Today, President Donald J Trump signed an executive order triggering the first ever system of “reciprocal trade tariffs,” a seismic change in U.S. trade policy that will also consider the respective nation’s VAT (Value Added Tax) tariff.

Within the executive order [as outlined], the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative will consider foreign industry subsidies, and non-monetary tariff barriers as part of the determination of the tariff levied.  This is a stunning shift in U.S trade agreements that will cut through all the angles being deployed to avoid U.S. tariffs and block U.S exports into their country.

The policy will pressure foreign nations to lower their trade barriers to U.S. goods and eliminate disparity in foreign trade agreements.  One big example will be the impact on the EU through the continuing Marshall Plan.  The EU will now face reciprocal tariffs and no longer benefit from one-way tariff acceptance. There are obviously no tariffs on products made inside the USA.

With “reciprocal tariffs” the Commerce Dept and USTR will now determine the trade imbalances with each individual country and will evaluate each FTA (Free Trade Agreement), one-by-one to deconflict the trade imbalance.  Direct tariffs, subsidies, regulatory hurdles, non-monetary trade barriers and hidden export subsidies will be addressed as part of the reciprocity evaluation.  This is a completely new dynamic in the era of modern global trade and economics.

During the executive order signing event, President Trump took questions from the media. WATCH:

Between now and April 1st, each individual trade agreement will be evaluated with consideration for all facets of the cost for American companies to export to the evaluated nation.  Direct tariffs, Value Added Taxes (VAT), state subsidies and non-monetary regulatory tariff barriers, will be determined for each nation.  That nation will then be made aware of the tariff against each sector within their export system to the United States.

Effective April 2, 2025, President Trump will then have the tariff data provided by the USTR and Secretary of Commerce. President Trump will determine when the reciprocal tariff will be triggered and will likely engage in discussions with the leaders of the foreign nations.

These fireside chat-style impromptu pressers during executive order signings are awesome.  The revolutionary change in government transparency and communication is, well, quite literally historic and stunning.  The media can ask questions in real-time as the specific policy is implemented and explained, while simultaneously the ability of the media to shape an anti-Trump policy narrative is removed.

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President Trump delivered some rather remarkable filler information today surrounding the phone calls between himself, President Putin and President Zelenskyy.  The remarks, which should not be missed, come at the conclusion of the Tulsi Gabbard swearing in ceremony. [09:45 video, prompted]

The first question received was about the Russia v Ukraine conflict and the conversations with Zelenskyy and Putin.  President Trump outlined that the first meeting to end the conflict will likely take place between himself and Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia as organized through the intermediary, Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS). [11:45]

President Trump noted there was unlikely to be any NATO discussion for Ukraine, and the concession of territory to Russia was generally accepted foregone conclusion.  [15:10] Due to the curiously missing Zelenskyy in the response, the media asked if President Trump “sees Ukraine as an equal member in the process.” President Trump responded that it was an interesting question, but ultimately “they have to make peace.”  President Trump then noted that eventually, during this ceasefire, Ukraine is going to need to conduct elections. [More than implying that Zelenskyy is irrelevant].

The general response in combination with the previously released statement from Zelenskyy seems to frame a strange dynamic.  Zelenskyy never asked Trump to visit Ukraine, and the way President Trump frames the Zelenskyy perspective is as if the Ukranian President is willingly an outside observer without a genuine ability to engage without having to ask another “entity” for permission.  WATCH:

The way President Trump outlines the discussion(s) further evidences the suspicions we highlighted before. [SEE HERE] The response to the Ukraine questions extends to around 22:17 of the video, where the subject changes to DOGE.  There again, some really interesting remarks from President Trump.

President Trump notes the corruption being outlined is of such a massive number, “billion and billions”, that there is no way these payments do not include kickbacks, likely to politicians.  Trump then turns to AG Bondi and remarks that this is something the AG will likely have to look at. “There’s a lot of things to look at Pam.”

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Earlier today President Trump and Elon Musk, head of the Dept of Government Efficiency, held a press conference in the oval office to answer questions about the ongoing DOGE review of government.

Elon Musk outlines examples of how the various government agencies spend money without any standard accounting principles that facilitate audits and reviews.  In material fact the system of government that Elon Musk and President Trump outline, appears fully designed to generate fraud.

In essence, “waste, fraud and abuse” within government, is a feature of how the government systems are organized, not a flaw. WATCH:

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It is amazing how the media reporters present the structure of their questions to support the waste, fraud and abusive systems within the administration of government as it is outlined.  We do not dislike the media enough.

