted in favor of blocking weapons to Israel were Mazie Hirono, Ben Ray Luján, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, Ed Markey, Tim Kaine, Elizabeth Warren, Martin Heinrich, Brian Schatz, Tina Smith, Dick Durbin, Peter Welch and Chris Murphy.”
The vote happened the same day that President Trump previewed a coming visit by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to the US. It would mark his second visit since the The Hague’s International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him.
“I think he’s going to be coming to the country some time in the not-so-distant future. Maybe next week,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
It has now been 30 days with NO humanitarian aid getting into Gaza.
Netanyahu has been in Hungary this week, which just pulled out of membership in the ICC, despite the country being a founding member. Prime Minister Viktor Orban complained that the court has become a “political tool” – a perspective which non-member Washington shares.
Does capitalism need to be fixed? Is it no longer fit for purpose in this modern era, given our environmental ecosystems are under self-evident strain and income gaps are widening to levels not seen since the “robber baron” era?
This was the question I was called to answer at David and Philippa Stroud’s inspiring and expanding Forum last weekend. I rephrased the question slightly: Can capitalism promote the common good?Joining me in the discussion were Rand Stagen, Doug Rauch, and Steve Hall – successful entrepreneurs who have coached CEOs to greatness, led iconic Trader Joe’s from near irrelevance to triumph and lifted a marginal automotive company to multi-billion dollar heights. All three of these remarkable entrepreneurs have since graduated to running Conscious Capitalism, an advocacy group that believes business can benefit everyone, most especially when purpose meets profit.
Over Q&A, the discussion turned as it inevitably does to Milton Friedman’s 1970 article “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.”Friedman’s New York Times classic has been credited with spawning Gordon Gekko’s ignominious claim that “Greed is good,” as well as oligarchic tyranny theories which Bernie Sanders effectively promotes and derides. Capitalism’s undeniable negative externalities are why a majority of millennials and Gen-Zers today have concluded socialism would be a superior socio-economic framework.
And that’s when controversy ensued. Nobel Laureate Friedman never said businesses should promote profits without guardrails. What he actually wrote is that it is the responsibility of business “to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.”These two addendums about rules and customs are crucial. And they allowed me to highlight something Adidas has recently done that millennials, Gen-Zers, and Gordon Gekko alike can all rightly applaud.
Working with Parley Ocean Plastic, Adidas has committed to replacing all the virgin polyester in their products with recycled polyester derived from oceanic plastic waste. This program has been remarkably successful, and it is not all Adidas is doing to rejuvenate the planet. Through their “Made to Be Remade” program, once you’ve had your full run with their shoes and apparel, instead of tossing them in the trash you can send them back to Adidas to be recycled, meaning much less garbage ends up in landfills. Proof of the success of this environmentally mindful strategy comes from the market, however. Since embarking upon their ambitious recycling journey in 2015, Adidas’ stock has risen nearly 400% – meaning they have tapped into new consumer demands, opened new markets, and dramatically benefitted their bottom line. Planet protections have handsomely fattened Adidas shareholders’ wallets.
So, is this an example of stakeholder capitalism – or merely capitalism as Milton Friedman defined it? I would argue it is the latter, perhaps inspired by the former. Like Milton Friedman, I would further argue it is the type of capitalism all public companies should strive for.
Consumer attitudes evolve. Farsighted companies like Adidas find ways to change with them. Adidas’ consumer strategy was met with commercial success. This means it can be sustained. Other nobly-minded public corporate officials evolved faster than consumers did – like Emmanuel Faber at Danone or Bud Light’s marketing team. They misunderstood the market and ultimately saw their sales and profits plummet. They are no longer making corporate decisions. Too many stakeholder capitalist instincts are like these: well-intended but unsustainable. If enduring impact is a public company’s goal, its bottom line must remain black. If growing impact is part of a public company’s calling, growing profits and rising stock prices are essential.
