Category: zerohedge

Most Asian countries have publicly stated that they will not retaliate against President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs – except for China, which announced a 34% increase on all imports from the United States, effective next Thursday. 

Notably, two Asian nations, Vietnam and Taiwan, have signaled a willingness to negotiate, seeking to de-escalate trade tensions and move toward what Trump has wanted: “fair trade.”

And why did Vietnam and Taiwan capitulate? Goldman’s research desk shows just why.

Bloomberg published a note Sunday warning that a tariff escalation between Trump and Asian countries could impact the price of America’s beloved smartphone: Apple iPhones:

Since the debut of the iPhone X in 2017, Apple hasn’t increased the starting price of its flagship model from $999. There have been smaller adjustments, such as tweaking the amount charged for storage and introducing larger models like the 11 Pro and 12 Pro Max. In 2023, for instance, Apple enacted a quasi price increase with the iPhone 15: It boosted the starting price of the Pro Max version by $100 by eliminating the lowest capacity option.

Now, with tariffs hitting Apple’s major sources of production, the specter of a price increase is back in a big way. And that’s raising the question of how large such a hike might be — and how consumers would feel about it. -BBG

. . . 

The current $999 level is a psychological threshold that many consumers probably don’t want to cross. 

Trump’s Liberation Day hit Asian economies the hardest, with most of the tariff shock based along Apple’s supply chain: 

• India, where Apple is increasingly building iPhones and AirPods, will have a 26% tariff.

• Vietnam, where the company now makes some AirPods, iPads, Apple Watches and Macs, will be hit with a 46% levy.

• Malaysia, where Apple is increasingly producing Macs, will have a 24% tariff.

• Thailand, where the company also makes some Macs, will get a 37% levy. Ireland, within the European Union, gets a 20% tariff. Apple produces some iMacs there.

• Indonesia, which will soon begin making AirTags and mesh for the AirPods Max headphones, gets a 32% tariff.

• The latest tariffs will be 34% for China, bringing its total level to 54%. But the overall picture suggests Apple isn’t going to get as much benefit as hoped from diversifying away from that country. Apple will still be taking a hit on iPhones made in India, AirPods made in Vietnam and Macs made elsewhere in Asia.

Trade data via the supply chain platform Sayari shows that Apple suppliers range from India to Taiwan and Vietnam to China.

Here’s more data from Bloomberg about Apple’s complex supply chain throughout Asia.

The question becomes whether Asian countries capitulate to Trump’s tariff bazooka. So far, Vietnam and Taiwan are…

Vietnam, Taiwan Capitulate: Offer To Remove All US Tariffs, Boost Investment https://t.co/mON0xhlKpB

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 6, 2025

But what about China? Apple still relies on the bulk of its supply chain in the world’s second-largest economy. With the effective tariff rate on Chinese goods entering the U.S. now at 54%, the question becomes: How long will Washington and Beijing continue to duke it out over trade? 

Goldman data… 

In the meantime, Bloomberg Technology journalist Mark Gurman asked whether Apple CEO Tim Cook will eat the tariff costs, push suppliers to reduce prices, pass on the expense to customers, or make supply chain readjustments. 

Gurman explained that Cook will likely do a combination of the four as Trump’s America First policies lead to a reordering of the global economy: 

• For one, you can bet that the company’s procurement teams are pushing component makers and manufacturing partners to offer better pricing. That could help preserve profit margins.

• Second, I would imagine Apple is prepared to eat a small percentage of the costs. With a typical hardware margin of around 45%, it has some room to play with if needed.

• Third, while the company is still in assessment mode, I expect that Apple will seriously consider iPhone price adjustments. It helps that consumers have probably heard about the outside factors here and won’t see it as a cash grab.

• Finally, it’s likely that Apple will pursue further supply chain changes. That probably won’t involve a full-scale return to U.S. manufacturing, but the company will try to make itself less vulnerable to tariffs.

Recall that Cook visited the White House on February 20 to discuss trade policy and tariffs. The question now is whether Apple can maintain the current $999 psychological pricing threshold for the iPhone—or whether Trump will be able to de-escalate the trade war before the next iteration of the smartphone is released. Many questions. 