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Lawyers representing President Trump and the office of the presidency have filed an urgent response motion to remove a court order by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer that blocked the Treasury Secretary and “political appointees” from accessing Treasury Department systems. [SEE ADMINISTRATION FILING HERE]

The filing is in response to District Judge Engelmayer’s blatant effort to engage in judicial activism and violate the Article II separation of power.  The Chief executive cannot be limited in scope or activity by the judicial branch, let alone a single circuit court judge within the regional judicial branch who is attempting to block the executive branch nationally.

[Source pdf]

“Basic democratic accountability requires that every executive agency’s work be supervised by politically accountable leadership, who ultimately answer to the president,” Justice Department attorneys wrote in the 11-page filing, calling the order “impermissible” and “anti-constitutional.”

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Back in 2023, when few were paying attention to the Defense Department’s inability to pass an audit, Jon Stewart highlighted exactly what happens when you start asking the right questions.

As the Dept of Govt Efficiency (DOGE) begins to engage the massive government agencies, it is well worth reminding ourselves of the institutional mindset that permeates these government silos.  The conversations between Jon Steward and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks takes place at a symposium cohosted by the University of Chicago’s school of public policy.

Below is an excerpt of the larger conversation.  This small part shows the hubris of the DoD being questioned about the $850 billion in taxpayer funds that are given to the military.  WATCH:

The full interview is HERE on C-Span for review.

DOGE lead Elon Musk is highlighting this interview today to help people understand the mindset the DOGE team are encountering as they begin to question the spending of various agencies within the federal government.

Former Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks exemplifies the perspective and outlook of the bureaucrats within the federal government.  The arrogance and evasion on display are quite remarkable.  Now extend this attitude across the broad systems of government, and these are the people in direct opposition to President Trump and Elon Musk.

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Before getting to the announcement, let me first answer a repeated question. “Why is it so easy for DOGE to identify wasteful spending?” ..in simple form.

When the trillion-dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed, those “shovel ready jobs” in fiscal year 2009, that was the last year of a full federal budget.  Every budget year thereafter has been a process of continuing resolutions and omnibus spending.  Within the CR process they use “baseline budgeting,” which essentially accepts all prior spending as the starting point for the next spending allotment within the Continuing Resolution process.

That means, the $1 trillion ARRA was not only spent in 2009 (Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi on behalf of Barack Obama), but it was also spent again in ever year thereafter.  Without a formally followed federal budget process, every year there is an extra trillion dollars (that’s a thousand billion) injected into federal spending.  That accounts for $16 trillion of the current debt.  Make sense now?

Elon Musk and DOGE announce the following:

To be clear, what the DOGE team and U.S Treasury have jointly agreed makes sense is the following:

– Require that all outgoing government payments have a payment categorization code, which is necessary in order to pass financial audits. This is frequently left blank, making audits almost impossible.

– All payments must also include a rationale for the payment in the comment field, which is currently left blank. Importantly, we are not yet applying ANY judgment to this rationale but simply requiring that SOME attempts be made to explain the payment more than NOTHING!

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In a stunning and sweeping emergency injunction that has even stunned the people who demanded it, a Manhattan-based District Judge has just removed Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent from his authority over the Treasury Department; blocked any political appointee from accessing records within the Treasury Department; blocked any “special appointee” of President Trump from records within Treasury; and demanded that all information previously extracted be destroyed.

The emergency injunction was signed by District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan, {Ruling pdf Here} determined without any input from the Trump administration and applies until Friday, February 14, 2025, when U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas will hear the full arguments of the lawsuit.

The emergency ruling comes as a result of 15 (Soros installed) attorneys general from New Jersey, New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Vermont, all filed suit in New York seeking to block Elon Musk and DOGE from access to information that would reveal how activist groups in their states have been funded by the U.S. government. [Link to Press Release Here]

WASHINGTON – […] The lawsuit said Musk and his team could disrupt federal funding for health clinics, preschools, climate initiatives, and other programs, and that Republican President Donald Trump could use the information to further his political agenda.

DOGE’s access to the system also “poses huge cybersecurity risks that put vast amounts of funding for the States and their residents in peril,” the state attorneys general said. They sought a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE’s access.

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Remember when President Trump established the “External Revenue Service?” … It’s all connected and sequential.

