Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on Fox Business to discuss some very important current issues in the world of finance, banking and trade.
Bessent begins by answering questions about the U.S. government taking equity interests in companies that come to the U.S. for support. Bessent then notes the potential for the Trump administration to construct a taxpayer stake in Fannie and Freddie, before the Treasury Secretary moves on to talk about the trade issues with India. WATCH:
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:
Too funny. The economic pretending is so strong almost every outlet leads the Gross Domestic Product news release by saying “better than expected.” Duh! The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases the GDP date for the second quarter (Q2) and shows a 3.0% jump in economic growth.
We say “duh”, because it was an entirely predictable result. Why, because imports are a deduction to the GDP equation and imports dropped 30.3% in the second quarter (Table 1, line 19). We said this was going to happen because there was a surge of imported goods in the first quarter as companies tried to be proactive with orders in advance of tariffs.
That massive influx of imports made the Q1 GDP weak (-0.5%). Conversely, with all those goods delivered in the first quarter, the products were not imported in Q2 and the GDP rebounded. The lack of imports, ultimately the lack of deduction, resulted in a 5.18% positive change to the second quarter GDP (Table 2, line 47).
But wait, the winning doesn’t stop there. Remember, the Big Beautiful Bill just passed in July. That means fixed asset investment is likely to expand in Q3 because 100% expensing on capital investment was part of the BBB.
But wait, there’s more. Annual wages spiked 4.4% — double the rate of inflation (2.1%). That means people are growing their wage incomes twice as fast as prices are rising. Real wage growth is back again! Yes, REAL WAGE GROWTH.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer hold a joint press conference in Stockholm after concluding the third-round of trade talks with Chinese officials.
The discussion and press availability covered U.S-China trade negotiations, economic cooperation and whether President Trump will meet Xi Jinping. Key moments include questions on tariffs, supply chains, and Beijing diplomacy. WATCH:
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Treasury Secretary Bessent notes as the U.S. economy continues strengthening, and as each trade deal with the U.K, Japan, ASEAN nations and Europe have cemented, the talks between the U.S. and China become more substantive.
With each global trade partner agreeing to terms of access to the USA market more pressure is naturally created on China to complete negotiations and affirm their position as supplier to the world’s largest market.
Chopper Pressers are the best pressers. This morning as President Trump departs the White House for a trip to Scotland, the most transparent president in history stops to take questions and deliver remarks to the assembled press pool.
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President Trump states he is anticipating meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his visit to Turnberry, Scotland, and takes questions on a variety of subjects including, trade, dollar value, EU trade agreement, Russia/Ukraine, Iran nuclear ambitions, Gaza, Hamas, the Federal Reserve, the economy, President Obama’s immunity status, the ongoing review and investigation by DNI Tulsi Gabbard and more.
The Japanese essentially did not want to face a 25% tariff on automobiles exported to the USA. At the same time, they did not want to permit full USA access to several sectors of their market. The solution is quite remarkable.
Japan agrees to be the bank, to essentially finance any national security priority of President Trump to the tune of $55o billion. In return, Japan gets a 15% tariff on automobiles, and 10% return on the profit of the ¹business they finance in the U.S. Japan is essentially purchasing a lower tariff rate.
PRESIDENT TRUMP – “We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made. Japan will invest, at my direction, $550 Billion Dollars into the United States, which will receive 90% of the Profits. This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it. Perhaps most importantly, Japan will open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks, Rice and certain other Agricultural Products, and other things. Japan will pay Reciprocal Tariffs to the United States of 15%. This is a very exciting time for the United States of America, and especially for the fact that we will continue to always have a great relationship with the Country of Japan. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explains:
EXAMPLE: President Trump wants generic drug manufacturing in the USA. U.S. company ‘Main Street Drugs’ agrees to build a $100 billion manufacturing plant. Japan finances the building and company creation. Main Street Drugs owns and operates the business, keeps 90% of the profits, Japan gets 10%.
Trump (USA) has $450 billion in financing left to spend on the next priority, perhaps a railroad connection or transit system.
We are approximately 10 days away from the baseline and reciprocal trade tariffs taking place on August 1, 2025. The U.S. economy is strengthening; inflation is not a factor, and the existing tariffs are bringing in a tremendous amount of revenue.
The most difficult trade deal to make is with the European Union as Secretary Bessent notes. It is unlikely that any trade agreement with the EU will be reached because the EU has all the benefits and no desire to lose their status (ie. Marshal Plan).