By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management

“It would have been easy to keep pumping up the economy, borrowing a lot of money, creating a lot of government jobs,” explained Treasury Secretary Bessent to Tucker Carlson, defending the administration’s policies, while describing the extent to which Biden juiced up the US economy, like a body builder on steroids, appearing strong while destroying his internal organs. (explained here “Here Is The $1 Trillion “Stealth Stimulus” Behind Bidenomics“)

“There was no controversy when we were doing all that, but you would have ended up in a calamity,” he said. “If you go back and look at the financial crisis in 2007-08, the economy looked great right up until then. You go back to the end of the dotcom bubble, and the whole credit problem, fraud at Enron and some other companies, the economy looked great until it didn’t.”

.@SecScottBessent: “The old system wasn’t working and if you look at a system that’s not working you have to be brave to change it … It would’ve been easy to keep pumping up the economy, borrowing a lot of money, creating gov’t jobs … but you were going to end up in a… pic.twitter.com/NI5dZXF5Dt

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) April 4, 2025

“My advice to every country right now is do not retaliate. Sit back, take it in, let’s see how it goes. Because if you retaliate, there will be escalation,” warned Bessent, Treasury Secretary, the Liberation Day shockwave circling the globe. 

Xi Jinping listened carefully. And seeing America declaring economic war on all its allies and adversaries, along with some uninhabited islands, he mapped out his next move. Weighed the pros and cons, calculated the risk/reward, considered his nation’s ability to endure extreme and prolonged hardship relative to ours, and then blatantly ignored Bessent’s advice, matching Trump’s tariffs and limiting America’s access to critical rare earth metals. 

“This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates. He is always “late,” but he could now change his image, and quickly. Energy prices are down, Interest Rates are down, Inflation is down, even Eggs are down 69%, and Jobs are UP, all within two months – A BIG WIN for America. CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!,” posted President Trump on Truth Social, his DJT social media stock price hitting new lows, his meme coin too. 

“While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent,” said Powell. “Our obligation is to keep longer-term inflation expectations well anchored and to make certain that a one-time increase in the price level does not become an ongoing inflation problem,” continued the Fed Chairman. “We are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance. It is too soon to say what will be the appropriate path for monetary policy,” he added, directly ignoring America’s President. 

“TO THE MANY INVESTORS COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE. THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!,” posted Trump, America’s friends and foes all wondering how much damage will be done, how much pain inflicted, wealth destroyed, before his policies will of course change.

*  *  *

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President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff blitz and the resulting escalation in the trade war with China and other top trading partners fueled a downgrade in growth expectations that dominated the rates market last week. Goldman analysts now expect three interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year—in July, September, and October—and have raised their 12-month U.S. recession probability to 35%, up from 20%. While a pivot toward tariff de-escalation remains plausible in the near term, market turmoil and potential trade disruptions amid the grand global economic reordering won’t push the U.S. into a recession, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.

NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker told Bessent the stock market just experienced the biggest two-day crash since early Covid, asking: “How long will Americans hang tough” with current market gyrations? 

“I see no reason that we have to price in a recession,” Bessent responded to Welker. 

We should also note that in a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Bessent pointed out: “The distribution of equities across households—the top 10% of Americans own 88% of equities, 88% of the stock market.”

So when Welker asked Bessent about Americans weathering the stock market turmoil, the question really applies only to a small segment of the population—those who have seen massive gains over the past couple of decades—while much of the Heartland, as some have noted, has been stuck in a recession and never fully recovered since the early 2000s. 

Bessent told Welker, “What we’re looking at is building the long economic fundamentals for prosperity, and I think the previous administration put us on a course for financial calamity.” 

“Again, this is an adjustment process – we saw with President Regan when he brought down the great inflation and brought down President Carter’s malaise. There was some choppiness at that time, but he held the course,” Bessent noted.

Bessent then described Trump’s economic re-ordering of the global economy that will fulfill the ‘America First’ agenda and urgently resolve the “National Security problem” of critical supply chains in overseas economies run by foreign adversaries. He said there was one good outcome of Covid: “It was a beta test for what would happen if our supply chains were broken,” adding that the president would fix and re-shore supply chains back to the Homeland for a “more stable future.” 

Welker, suffering from extreme “Trump derangement syndrome,” tried to trap Bessent with a question about how last week’s market turmoil resulted in Americans’ “lifetime savings drop significantly.” 

Before we provide readers with Bessent’s response, here’s a chart of the WILSHIRE 5000 over 15 years versus Welker’s claim that Americans were somehow financially paralyzed last week by the stock drop.

Bessent called Welker’s comments a “false narrative” and said, “Most Americans have 60/40 accounts and have a long-term view.” 

