US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discusses President Trump’s tariff plans, federal deficit negotiations and the efforts to extend the 2017 tax cuts with Annmarie Hordern on “Balance of Power.”
Bessent walks through a strong, focused and deliberate outline while warning other nations not to assemble any retaliatory effort, or else the tariff ceiling currently outlined is likely to go much higher. WATCH:
SEGMENTS:
00:00- Bessent says of tariffs, “this is the number barring retaliation”
01:20- China tariff rate, potential rate
03:13- Bessent on markets: “A mag seven problem, not a MAGA problem
05:07- Potential timing of reconciliation bill
07:00 – US on Debt ‘Warning Track’ for May or June
07:45 – Bessent on raising revenues through tariffs
09:18 -Bessent discusses US soft data, sentiment
10:25 – Government agenda for the remainder of 2025, Ukraine progress, and Iran
Senior White House Officials Taylor Budowich, Stephen Miller, and Karoline Leavitt have a discussion on Tariffs with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
President Trump’s trade and tariff policy is a complete restructuring and reset of the U.S. economy and manufacturing base. The former presidential administrations (both parties) from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan, to George HW Bush, to Bill Clinton, to George W Bush, to Barack Obama and forward to Joe Biden, all of them purposefully and with specific intent taking apart the U.S. manufacturing base through trade and economic policy.
The discussion below is familiar to those who have watched the MAGAnomic policy unfold. However, for those who are only beginning to understand just how impactful these policies will have on the life of your family, this conversation begins the journey. WATCH:
President Trump delivers a speech at the White House outlining a global trade reset established on the principle of trade and tariff reciprocity. [Primary Executive Order Here] – [Executive Order Here]
“The post-war international economic system was based upon three incorrect assumptions: first, that if the United States led the world in liberalizing tariff and non-tariff barriers the rest of the world would follow; second, that such liberalization would ultimately result in more economic convergence and increased domestic consumption among U.S. trading partners converging towards the share in the United States; and third, that as a result, the United States would not accrue large and persistent goods trade deficits.”
“Put simply, while World Trade Organization (WTO) Members agreed to bind their tariff rates on a most-favored-nation (MFN) basis and thereby provide their best tariff rates to all WTO Members, they did not agree to bind their tariff rates at similarly low levels or to apply tariff rates on a reciprocal basis. Consequently, according to the WTO, the United States has among the lowest simple average MFN tariff rates in the world at 3.3 percent, while many of our key trading partners like Brazil (11.2 percent), China (7.5 percent), the European Union (EU) (5 percent), India (17 percent), and Vietnam (9.4 percent) have simple average MFN tariff rates that are significantly higher.”
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Country-specific ad valorem rates of duty as specified in Annex I to the main Executive Order.
The tariffs generally target completed goods, not the imported chemical or component materials needed to by industry to manufacture the products domestically. Annex II are the exemptions to the Executive Order.
I have been going through the details and will have much more soon.
President Trump and the White House posted the following message to begin “Liberation Day.”
President Donald Trump is scheduled to end the U.S Marshal Plan for Europe, eliminating one-way tariffs eighty years after the Marshal Plan began. President Trump is now planning to institute global reciprocal tariffs, by matching all tariff and non-tariff trade barriers and restrictions. WATCH:
In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.
This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †
Republican Randy Fine, a state senator, defeated Democrat and teacher Josh Weil in a special election that attracted national attention and millions of dollars. Leftist candidate Josh Weil raised almost 10 times as much money as Fine; however, with the votes counted Randy Fine won by 14 points [DATA].
Republican Jimmy Patronis also won a special election to hold this panhandle-based seat for the GOP. The seat was formerly occupied by Matt Gaetz. Patronis defeated Democrat Gay Valimont, who was also the party’s nominee in the 2024 general election. Patronis also won by 14 points [DATA].
Media and political punditry are noticing that neither district was won at the same margin as President Trump (roughly +30 points). As the narrative is spun by Leftists and their professional GOPe allies, the closer margin indicates doom for republicans in the mid-term 2026 election.
BOTH FLORIDA HOUSE SEATS HAVE BEEN WON, BIG, BY THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. THE TRUMP ENDORSEMENT, AS ALWAYS, PROVED FAR GREATER THAN THE DEMOCRATS FORCES OF EVIL. CONGRATULATIONS TO AMERICA!!! ~ President Donald Trump
Kid Rock appears on Stuart Varney show to discuss a dinner he helped organize between President Trump, Bill Maher, Dana White and himself.
According to Kid Rock the dinner went great, and everyone participating talked about the commonality of the things at the core of MAGA, economic security, border security, elimination of cultural Marxism and non-interventionist foreign policy. WATCH:
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It’s also a little funny, because Stuart Varney is apoplectic inside about the auto tariffs.
At today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing, former Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke about judicial overreach in lower federal courts blocking President Trump’s actions. WATCH:
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Now, to the stuff that really matters. Congress wants to vote from home.
Wall Street, the Bankers, the Hedge Funds, the multinational corporations, K-Street Lobbying firms, Democrats, Republicans, leftists, globalists, and every other segment of the financial media who define themselves through the prism of their bank accounts, need someone else to blame for the Trump tariffs; because Trump doesn’t care.
It looks like the professional political class have decided to focus all financial firepower against Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
With the anticipated reciprocal tariffs announcement tomorrow, Liberty Day as President Trump calls it, the high-finance multinationals and Wall Street crowd are going bananas. Here come the hits against Lutnick.
(Politico) -‘I don’t know anyone that isn’t pissed off at him’: Trump world turns on Lutnick. As ‘Liberation Day’ nears, patience for the Commerce secretary is wearing thin across the Trump administration. (read more)
(New York Post) – Frustration grows with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ahead of Trump tariff announcement: ‘Loose cannon with half-baked ideas’ (read more)
