“Peace is the prize” ~ Donald Trump

White HouseA- President Donald J. Trump hosted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House, where the two leaders signed a historic joint declaration for peace after decades of bitter conflict and scores of lives lost — a landmark achievement for international diplomacy that only President Trump could deliver.

The two leaders also signed bilateral economic agreements with the U.S., unlocking the great potential of the South Caucasus region in trade, transit, energy, infrastructure, and technology, and creating new opportunities for the American people and American businesses.

“For more than 35 years, Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought a bitter conflict that resulted in tremendous suffering for both nations… Many tried to find a resolution… and they were unsuccessful. With this Accord, we’ve finally succeeded in making peace,” said President Trump.

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President Trump held a brief presser in the oval office to review some key performance indicators within the economy.  As noted by Steve Moore, the MAGAnomic policies of President Trump deliver remarkable results – particularly for the working class or blue-collar workers.  WATCH:

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The financial pundits are putting their customary spin on it, but overall as the reciprocal tariffs begin, things are going well.

China’s trade surplus with the US declined to USD 23.74 billion in July, down from USD 26.57 billion in June, as both exports and imports with the US declined, falling 21.7% and 18.9%, respectively. {LINK}

For Germany, exports to the U.S. slid 2.1% to 11.8 billion euros, the third consecutive monthly decrease and the lowest value since February 2022, Destatis said. They were 8.4% lower than the same month last year. {LINK} However, since imports from the U.S. increased at the same time, this narrowed Germany’s trade surplus in goods with the U.S.

Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter left Washington empty-handed on Wednesday after a hastily arranged trip to avert a crippling 39% tariff on the country’s exports to the United States, its biggest market, three sources familiar with the matter said. {LINK}

Reciprocal tariffs begin today. “Before Thursday, virtually every country’s goods were subject to a minimum 10% tariff. Now rates vary substantially from country to country.”

The highest rates imposed are on goods from Brazil (50%), Laos (40%), Myanmar (40%), Switzerland (39%), Iraq (35%) and Serbia (35%).

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Apple CEO Tim Cook joined President Donald Trump at the White House to announce a commitment by the tech company to increase its investment in U.S. manufacturing by an additional $100 billion over the next four years. Apple is now committed to investing $600 billion in expanded U.S. manufacturing.

The media questioning begins at 20:00 of the video below.  WATCH:

“This includes new and expanded work with 10 companies across America. They produce components — semiconductor chips included — that are used in Apple products sold all over the world, and we’re grateful to the President for his support,” Cook said in a statement announcing the investment.

The new manufacturing partners include Corning, Coherent, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments and Broadcom among others.

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President Donald Trump is actually doing something almost all presidents have failed to do, reduce the size and scale of the federal government.

The Washington Post is very concerned about the economic datapoints coming from the DC area.  Including: “the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal workforce, including the elimination of thousands of federal jobs, is being acutely felt in a national capital region.”

WaPo – In May, D.C.’s unemployment rate was 5.9 percent — the highest in more than three years.  The number of federal workers turning to unemployment insurance is climbing steadily, with claims rising 64 percent between February and June — from 1,064 to 1,747. That surge is starting to show up in the city’s bottom line: In June alone, D.C. paid out more than $2.5 million in federal civilian jobless benefits, a sharp jump from earlier in the spring.

Maryland saw a similar spike, with payments nearly doubling since April. In Virginia’s Fairfax County, unemployment has reached levels not seen since mid-2021.

LAYOFFS – Layoffs tracked through Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices are rapidly climbing. The federal WARN Act requires large employers to give advance notice before mass layoffs, offering an early signal of job market stress. So far this year, the D.C. region has recorded more WARN-notice layoffs than in any year outside the pandemic, with nearly 10,000 workers cut as of July — more than the total of the last two years combined. While the data mostly reflects private-sector job losses, it underscores how quickly layoffs are accelerating.

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President Trump holds an impromptu press conference as he heads back to Washington DC. Topics included the Russia/Ukraine conflict, the fighting in Gaza against Hamas and more.

Presidential Emissary Steve Witkoff will likely be heading to Russia, at the Russian’s request for a discussion, mid-week. WATCH:

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National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett appears on Meet the Press with the competitor for most dramatic political pundit, Kristen Welker.

The first question surrounds President Trump firing Bureau of Labor and Statistics Commissioner Dr. Erika McEntarfer.

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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer appears on Face the Nation with the ever-dramatic Margaret Brennan. Video and Transcript Below:

The part about Canada is very interesting.

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: And we’re joined now by United States Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer. Ambassador, good to have you here.

JAMIESON GREER: Great to be here. Thank you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So the President signed this executive order on Thursday, raises tariff rates on about 70 countries. Should we expect those to be negotiated down in the coming days?

JAMIESON GREER: I don’t, I don’t think they will be in the coming days. I think a lot of these, well I know a lot of these, are set rates pursuant to deals. Some of these deals are announced, some are not, others depend on the level of the trade deficit or surplus we may have with the country. So, so these, these tariff rates are pretty much set. I expect I do have my phone blowing up. There are trade ministers who, who want to talk more and see how they can work in a different way with the United States, but I think that we have, we’re seeing truly the contours of the President’s tariff plan right now with these rates.

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Eh, not a good look.  Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in July (+73,000) and has shown little change since April. The unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, changed little in July. Employment continued to trend up in health care and in social assistance. Federal government continued to lose jobs. [SOURCE]

PRESIDENT TRUMP – “In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad — Just like when they had three great days around the 2024 Presidential Election, and then, those numbers were “taken away” on November 15, 2024, right after the Election, when the Jobs Numbers were massively revised DOWNWARD, making a correction of over 818,000 Jobs — A TOTAL SCAM. Jerome “Too Late” Powell is no better! But, the good news is, our Country is doing GREAT!”

EARLIER – “I was just informed that our Country’s “Jobs Numbers” are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records — No one can be that wrong?

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The Federal Reserve Board announced on Friday that Adriana D. Kugler will step down from her position as governor of the Federal Reserve Board, effective August 8, 2025.

Dr. Kugler, who has served as a governor since September 13, 2023, submitted her letter of resignation to President Trump and will return to Georgetown University as a professor this fall. The text of the letter from Governor Kugler is below:

[SOURCE pdf]

President Trump will now get to appoint a replacement.

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