DonViejo

DonViejo's Journal

March 2, 2018

Trade war fears: Stocks drop sharply at the open

Source: CNN-Money

by Nathaniel Meyersohn @CNNMoneyInvest
March 2, 2018: 9:50 AM ET
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The Dow dropped more than 350 points at the open on Friday after shedding 420 points on Thursday. The Nasdaq sank 1%, and the S&P 500 declined almost 1%.

The sell-off began after Trump announced that his administration would impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum. It was not immediately clear whether some countries would be excluded from the tariffs.

"Markets hate uncertainty, and we still don't know exactly who and by how much these tariffs will impact trade," said Ryan Detrick, chief senior market strategist at LPL Financial.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/02/investing/stock-market-dow-today-trump-tariffs/index.html

March 2, 2018

The great unraveling: Trump's allies are really worried about him

By Gloria Borger, CNN Chief Political Analyst

Updated 8:48 AM ET, Fri March 2, 2018

(CNN)Not since Richard Nixon started talking to the portraits on the walls of the West Wing has a president seemed so alone against the world.

One source -- who is a presidential ally -- is worried, really worried. The source says this past week is "different," that advisers are scared the President is spiraling, lashing out, just out of control. For example: Demanding to hold a public session where he made promises on trade tariffs before his staff was ready, not to mention willing. "This has real economic impact," says the source, as the Dow dropped 420 points after the President's news Thursday. "Something is very wrong."

Even by Trumpian standards, the chaos and the unraveling at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are a stunning -- and recurring -- problem. But there's an up-against-the-wall quality to the past couple of weeks that is striking, and the crescendo is loud, clear, unhealthy, even dangerous.
A brief summary: The Rob Porter wife abuse scandal, and the resulting security clearance scandal, in which the President's son-in-law gets his clearance downgraded.

Then the President (yet again) attacks his attorney general. The AG fights back; the President fumes. Meantime, he's also fuming at the free-spending cabinet officials' scandals, the unseemly expenditures brought to you by Trump's version of the best and the brightest. (See: Ben Carson's dining room set.)

more
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/opinions/trump-the-great-unraveling-opinion-borger/index.html

March 2, 2018

Trump: "IF YOU DON'T HAVE STEEL, YOU DON'T HAVE A COUNTRY"

Source: Axios

Axios 51 mins ago

President Trump has been on Twitter defending his steel and aluminum tariffs this morning.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/969558431802806272

March 2, 2018

Ben Sasse slams Trump's "kooky 18th century protectionism"

Source: Axios

Axios 39 mins ago

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) responds to Trump's "trade wars are good" tweet:

"Trade wars are never won. Trade wars are lost by both sides. Kooky 18th century protectionism will jack up prices on American families -- and will prompt retaliation from other countries. Make no mistake: If the President goes through with this, it will kill American jobs -- that's what every trade war ultimately does. So much losing."

March 2, 2018

Man of steel: Trump's secret fantasies realized

Mike Allen, Jonathan Swan 3 hours ago

President Trump has long mused about doing what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. He wanted tariffs on steel and aluminum — big ones — now. He wanted to negotiate with Congress — in public, on his court, surprise and shock, all for the cameras. He wanted to ditch any P.C. pretenses and consider Singapore-style death for all drug dealers. He wanted to play by his rules alone.

Why it matters: His staff at times managed to talk him off the ledge. No more. Tired of the restraints, tired of his staff, Trump is reveling in ticking off just about every person who serves him.

Trump hates rigidity and rules. He has grown to especially hate Kelly’s rigid rules, so he purposely blew off Kelly’s process and announced planned tariffs in a haphazard way.

There are signs Trump has also had it with his National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who he complains is long-winded and inflexible. MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace reported Trump is ready to bounce him.

The tariffs call was also a big middle finger to economic adviser Gary Cohn, who has fought for more than one year to kill tariffs that would provoke a trade war or higher prices for consumers, a de facto tax increase. Cohn, who stuck around to fight tariffs, now seems more likely to leave.

more
https://www.axios.com/trump-tariffs-steel-aluminum-fantasies-white-house-staff-9640596f-4396-47e3-a478-b967ce02ba01.html

March 2, 2018

WaPo Report Describes Jared Kushner's Diminished WH Role: 'The Fall of The House of Kushner'

WaPo Report Describes Jared Kushner’s Diminished WH Role in Brutal Detail : ‘The Fall of The House of Kushner’

by Aidan McLaughlin | 9:01 am, March 2nd, 2018

The latest report on the White House from the Washington Post kicks off with a curious piece of West Wing gossip: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump once went on a double-date with Hope Hicks and Rob Porter. But now, Porter has been ousted after both his ex-wives accused him of domestic abuse, Hicks has resigned after a brutal few weeks of bad publicity, and Javanka’s position in the White House is battered and diminished.