He continued: “Oil prices went down almost 15% in two days, which impacts working Americans much more than the stock market does. Interest rates hit their low for the year, so I’m expecting mortgage applications to pick up.” 

So much for Welker’s ‘gotcha moment’… 

*  *  *

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Bessent downplayed the risk of tariff-driven inflation, describing the tariffs as one-time adjustments. He added that Trump is “raising wages for working Americans and reducing regulations,” and noted that the upcoming tax cut bill, along with falling energy prices and interest rates, will benefit the working class

Pressed by Welker on tariff negotiations with trading partners, Bessent said, “I think we’re going to have to see what the countries offer and whether it’s believable,” adding, “We are going to have to see the path forward. After 20, 30, 40 years of bad behavior, you can’t just wipe the slate clean.”

In a separate interview with Tucker Carlson, Bessent discussed similar topics to those he covered with Welker, suggesting that a reordering of the global economy is underway—one that will ultimately benefit American workers.

He pointed out that the stock market downturn didn’t start with tariffs—in fact, it began with China’s “DeepSeek” moment earlier this year, calling it “A MAG7 problem, not a MAGA problem.”

Bessent pointed out that economic reordering is all about preventing a crash that would’ve happened given the explosion in government-fueled spending. 

Why did “liberation day” blow up the stock market?

We collectively misunderstood that this was more than tariffs.

It’s an attempt to realign the global economy that comes around a few times a century.
—
Scott Bessent, Manhattan Institute 6/6/2024

“We’re also at a unique… pic.twitter.com/Snjbi8cDlN

— Jim Bianco (@biancoresearch) April 5, 2025

Correct course now, or continue down the path of destruction. Most Americans would agree that acting now to secure the nation and prevent a Marxist takeover is a winning strategy, especially when it comes to maintaining power and preparing for the China challenges of the 2030s.

Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times,

The State Department has announced it is freezing all existing and new visas for South Sudanese seeking to enter the United States, citing the transitional government’s refusal to accept its own nationals being deported from the United States.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the new visa and travel restrictions on Saturday, while accusing the East African nation’s leadership of “taking advantage of the United States.”

“Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States,” Rubio said. “Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them.

“Effective immediately, the United States Department of State is taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and prevent further issuance to prevent entry into the United States by South Sudanese passport holders.”

The secretary said the freeze will remain in force until “South Sudan is in full cooperation.”

The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, had suspended its services on April 22, 2023, over regional instability.

South Sudan stands on the brink of falling back into civil war after the first vice president was put under house arrest, accused by the president of the transitional government of inciting a rebellion in Nasir in the Upper Nile State in March.

The arrest threatens a 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar. The deal saw the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) in February 2020. The deadly conflict, rooted in communal tensions between Kirr’s Dinka community and Machar’s Nuer community, cost approximately an estimated 400,000 lives.

The transition government is also facing security challenges in the Upper Nile state, where government forces have clashed with opposition groups.

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

For years, some of us have written about the Biden family’s multimillion-dollar influence-peddling operation and the Justice Department’s refusal to charge Hunter Biden with being an unregistered foreign agent. Now, years later, the New York Times has found evidence suggesting that Hunter Biden was acting as a foreign agent as early as the Obama Administration, when his Dad was Vice President.

Last August, the New York Times ran a story about Hunter seeking help from the government for his client Burisma.  Ken Vogel just ran a follow-up story with damaging new details:

Hunter Biden sought assistance from the U.S. government for a potentially lucrative energy project in Italy while his father was vice president, according to newly released records and interviews.

The records, which the Biden administration had withheld for years, indicate that Hunter Biden wrote at least one letter to the U.S. ambassador to Italy in 2016 seeking assistance for the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, where he was a board member…

The State Department did not release the actual text of the letter.

That is precisely what many of us have been writing about in asking why Hunter was not charged with being an unregistered foreign agent as was the case under cases from Paul Manafort to Bob Menendez.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) covers anyone acting as “agent of a foreign principal,” including but not limited to (1) attempting to influence federal officials or the public on domestic or foreign policy or the political or public interests in favor of a foreign country; (2) collecting or disbursing money and or other things of value within the United States; or (3) representing the interests of the foreign principal before U.S. Government officials or agencies.

It is sweeping. So is the definition of what a “foreign principal” encompasses, including “a foreign government, a foreign political party, any person outside the United States (except U.S. citizens who are domiciled within the United States), and any entity organized under the laws of a foreign country or having its principal place of business in a foreign country.”

