The premium investors demand to hold #US Treasuries rather than #German #Bunds - now apparently one of the safe havens of choice - has exploded.

It's heading for its biggest weekly increase since the 1990s, which reflects the extent to which investors are dumping #Treasuries.

The dollar is at the heart of it &, with #markets, it's always what's beneath the surface that can cause the most damage.

The main casualty in all this is the #US #dollar.

For 80 years, it's been the mainstay of the #financial system & the ultimate of safe havens, along w/ #Treasuries.

But w/investors now doubting the reliability of the #UnitedStates as a #trading partner & fears creeping in about the stability of the #bond market, the dollar is bearing the brunt.

#Trump #economy #inflation #recession #geopolitics #RevengePolitics
https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-tariffs-live-markets-whipsaw-trade-war-fuels-global-recession-fears-2025-04-11/

#China said the imposition of “abnormally high #tariffs” violated international economic & trade rules & “goes against basic economic laws & common sense,” adding: “It is a completely unilateral, bullying & coercive act.”

…The other allegation #Trump makes against #MilesTaylor is that his anonymous writings “stoked dissension.” Trump said that amounted to “manufacturing sensationalist reports on the existence of a supposed ‘resistance’ within the Federal Government that ‘vowed’ to undermine & render ineffective a sitting President.”
But the idea that there was some secretive group of govt ofcls working to undermine Trump & check his impulses was also promoted by…Trump himself.

…#Trump’s memo on #MilesTaylor is similarly hyperbolic. It accuses him of conduct that “could properly be characterized as treasonous & as possibly violating the Espionage Act.”

That alleged conduct? Trump claims Taylor’s 2019 book, which he also wrote anonymously, “illegally published classified conversations” & “is full of falsehoods & fabricated stories.”

But the memo points to no details about specific classified information Taylor supposedly shared.

But just as the stolen-election claims were routinely rejected by the courts, this argument has been dealt with by the courts, too — #SCOTUS, in fact. It rejected the claim that #CISA’s efforts to combat #misinformation violated the plaintiffs’ #FirstAmendment rights, as #Trump’s memo suggests. The opinion was written by none other than a Trump-appointed justice, #AmyConeyBarrett.

To the extent #Trump’s executive action got more detailed, it pointed to #ChrisKrebs’s role in supposedly censoring Americans’ claims about what Trump calls the “stolen” election, Hunter Biden’s laptop & the covid pandemic.

“CISA, under Krebs’ leadership, suppressed conservative viewpoints under the guise of combatting supposed disinformation,” it reads.

#law #AbuseOfPower #RevengePolitics

#Trump intensified his efforts to punish his critics by signing a pair of memos directing #DOJ to investigate 2 ofcls from his first admin & stripping them of any security clearances they may have.

Trump’s targeting of #MilesTaylor, a fmr DHS ofcl in Trump’s first term, & #ChrisKrebs, a fmr top #cybersecurity ofcl, came as the Republican president has sought to [ab]use the powers of the presidency to retaliate against his adversaries…

#RevengePolitics #law #AbuseOfPower
https://apnews.com/article/trump-retaliation-miles-taylor-chris-krebs-efb1416926df9d1086fa21349a18f90b

Willkie’s longest-serving lawyer, Joseph Baio, resigned to “join the fight against governmental #tyranny, unconstitutional decrees & social injustice, particularly at this critical time.”

Leavitt said the new #tariffs #Trump threatened #China with — totaling 104% levies — would go into effect at 12:01AM Wednesday, Eastern time, in the #UnitedStates.

In many cases #Trump is relying on, or asserting, unilateral power rather than turning to the courts or federal agencies to carry out his demands. Many of his targets are those who prosecuted or challenged him politically, or are institutions & groups he sees as ideological impediments, like elite #universities.

In the process, #Trump has blurred the personal & the political, making it difficult in some instances, like his targeting of #academic & #cultural institutions, to distinguish between his grievances & policy goals. [hint it’s all always about him, he couldn’t care less about policy]

#RevengePolitics #AbuseOfPower #law #tyranny #WeaponizationOfGovernment #USpol

List: Who Trump Has Targeted for #Retribution
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/07/us/trump-revenge-list.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=66828DAC-72F7-4970-9008-14200628818D

Acc/to Olu Sonola, an economist at Fitch Ratings, the average #US #tariff rate on all imports will be ~22%, a rate last seen around 1910 [you, know what led up to the #GreatDepression]. “This is a game changer, not only for the US economy but for the global #economy,” Sonola said in a statement. “Many countries will likely end up in a #recession.”