The WaPo report describes — in brutal detail — how Kushner, once one of the most influential advisers in the White House thanks to his proximity to father-in-law President Donald Trump, has come crashing down to earth:

Once the prince of Trump’s Washington, Kushner is now stripped of his access to the nation’s deepest secrets, isolated and badly weakened inside the administration, under scrutiny for his mixing of business and government work and facing the possibility of grave legal peril in the Russia probe.

Kushner’s latest embarrassment came when it was reported that his security clearance was downgraded last week, just as his rivalry with chief of staff John Kelly reached a tipping point. The Post reports:

Some colleagues privately mock Kushner as a shadow of his former self; one official likened the work of his Office of American Innovation to headlines in “The Onion,” the satirical news website. Others said fear of the Russia probe has made some officials wary of interacting with Kushner on sensitive matters. And his reputation as an interlocutor for foreign governments has been undermined by the lowering of his security clearance level, which generated embarrassing headlines worldwide.

-snip-

Read the full report on “the fall of the House of Kushner” here.

https://www.mediaite.com/uncategorized/wapo-report-describes-jared-kushners-diminished-wh-role-in-brutal-detail-the-fall-of-the-house-of-kushner/

March 2, 2018

Ex-ethics chief: Trump & his Cabinet secretaries 'living like French nobles before the revolution'

Ex-ethics chief scalds Trump and his Cabinet secretaries for for ‘living like French nobles before the revolution’

https://twitter.com/NewDay/status/969542788642557952

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/ex-ethics-chief-scalds-trump-cabinet-secretaries-living-like-french-nobles-revolution/

March 2, 2018

Morning Joe panel agrees: Presidency has 'twisted' Trump & they're 'truly terrified' of what's next

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/morning-joe-panel-agrees-presidency-has-twisted-trump-and-theyre-truly-terrified-of-whats-next/

March 2, 2018

Report: Internal DOJ Report to Fault Andrew McCabe for Media Leaks

Source: The Daily Beast

Report: Internal DOJ Report to Fault Andrew McCabe for Media Leaks

An internal Department of Justice report will fault Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, for leaking information to the media, The New York Times reports. Among the alleged leaks is reportedly a Wall Street Journal story about the FBI investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server. McCabe stepped aside from his role as deputy director in January.

READ IT AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

###

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/report-internal-doj-report-to-fault-andrew-mccabe-for-media-leaks?ref=home

March 2, 2018

Trump Reportedly Urging Chief of Staff Kelly to Get Rid of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump

by Lawrence Bonk | 11:00 pm, March 1st, 2018

There have been fairly constant rumors that Chief of Staff John Kelly is on his way out ever since the Rob Porter scandal broke, opening up the White House to scrutiny regarding how they handle security clearances.

Still, he’s managed to persevere and keep his job with President Donald Trump. Jared Kushner and even the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, may not be so lucky, if a recent report by the New York Times is to be believed.

The column, penned by Maggie Haberman and Mark Landler, gets into how Trump’s managerial style, dubbed “chaos theory,” has wreaked emotional havoc on those under his employ. “With an erratic boss and little in the way of a coherent legislative agenda, they are consumed by infighting, fears of their legal exposure and an ambient sense that the White House is spinning out of control,” Haberman wrote. “Morale in the West Wing has sunk to a new low.”

Haberman also wrote that “Mr. Trump’s children, meanwhile, have grown exasperated with Mr. Kelly, seeing him as a hurdle to their father’s success and as antagonistic to their continued presence.”

Trump, however, may be ready to use Kelly to force the couple, nicknamed Javanka, out of the White House, citing growing concerns over Kushner’s legal battles.

Interestingly, the president seems to be telling his daughter and her husband one thing and Kelly, along with other members of his inner circle, something else entirely. That’s the chaos theory at work.

more
https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-reportedly-urging-chief-of-staff-kelly-to-get-rid-of-jared-kushner-and-ivanka-trump/

Profile Information

Name: Don
Gender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
Number of posts: 60,536

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