As I previously wrote,  special counsel Robert Mueller seemed to charge by the gross under the act. He hit a line of Trump associates with such allegations from Manafort to Michael Flynn to George Papadopoulos to Rick Gates. The Justice Department used FARA to conduct searches on the homes and files of former Trump counsel Rudy Giuliani, Republican counsel Victoria Toensing and others.

However, the Justice Department and Special Counsel David Weiss seemed to tie themselves into knots to avoid tripping the wire on FARA even as it discussed Hunter’s work for foreign clients.

The government also resisted FOIA requests from the Times and other media. Vogel wrote:

The request was initially filed under the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, in June 2021. After nearly eight months, the State Department had not released any records, and The Times sued. About 18 months later, the department moved to close the case after releasing thousands of pages of records — none of which shed light on Hunter Biden’s outreach to the U.S. government.

The Times challenged the thoroughness of the search, noting that the department had failed to produce responsive records contained in a cache of files connected to a laptop that Mr. Biden had abandoned at a Delaware repair shop. The department resumed the search and periodic productions, but had produced few documents related to Mr. Biden until the week after his father ended his re-election campaign and endorsed Vice President Harris for the Democratic nomination.

Now we have a copy of a key letter from Hunter that gives us an insight into the evidence buried for years:

The State Department last week released a letter that Hunter Biden wrote while his father was serving as vice president in which he sought assistance from the U.S. government for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

In the previously unpublished June 2016 letter on Burisma letterhead to the U.S. ambassador to Italy, Mr. Biden requested “support and guidance” in arranging a meeting with an Italian official to resolve regulatory hurdles to geothermal energy projects Burisma was pursuing in the Tuscany region…

The letter requested help arranging a meeting between Burisma officials and Enrico Rossi, the president of the Tuscany regional government at the time, “to introduce geothermal projects led by Burisma Group, to highlight their social and economic benefits for local communities and develop a common action plan that would lead to further development of the Tuscany Region.”

How could any Justice Department official, let alone a Special Counsel, read that letter and not see the glaring disconnect between the handling of the case involving Joe Biden’s son and others like Manafort?

The letter references a trip on which Hunter, as was his pattern, used official travel with his father to make these business connections. The letter mentions meeting a key ambassador on Air Force Two as he seeks assistance for his client.

The ambassador then sent a follow-up letter saying he knew the president of Tuscany and identified a Commerce Department official working at the US embassy to “see where our interests may overlap.”

It was another example of alleged influence peddling through his father and work for a foreign client in lobbying the government.

During this period, the Justice Department seemed to be on a hair-trigger for FARA charges. Yet, when it came to Hunter Biden, the entire department seemed composed of legal Sgt. Schultzs.

Many in the media attacked those of us who have been writing about this corruption stretching back to the Obama Administration. Many simply insisted that there was no evidence while taking no steps to find out. While the media was unrelenting in investigating Trump allegations of Russian collusion and business improprieties, it took a largely passive stance in pursuing this story.

Even the New York Times, which can be credited with pursuing this FOIA information, did comparably little with the ample evidence of corruption by the Bidens in securing millions through influence peddling.

What remains is a corruption scandal involving not only what the Bidens did but also what the Justice Department did not do over this extended period. It appears to heed the advice not of whistleblowers but politicians like former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) that “everybody needs to back off” the influence-peddling story.

Of course, Joe Biden ultimately broke his repeated promise not to pardon his son. What was most notable, however, was that he not only pardoned him for any crimes from human trafficking to tax evasion, but did so for a period running from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024.

This letter explains why such a sweeping, extended pardon was needed. Yet, in the end, the greatest indictment from this scandal was of the Justice Department itself.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of repeatedly deceiving the Trump administration about the proposed critical minerals agreement with the United States.

In a candid interview with conservative journalist Tucker Carlson, Bessent alleged that Zelensky “lied to our faces three times” about signing the deal, which would provide U.S. companies with access to Ukraine’s vital strategic minerals.”

Bessent explain that Carlson that he flew to Kyiv to sign the agreement with Zelensky—but the Ukrainian leader refused. Instead, Zelensky agreed to sign the deal during a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich, Germany, which never occurred. 

“He didn’t sign it there,” Bessent began. “There was a lot of back and forth.”

Treasury Sec Scott Bessent tells Tucker Zelensky lied to US officials’ faces 3 times about signing minerals deal.

Why? ‘You know who doesn’t sign that deal. Someone with their hand in the till.’