White House Trade and Economic Advisor Peter Navarro takes a well deserved victory lap on the latest U.S. consumer sales news. The Census Bureau report, yesterday, highlighted that consumer sales remain strong at +0.6% – significantly higher than all economists forecast [DATA HERE].
Retail sales growth is important, because approximately two-thirds of the U.S. GDP growth is driven by consumer sales. With inflation low, retail sales high, and with a previously reported drop in U.S. imports, the ¹second quarter GDP is likely to be much stronger than anyone previously predicted. Thus, Peter Navarro is leaning forward against the naysayers.
This is essentially a repeat of the 2017/2018 economic outcome from President Trump’s first term in office. The tariffs, which are applied to the ‘cost’ side of the dynamic, are mostly being absorbed by major producing nations who are reliant upon export to the U.S. market. Simultaneously, the tariffs are generating income – essentially exfiltrating foreign wealth and returning those funds to the USA; a complete reversal of the rust-belt dynamic. WATCH:
What Peter Navarro outlines is the core of MAGAnomics. This is also the baseline for our CTH assembly in support of economic nationalism, which is why we ended up in conflict with the Chamber of Commerce Republicans.
Tariffs are a tool to leverage reciprocal trade, and as long as nations like China continue taking measures to subsidize their exports, the tariffs simultaneously take wealth (those subsidies) from Beijing and return it to the USA.
This reality has always been the model we predicted would be successful for Americans, and I will remind everyone that ONLY DONALD TRUMP could deliver this MAGAnomic program. Everything else, Epstein, Musk, etc. is chaff and countermeasures deployed by both Democrats and Republicans in an effort to take back control of the money flow.
Sean Hannity and John Solomon have apparently ejected Sara Carter for “Tick Tock Term-2”, seemingly replacing her with James (‘sounds like Gopher from Winnie the Pooh‘) Comer.
In the latest iteration of the tick-tock walls closing in, at least according to Solomon, the FBI is currently doing a “grand conspiracy” investigation of Barack Obama, James Comey, John Brennan and James Clapper.
Solomon says below, “This is a criminal conspiracy. And by treating it as a conspiracy, you eliminate the five-year statutes on individual crimes. So if something happened in 2016, but it was part of an ongoing conspiracy that continued with Jack Smith raiding Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, it can be charged in the larger conspiracy. Even though, if you tried to charge it as an individual case, you wouldn’t get it.” WATCH:
According to Solomon, even Lee Zeldin is a potential candidate to lead a special prosecution team against the former conspirators, and the evidence is so overwhelming … “a special prosecutor would have a jumpstart. This could be wrapped up in a couple of years.”…
I can’t even begin to wrap my head around how ridiculous this claim by Hannity, Solomon and Representative ‘Gopher‘ Comer actually is. Who believes this nonsense? We are years beyond believing the FBI is structurally doing anything to return fire against the Obama administration; yet here is Fox News selling bulk hopium to their viewers.
Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Richard Blumental appear on CBS with the always dramatic Margaret Brennan to discuss what President Trump is going to do against Russia and President Vladimir Putin tomorrow. Senator Lindsey Graham is very happy with the plans President Trump will outline tomorrow; very happy.
The action appears to center around the confiscation of Russian assets, Russian central bank reserves held in European bonds. The money belongs to the people of Russia in the form of bonds previously purchased by Russia using a system that many nations follow, including all those nations who buy U.S. treasuries.
If the USA or Europe end up confiscating those funds, the only thing this action would prove is that the western financial system cannot be trusted. Many Nations are already reluctant, some fleeing from EU/U.S treasuries as a result of this threat, and we are seeing changes in the bond rates as a result. Senator Graham doesn’t care about the strategic financial interests of the USA, he’s more concerned about fighting Russia regardless of long-term ramifications. WATCH:
[TRANSCRIPT] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation. We have a lot to get to this morning. So, let’s begin with Senator Lindsey Graham in Clemson, South Carolina, and Senator Richard Blumenthal in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They both just returned from Europe, where they met with Ukrainian President Zelensky. Good morning to you both, Senators.
SENATOR RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: Good morning.
SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM: Good Morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Graham, I want to start with you. Russia is escalating. They’re not ending this war in Ukraine. NATO’s Secretary General is going to be here, in Washington, this week and will be meeting with President Trump, who is, according to our reporting, considering fresh funding for Ukraine. That would be the first time since he’s taken office. What do you know about what is coming?
