Week of Trump Tariffs and Trump Terror
Economy, Deports, Arrest Citizens, No Due Process, Threats

Everyone has always had confidence in bonds, by which the government itself is loaned money. Repayment of the loan is guaranteed. When investors get shaky about the economy, they buy ultra‑safe bonds until the economy looks better.

So bonds go up when stocks go down and investors look for safety.
Bonds only go down when investors regain confidence and shift their funds back to stocks where they get better return.

Bonds and stocks both going down at the same time has never happened.
Until now…

Infidel753 briefly, but with clarity, explains how bonds work and what the new combination means.

Trump has caused investors to lose confidence in the economy, US currency, government, Trump, the future of the United States, and the whole damn mess.
It’s why Trump is going wobbly on tariffs.

Key Trump dump:
The US is a very powerful country, economically and otherwise. But Trump thinks it’s an 800‑pound gorilla that can intimidate every other country into submission if it just waves its fists around threateningly enough. It isn’t.

Key way, way clever headline:
Trump in bondage

Key manly message:
Nothing like losing your shirt to get the old testosterone pumping, eh? Next thing you know, we’ll all be doing a Tucker Carlson.

Key fig leaf:
At the meeting, it was clear that Trump’s team has cooked up a plan to leave Abrego Garcia without legal recourse to his freedom, a plan that looks much like Trump’s past abuses of the legal system. The White House says the U.S. has no jurisdiction over El Salvador, while Bukele says he has no authority to release a “terrorist” into the U.S. (Abrego Garcia maintains a full‑time job, is married to a U.S. citizen, has three children, and has never been charged or convicted of anything.) No one can make Trump arrange for Abrego Garcia’s release, the administration says, because the Constitution gives the president control over foreign affairs.

Key contradiction:
As NPR’s Steven Inskeep put it: “If I understand this correctly, the US president has launched a trade war against the world, believes he can force the EU and China to meet his terms, is determined to annex Canada and Greenland, but is powerless before the sovereign might of El Salvador. Is that it?”

The same analysis is now available in audio format, as Richardson narrates in podcast.

Key satiric quote:
How can I return an innocent man to the United States when I don’t have the ability to feel empathy or compassion?

Key US response:
At press time, President Trump had publicly thanked Bukele for his use of cruelty to project a facade of strength.

Key falsehood (quoting Miller):
And a district court judge tried to tell the administration that they had to kidnap (sic) a citizen of El Salvador and fly him back here. That issue was raised with the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court said the district court order was unlawful (sic)

(sic)?
Sick.

They said in court that he was arrested and deported in error. Then they said that, since he is now out of the country, they can’t get him released.

Uh huh, they said that.

Now they’re saying he is a terrorist after all..

News Corpse presents the administration’s evidence:

Of course, I have a reaction:

Okay. Bad example.

Wasn’t it last week that the administration said it could not get that US resident back from El Salvador because it would violate the sovereignty of another country?

Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit listens to the new TrumpFolk narrative.

Trump official Sebastion Gorka has always been burdened with the appearance of primal evil. His message from the administration demonstrates more than appearance:

Not only is Garcia a terrorist, anyone who advocates that he be returned unharmed is on the side of terrorists and must be arrested for aiding and abetting.

You may prefer a thoughtfully provided complete transcript (pdf)

Key argument for arrests (direct quote):
Common sense should rule the day, and we’re trying to bring common sense back and make it sexy again.

Key additional quote:
Dear God, he was here illegally, and then he committed a crime. And now you want to reimport him on the taxpayers’ dollar, then give him due process and then ship him back

Note: At age 16, Garcia fled for his life after threats from Salvadoran gangs. He was granted legal status as a US resident in 2019. He has committed no crime.

That would be those of us born here.

Key Trump legal standard:
Accept and believe the evidence of your eyes and ears: this man genuinely believes that people who criticize him or those who help [them] should be labelled criminals.

Vixen includes this reminder:

As might be expected, I have an opinion:

Florida state police arrested a young man from Georgia on his way to his job in Tallahassee. He was charged as an unauthorized alien and held in jail at the request of ICE.

Under a new Florida law, he was not even allowed to submit his US birth certificate as evidence. The judge said it was clear he was born in the US but the new law did not allow her to release him.

Fortunately, after a lot of publicity, ICE had a change of heart and asked Florida to let the US citizen go.

Kind of noble of them, don’t you think?

Ant Farmer’s Almanac has a satiric (as always) suggestion that Pete Hegseth could be in trouble.

I suppose he’ll avoid traveling to Florida with his birth certificate.

Key headline:
US campaign entices Canada tourists: “Come visit America and also maybe El Salvador!”

Key caveat:
You guys are all white, right?

Key challenge:
Our system only works if everyone plays by the same rules. When a president decides the rules don’t apply to him and he is immune from accountability, what should patriotic Americans do? Or maybe we should ask, what CAN we do?

Now DOJ has been ordered by you‑know‑who to investigate a couple of one‑time Trump employees accused of criticizing Trump. What was once obvious now requires a reminder: dissent isn’t unlawful.

Key tactic:
Being right is little solace if it requires going bankrupt to make your case in court.

Julian Sanchez, explains the authoritarian parallel:

So, of course, Trump goes on a social media rampage, demanding that the FTC impose penalties, including going after broadcasting licenses.

Key rage (quoting an Associated Press account):
President Donald Trump bitterly attacked “60 Minutes” shortly after the CBS newsmagazine broadcast stories on Ukraine and Greenland on Sunday, saying the network was out of control and should ‘pay a big price’ for going after him.

Key rage (continuing quote):
He called on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to impose maximum fines and punishment ‘for their unlawful and illegal behavior.’

Unlawful and legal behavior, I suppose, would have been okay.

Key typical messaging:
More over-the-top allegations, more odd capitalization, continued references to himself in the third person: all very normal.

But their success at the theft is not a certainty:

Still, they are getting ready:

The abortion ban was banned. Reproductive choice became legal again in Missouri.

Now, Jess Piper warns, Republicans are trying yet again to ban abortion in Missouri.

The main sponsor is himself a bit of an ogre.

After the arson targeting of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family, tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors seconds the Governor’s appeal to stop the political violence

Key quote (from Governor Shapiro)
I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one particular person or another, it is not OK and it has to stop.