Unmissable, just to hear Bessent call Zelensky a ‘vaudevillian.’ Though I could… pic.twitter.com/X0cO9zIQ8t

— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) April 4, 2025

“The following week, they’re beginning to come to the White House,” the Treasury secretary continued. “Then he got to the Oval Office and blew up, which should have been the easiest thing to do in the world.”

“There’s a famous photo in the East Wing ballroom of everything laid out on the table to be signed—and it never got signed,” he added.

Bessent explained to Carlson that he believes the deal remains unsigned due to Zelensky receiving misguided advice from his advisors. He emphasized the contrast between the U.S. agreement and the unfavorable “loan-to-buy” arrangements that China has imposed on other countries.

“You know who doesn’t sign that deal? Someone with their hand in the till,” Bessent remarked, hinting at probable financial wrongdoing. He went on to sharply criticize Zelenskyy’s conduct, branding the Ukrainian leader a ‘vaudevillian’ for his handling of the situation.

“It’s a genuine economic partnership,’ the top Trump administration official continued. “We don’t make any money unless they make money, and you know who doesn’t like that? People with their hand in the till.’

“The Russians didn’t like the look of this deal because they thought it was actually something durable for the U.S. people and the Ukrainian people,” he added.

Bessent later told Carlson that Ukraine officials will travel to the U.S. in the coming days to work on the deal. 

Authored by Elaine McCusker via RealClearDefense,

The Department of Defense (DOD) needs a single source of truth at the enterprise level to pass a full financial statement audit. More importantly, it needs this kind of self-awareness to be a smarter customer, a better manager, a more accountable steward of taxpayer funds and ultimately, to be more capable, ready, and lethal at warfighting.

As the Deputy and then Acting Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller when DOD underwent its first audit, it was my job to attack the department’s data problem. A look back at the origins of how we did this, by creating the Defense Department Advancing Analytics (Advana) capability, is useful in understanding its future.

Put simply, Advana was to be the desired single source of truth for the Pentagon. It was designed to support the Department’s journey toward a clean opinion on its full financial statement audit. However, that was not the sole intent, and it was also clear from the start that supporting the audit was about much more than financial information and systems. It was about inventory, property, personnel, logistics, contracting, readiness, and cyber security. It was about knowing the defense culture and how to get all elements of the enterprise to willingly and openly share data.

The Advana vision included an end to time-consuming, unreliable, non-repeatable data calls. An end to arguing about the validity, comprehensiveness and currency of data. No more unanswered management golden questions about program performance and execution, operational readiness or battlefield situational awareness. Nor about the location, condition and quantity of parts, supplies, and equipment. It also envisioned a comprehensive, real-time picture of defense finances and a sophisticated tracking system for audit findings and recommendations, material weaknesses and progress toward a clean opinion. All of these things are related, dependent and necessary in one place.

The path to doing this involved identifying the most important, yet relatively basic, questions the Department could not easily answer, determining who owned the required data and then showing the benefits – to the data owners – of providing their information to an enterprise system. 

Sounds easy. It was not.

Key to success of the effort was developing a capability that could ingest the data from components as it was and then return to them a tool that could help them better use this data for a range of purposes, including enhancing decision advantage for the warfighter and helping financial managers capture funds that would otherwise be lost. Advana grew from there with the ultimate goal of being that all-important single source of truth.

Things have changed since then, but the original vision remains. Advana has continued on its intended path. It now contains over 700 data sources – reflecting the complexity of the defense information environment that grew up with a warfighting, not a business acumen, focus. It supports more than 55 defense organizations and 76,000 users – with demand that continues to grow. It also has a road of improvement ahead, including infrastructure enhancements to accelerate and simplify use of new AI tools and use cases, application of emerging commercial tools to expedite workflow and support the platform in becoming more flexible, adaptable, and automatic for the decision-maker.

While Advana has stayed true to its original vision, continuing to achieve scale requires a strong champion and simplified acquisition strategy that focuses on maintaining reliable and trustworthy data for a clean audit opinion while delivering warfighter outcomes.

But a few years ago, the team managing Advana was moved from the Comptroller to the new Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. This move should be reversed. Advana should be moved back to Comptroller with a small government technical team responsible for building Advana’s data inventory, promoting customer outcomes, executing a simplified acquisition strategy, and managing a consolidated budget. The Comptroller has a unique and independent position within the Pentagon. It has a streamlined organization of very senior staff with a direct connection to the components and to DOD leadership. It is by nature focused on frugal stewardship and efficiency. Money – and financial information and systems – is still the key element of data transparency, analysis, and decision-making. But it does not, nor was it ever designed to, stand alone.