So what should we conclude about the future of capitalism and its role in promoting the common good? For stakeholder capitalism to succeed, it must remain capitalistic – and for a society to succeed, ubiquitous public virtue is needed. Business’s potential role in propagating such virtues is circumscribed. Greater public mindfulness spawned by the universal principles of human dignity, subsidiarity, and solidarity would undoubtedly promote broader social inclusivity and lasting environmental sustainability, aspirations largely enunciated by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Great companies may well find ways to reinforce these virtues and benefit from their broader acceptance – but they must also find ways to persevere when we humans fail to be all we can and should be, something we invariably seem to do.
The ultimate purpose of a corporation is to mindfully generate the material abundance society needs to make our way, as John 12:35-36 and Isaiah 42:16 suggest, through the darkness to the light. If business can further amplify light along the way, all the better. We humans will likely to get the future we work towards. My hope is that greater mindfulness will lead to greater inclusivity, sustainability, and economic growth. Within profit’s constraints, business can and should make all three of these goals more attainable – and within prevailing rules and social customs, should not actively thwart them.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund and special Putin envoy who was sent this week to meet with top US officials in Washington, has said his two-days of meetings went well and that positive steps were made.
“I would say that today and yesterday, we made three steps forward on a large number of issues,” Dmitriev said after meeting with Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, who has also been deeply involved in Ukraine negotiations.
It was Witkoff who met last month with President Putin in Moscow. As for Dmitriev’s visit, it marked the first official trip of a top Russian official to the United States to meet with US officials since the Ukraine war began.
Dmitriev told CNN in a fresh interview that he conveyed to the Trump administration that Moscow is ready to do business again with American companies.
“At this point, we are not asking for any sanction relief. We are just discussing that if America wants to have more business with Russia… then of course US can do so,” he said.
He warned that both sides must overcome the lack of communication which marked the opening three years of war in Ukraine. “Therefore, the process of dialogue, the process of resolution will take some time, but it is definitely positive and constructive,” he described.
Dmitriev was in the US during the ‘Liberation day’ tariff rollout, praising a policy that reflects “a growing shift toward economic sovereignty and national interest.”
President Trump’s tariff strategy reflects a growing shift toward economic sovereignty and national interest. By prioritizing domestic industry and correcting structural trade imbalances, the U.S. sets a precedent for self-reliant growth and sustainable job creation. https://t.co/sXp7mVMCUU
“I think there is an understanding for how we can move to finalize the agreement. And there have been lots of discussion in that realm, lots of differences still remain, but I think there are several passes to try to address all those issues and only diplomatic solution can be possible,” Dmitriev said further to CNN.
He additionally stated in a separate interview while in D.C., “If President Putin commits to something, it gets done. Putin is a historic leader. Trump is a historic leader. They can work together to make history happen. If they cannot achieve major progress, few leaders can.”
Despite these positive diplomatic engagements, the question of where overall negotiations to end the war in Ukraine stand remains the same: slow-moving and even perhaps stalled. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Tuesday that current US proposals on ending the war can’t be accepted in their current form. He complained they don’t address the “root causes” and that Kiev doesn’t appear ready to get serious about pursuing peace.
“What we have today is an effort to find a framework that would make it possible to ensure America’s vision for a ceasefire. The idea is to then move on to some other models and frameworks, which, as far as we can see, leave no room for Russia’s core demand, that is, the need to resolve the issues stemming from the root causes of this conflict,” he said, as quoted in TASS.
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Below are some Friday geopolitical developments via Newsquawk….
Geopolitics: Middle East
Israeli military say they have “eliminated” Hassan Farhat, a Hamas commander in Lebanon
Israeli media reported that the Israeli army launched raids on large areas in the Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera
Houthi-affiliated media reports US aggression on the Kahlan area, east of Saada city, northern Yemen, according to Al Jazeera.
Iran reportedly abandons Houthis under relentless US bombardment and ordered its military personnel to leave Yemen, according to The Telegraph.