Almost everyone will miss, in part because outcomes appear in a sequence that few care to follow, but buried in the Trump tariff Executive Order {SEE HERE} you will discover something.  As the unofficial Deep State strategist, and the self-appointed misfit explainer of stuff, lol, we will explain:

[Sec 2, SubSection (h)]: Sec. 2. (a) All articles that are products of Canada as defined by the Federal Register notice described in subsection (e) of this section (Federal Register notice), and except for those products described in subsection (b) of this section, shall be, consistent with law, subject to an additional 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty. Such rate of duty shall apply with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on February 4, 2025, except that goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, after such time that were loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading or in transit on the final mode of transport prior to entry into the United States before 12:01 a.m. eastern time on February 1, 2025, shall not be subject to such additional duty, only if the importer certifies to CBP as specified in the Federal Register notice.

[…] (h) For avoidance of doubt, duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321 shall not be available for the articles described in subsection (a) and subsection (b) of this section. {link}

So, Canada and Mexico get 25% tariffs, but China only 10%.  Why?  The secret is in that subsection “(h)” when it talks about de minimis treatment. Essentially, what President Trump is doing is levying a much more massive import tax, and possible confiscation impact on the core source of fentanyl (and other illegal) substances.

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I have been waiting for someone to outline what the Dept of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is all about.  Unfortunately, perhaps due to the history of the matter, it appears few understand. So, with that in mind, and accepting the operators of DOGE may not have a fulsome comprehension of the dynamic, here is what it means.

The last Federal Budget that passed through “regular order” was for Fiscal Year 2008, signed by President George W Bush in September of 2007.  Every budget since has been outside regular order; a series of continuing resolutions, omnibus spending packages and short-term funding mechanisms.  {CITATION}

That is correct.  In the past 17 years, all federal spending has been ‘short-term’ or ‘stop-gap’ spending measures, generally known as “Continuing Resolutions,” where the govt (House and Senate) continue to perpetually resolve to fund the government.  The CRs as they are known, punt the spending debate by accepting a baseline of prior spending and tweaking around the edges.

The key takeaway to begin thinking about DOGE is to understand that REGULAR ORDER has not been used since Fiscal Year 2008.

Title III of the Congressional Budget Act outlines a legal timeline that each President and Congress must follow {SEE HERE}.  Prior to 2007, Continuing Resolutions were only used to resolve short term arguments about spending priorities.

♦ BACKGROUND – The President is required by law to submit his budget by the first Monday in February.  Yes, even when an election takes place and a President doesn’t assume office until January 20th, the first Monday in February is still the legal requirement for the new White House budget proposal.

The Presidents’ budget is then submitted to The House of Representatives, where two weeks later the Congressional Budget Office, reviews the budget and issues an opinion as to the cost of the budget.   No later than six weeks after the President submits his budget all House committees send the House Appropriations Committee their spending proposals [April 15].

Through May and June, each budgetary appropriations bill from the House is sent to the Senate.  The Senate receives the House appropriations bills, then reviews through the Senate Appropriations Committee (Thune just picked Susan Collins as Chair).  The Senate proposes their spending priorities based on the House bill because the House has constitutional authority to originate all spending [June 15].  The House and Senate budgets are “reconciled” using parliamentary procedures [June 30] and then sent to the President for signature.

The fiscal year begins October 1st.

That’s the regular order process.

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The picture of the seating assignments speaks so loudly you don’t need to hear a word they are saying.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is sandwiched between Secretary of Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick and the man who holds the hammer for Canada’s economic future, President-Elect Donald J Trump.

Also pictured to President Trump’s left is his pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and his wife Julia Nesheiwat, the sister of Surgeon General nominee Janette Nesheiwat. Also included in the photo is President Trump’s interior secretary pick, Doug Burgum.  Suffice to say, the economic half of the Trump Doctrine purposefully in place.

Corporate media are focusing on President Trump’s prior statements about imposing tariffs on Canada as the narrative to go with the hastily assembled visit by Justin from Canada….

ABC – […] The meeting came after Trump threatened sweeping 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada until both countries stop what he claims is a flow of drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States.

Trudeau told reporters earlier this week after he and Trump spoke on the phone following the tariff threat that they had a “good call.” He added that he looks forward to “lots of great conversations” with Trump. (more)

According to narrative media, stenographers for the status quo, the focus is on President Trump potentially seeking an early renegotiation of the USMCA trade agreement which is scheduled for a revisit in 2026.

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