The audit journey is about much more than the ultimate clean opinion. It is about lasting improvements being made to business systems, cyber security, inventory and personnel management, data analytics, operational efficiency and ultimately, the decision superiority that underpins advances in warfighting.

The Department should continue to support Advana as the ultimate single source of truth as it pursues the clean audit opinion while recognizing that the origin story and vision for the capability was always about so much more than financial accountability. It was, and is, about government efficiency and empowering decision making that is crucial to the future of warfare.

Elaine McCusker is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). She previously served as the Pentagon’s acting undersecretary of defense (comptroller). 

In a result that’s raising eyebrows from Washington to Tel Aviv, an early poll exploring 2028’s New York Senate race shows Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez trouncing 26-year incumbent and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer by a whopping 19 points. Ocasio-Cortez, commonly called AOC, has been coy about her 2028 intentions, but the survey surely has her salivating at the prospect of graduating to Congress’s upper chamber. 

The result may be the first real measure of how much damage Schumer sustained last month by supporting a Republican-led spending bill that averted a government shutdown. His flip from categorical rejection to grudging support triggered a large swath of the Democratic Party, with members accusing Schumer of clearing a path for DOGE cuts and Trump’s broader agenda to proceed. Paralleling the headline result, 84% of New York Democrats said Democrats in Washington are not doing enough to stand up to Trump and the MAGA movement, according to the survey of 767 likely Democratic primary voters conducted by Data for Progress, a progressive leftist think tank.

In the aftermath of Schumer’s controversial spending-bill flip, AOC aggressively led the leftist backlash, telling reporters, “I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal and this is not just progressive Democrats — this is across the board, the entire party. I think it is a huge slap in the face.” 

As poorly as Schumer did in the primary scenario, the results show him lagging AOC in favorability by an even greater margin. AOC has a net favorability of +59 compared to just +26 for Schumer. On a side note, Bernie Sanders is the most popular politician among New York Democrats (+69), while former Obama Rahm Emanuel, who’s aggressively flirting with a 2028 presidential run, came in dead last (+12).  

As you might expect when pitting 35-year-old AOC vs 74-year-old Schumer, AOC dominated among the under-45 crowd, which preferred her by a 50-point margin. However, she leads Schumer by 8 points among 46-and-older voters. Among the many stripes of Democrats the survey categorized — including age, race, gender, education, and political bent — Schumer only led among self-identified moderates, but by a substantial 15 points.  

AOC’s early strength must be particularly concerning to the State of Israel and its advocates within the United States, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After triggering her own backlash from fellow progressives (including a memorable movie-theater confrontation) by taking a soft-touch approach to Israel’s catastrophically-destructive war on Gaza that followed the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of southern Israel, AOC became more aggressive, using language that Israeli government and its fellow travelers consider unacceptable. That includes daring to say the g-word in a speech on the House floor: 

“As we speak, in this moment, 1.1 million innocents in Gaza are at famine’s door. A famine that is being intentionally precipitated through the blocking of food and global humanitarian assistance by leaders in the Israeli government. If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes.”

As the odds of a “Senator Ocasio-Cortez” grow stronger, the pro-Israel lobby won’t stand idle. Whether or not Chuck Schumer pursues a sixth term, Israel’s backers will spend mightily to ensure AOC’s defeat to a reliably pro-Israel opponent. That dynamic was vividly displayed in her very own state during the 2024 New York Democratic primaries. To oust AOC’s fellow progressive “Squad” member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman — a vocal critic of Israel — AIPAC poured an astonishing $14 million into the race — helping make it the most expensive House primary contest ever. AIPAC and allied groups similarly backed a primary defeat of Missouri congresswoman and Squad member Cori Bush — that ended being the fourth-priciest House race on record. 

the AIPAC interference in this primary could bankrupt the israeli economy https://t.co/E5zdKnZ8n8

— Lowland Aura Crofter (@ProgDirectorate) April 4, 2025

The new Data for Progress survey was apparently designed to generate momentum for AOC: She was the only hypothetical challenger presented to participants. She beat Schumer by a 55% to 36% margin, with 9% not sure. In addition to asking voter preference using only the candidates’ names, voters were also asked for their feelings after seeing two biographical statements about each of them, one positive and one negative. The additional context barely nudged the results. However, the verbiage describing AOC was bound to resonate more with a US left wing that’s highly inflamed and combative amid the Trump administration’s aggressive start:

• The positive bio said “Ocasio-Cortez has been a leading progressive voice and is seen as a rare member of Congress willing to rock the boat and speak truth to power.”
• The negative version said she “energize[s] extreme elements in her party” and has a “confrontational style.” 