US President Trump said he spoke with Israeli PM Netanyahu on Thursday who may visit the US next week, although it was separately reported that Israeli PM Netanyahu’s visit to the White House will likely take place in a few weeks.
Turkey said Israel’s attacks on regional countries have made Israel the biggest threat to regional security, while it added that Israel is a regional destabiliser and is feeding chaos and terror.
Saudi Crown Prince received a phone call from Iran’s President during which they discussed developments in the region and issues of common interest.
Geopolitics: Ukraine
US President Trump’s inner circle advises against a call with Russian President Putin until he commits to a full ceasefire.
Russian envoy Dmitriev said lots of differences remain, but a diplomatic solution is possible and there is already some progress on trust-building measures, while he sees a positive dynamic in US-Russian relations and said Several meetings are needed to sort out differences. Dmitriev also stated that a long-term solution that takes into account Russian security concerns is what is needed, as well as commented that they are not asking for a lifting of sanctions and that they can do a deal with the US on rare earths.
Moscow’s mayor said Russian air defences repelled drones approaching Moscow and specialists are examining fallen fragments.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made it clear in an interview with CNN that the era of trade imbalances is over, and under President Trump, the U.S. will no longer tolerate unfair treatment.
During a discussion with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Bessent confidently explained the administration’s position on tariffs and trade policy, signaling that Trump’s economic strategy is deliberate and well thought out.
When pressed on how the administration’s policies could impact the auto industry, particularly regarding vehicles made with foreign parts, Bessent was blunt.
“If half the cars coming into the United States are foreign-made, that’s hard to turn around overnight, as you know,” Collins said.
“So what would you say to people in the auto industry who are worried about that timeline and how quickly that could shift?”
“Buy American,” Bessent said bluntly. He also clarified that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) exempts certain vehicles and parts from the new tariffs.
Collins attempted to raise concerns from U.S. allies, questioning what the administration would say to countries like South Korea and Japan, which are now facing increased tariffs. Bessent’s response was direct:
“Well, I would say they’ve been doing it to us for a long time. And, if they don’t like tariffs, then why do they have them?”
His answer underscored the administration’s stance that America has been on the losing end of trade deals for too long.
As for whether the tariffs should be considered permanent, Bessent took a wait-and-see approach.
“I think we’re gonna wait and see how this plays out,” he explained, suggesting that adjustments could be made based on how the policy unfolds.
Collins also asked about the possibility of retaliation from other countries. Some foreign leaders have hinted at potential countermeasures, while others have opted to observe before making a move. Bessent urged patience.
“One of the messages that I’d like to get out tonight is everybody sit back, take a deep breath, don’t immediately retaliate, let’s see where this goes. Because if you retaliate, that’s how we get escalation.”
When Collins pressed him on whether such escalation could turn into a full-fledged trade war, Bessent dismissed the idea.
“Not a trade war. Depends on the country,” he said, before explaining that history favors the United States in such disputes.
“Remember that the history of trade is, we are the deficit country. The deficit country has an advantage,” he explained.
“[The others] are the surplus countries. The surplus countries traditionally always lose any kind of a trade escalation.”
His message to foreign governments was clear: Acting hastily would be a mistake.
“As a student of economic history or a professor of economic history, I’d advise against it,” he said. When Collins sought further clarification, he reinforced the point: “I would say that doing anything rash would be unwise.”
“I think we’re going to wait and see how this plays out.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent talks to @kaitlancollins about what will happen next in Trump’s trade war after the President announced new tariffs tonight. Watch: pic.twitter.com/VrAA8ADW1p
Bessent’s remarks leave no doubt that Trump’s trade policies are rooted in historical precedent and strategic calculation.
While globalists may panic, the Trump administration remains confident that America is in a stronger position than its trade partners. And history is on our side.
Bessent’s message is clear: Trump knows exactly what he’s doing.