Even if Data for Progress did have its thumb on the scales for AOC, it surely doesn’t fully account for the huge 19-point margin. On the other hand, we have three years to the 2028 New York Senate primary, with many game-changing developments and machinations between now and then. 

Last week we explained that this particular trade war will be all about the deals that Trump announces as he pulls the country and market from the trade war abyss.

That was quick: Thailand to Negotiate With the US on 36% Imposed Tariffs: PM

Next: everyone else

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 3, 2025

Everyone else…. starting with Vietnam, which as we profiled Thursday was slapped with some of the highest reciprocal tariffs…

… crushing countless US consumer companies who rely on cheap Vietnamese exports.

Sure enough, confirming that Trump’s “dealmaking” was about to shine, on Friday Trump posted on his Truth Social account, announced that he had a “very productive” call with the head of the Vietnamese communist party, adding that if Vietnam wants to cut their tariffs to “ZERO”, all they have to do is “make an agreement with the U.S.”…

Fast forward just one day, and we have an example of the first official capitulation by a trading counterparty as Bloomberg reports that Vietnam has offered to remove all tariffs on US imports after Donald Trump announced a 46% levy on the Southeast Asian nation, according to an April 5 letter from Vietnam’s communist party.

The offer was made by party chief To Lam to the US president in a letter that was seen by Bloomberg. In the letter, Lam requested that the US not apply any additional tariffs or fees on Vietnamese goods and asked to postpone the implementation of the tariff announced by Trump last week by at least 45 days after April 9.

The letter confirms comments made by Trump on Friday on his Truth Social network, following a call between the two leaders. Vietnam, which has increasingly become a key manufacturing and export alternative to China, was slapped with one of the highest tariff rates worldwide last Wednesday.  

Expect all the companies profiled as the biggest casualties from the Vietnam tariffs to soar, as the market realizes that for all the posturing, Trump’s tariffs were just that: a negotiating chip to minimize trade barriers against the US, which as Vietnam so aptly demonstrated, are now well on their way out.

And now we wait to see just how much the limping Vietnamese dong, which on Friday drooped to an all time low, will firm up on the news…

In addition to the news about Vietnam bending the knee, The Epoch Times’ Jacob Burg reports that Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te on April 6 said his nation would offer zero tariffs and no retaliation as the start of negotiations with the United States while vowing to remove trade barriers.

Lai said Taiwanese companies will also increase their investments in the United States. The comments were made in response to sweeping import tariffs announced by President Donald Trump  on April 2. Taiwan has a trade surplus with America and will see a 32 percent tariff on its imports into the United States.

The new tariffs do not, however, affect semiconductors, one of Taiwan’s largest exports.

While meeting with executives from small and medium-sized companies at his residence, Lai noted that because Taiwan depends on trade, its economy may face difficulties dealing with U.S. tariffs but that their impacts could be minimized.

“Tariff negotiations can start with ‘zero tariffs’ between Taiwan and the United States, with reference to the U.S.-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement,” he said. Trump has said anything that is compliant with the U.S.-Canada-Mexico agreement will not be subject to additional tariffs.

Lai added that his Cabinet is considering what extensive agricultural, industrial, and energy purchases to make from the United States, as his defense ministry has so far offered its weapons purchase plans.

“All purchases will be actively pursued,” he said.

Additionally, non-tariff barriers are a signal for the United States to evaluate the fairness of trade, and Taiwan will proactively settle non-tariff barriers that have endured for multiple years to smoothen trade negotiations with America, Lai added.

Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

China has aggressively collected Americans’ genetic information for years, and coupled with biotechnology advances, national security concerns have grown. Multiple states are now taking action to protect DNA data.

“You can actually take someone’s DNA, take their medical profile, and you can target a biological weapon that will kill that person or take them off the battlefield or make them inoperable,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said during the 2022 Aspen Security Forum.

“There are now weapons under development, and developed, that are designed to target specific people.”

One fear is that the DNA gathered by consumer genetic testing companies routinely used by Americans to trace ancestry or find relatives could fall into the wrong hands. In 2023, a hacker exposed the genetic data of about 7 million users of 23andMe.

When the company announced on March 23 that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, some privacy experts advised consumers to delete their data—a service that the company says it has always offered consumers.

“What we’re witnessing with 23andMe is a stark wakeup call for data privacy,” said Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN. “Genetic data isn’t just a bit of personal information—it is a blueprint of your entire biological profile. When a company goes under, this personal data is an asset to be sold with potentially far-reaching consequences.”

And while more Americans use consumer DNA testing services, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been unable to advance bills to prevent foreign adversaries from collecting genetic information from U.S. citizens, despite bipartisan support.

Most of the legislation to protect DNA is occurring at the state level.

As of November 2024, 13 states have enacted laws regulating direct-to-consumer genetic testing and ensuring that consumers have the power to protect their DNA. They are: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.

At least 11 states—Arizona, Utah, Nebraska, Tennessee, Kansas, Montana, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Rhode Island—introduced bills this spring to block China and other adversaries from gaining access to genetic data through sequencing equipment and software and to forbid DNA information from being stored overseas.

As of April 1, Utah’s bill failed, while Tennessee passed its measure into law.

Montana state Sen. Daniel Zolnikov told The Epoch Times that states needed to take the lead to protect DNA privacy from foreign adversaries such as China because Congress has failed to keep up with the threats.

“Their technology laws are decades outdated. If they’re not going to do it and they’re just going to give speeches and not actually legislate, I guess we’ll do it,” the Montana Republican said.

During the current state legislative session, Zolnikov is sponsoring the Montana Genomic Security Act, which builds on a 2023 genetic privacy bill that he sponsored and which was signed into law.

The privacy law prohibits genetic testing services from sharing consumer DNA information without consent and gives people the right to request the destruction of their genetic data and biological samples.

This year’s Genomic Security Act would “oppose the collection and analysis of genetic information for military and surveillance purposes by the People’s Republic of China.”

The bill blocks medical or research facilities in Montana from using genetic sequencers or software produced in or by a foreign adversary, a state-owned enterprise of a foreign adversary, a company within a foreign adversary, or an owned or controlled subsidiary or affiliate of a company domiciled within a foreign adversary.

Beijing has a military-civil fusion mandate that requires all Chinese companies to share technology and information with the communist nation’s military and intelligence agencies.

The bill also provides money to businesses to replace foreign equipment and prevents the storage of Montanans’ genetic data outside the United States without approval from the individual.

Violators would face a $10,000 fine for each offense. Victims would be allowed damages of not less than $5,000 for each unauthorized use of the person’s genomic information.

National Security Issues

Emma Waters, Heritage Foundation biotechnology analyst, warned that China’s potential collection of Americans’ DNA and health care information poses a significant national security risk.

“In the last decade alone, Chinese officials and military leaders have prioritized advancements in biotechnology as the future of warfare,” she told The Epoch Times.

“Chinese publications have discussed ‘ethnic genetic attacks’ that target a specific population as one avenue they are interested in pursuing.”

Waters said the U.S. government needs to ensure that health care records and genetic information aren’t bought or included in data-sharing agreements with companies tied to adversaries such as China.

Applications for biotechnology contracts in the United States that rely on federal funding should be scrutinized to assess potential national security risks and any connection with foreign adversaries, she said.

Although Congress is yet to pass a DNA-related bill, the bipartisan BIOSECURE Act was reintroduced in January, the House version of the Prohibiting Foreign Access to American Genetic Information Act of 2024.

The BIOSECURE Act would restrict federally funded medical providers from using foreign adversary biotech companies of concern, including BGI Group, formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute, and its subsidiaries, MGI and Complete Genomics, along with another People’s Liberation Army-affiliated firm called WuXi Apptec.

The bill targets BGI, which in 2021 was blacklisted by the Pentagon as a Chinese military company. Five company affiliates also have been sanctioned by the Commerce Department, which accused at least two of them of improperly using genetic information against ethnic minorities in China.

“Beijing Genomics Institute collects genetic data of Americans [and] uses it for research with the Chinese military,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said when announcing the legislation.

“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will undoubtedly use the genetic data collected by BGI to further its malign aggression, potentially even to develop a bioweapon used to target the American people,” he said.

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) reintroduced the federal Genomic Data Protection Act at the beginning of March—it’s the same bill that was introduced last year but failed to pass.

The bill would allow U.S. consumers using at-home consumer DNA tests to delete their genomic data and request the destruction of their biological samples.

Read the rest here…