🔵 Trade War PAUSED

Author

Citizen Frank
May 12, 2025

Good morning. It’s Monday, May 12.

 

The U.S. and China on Monday agreed to temporarily suspend most tariffs on each other’s goods in a move that shows a major thawing of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

The trade agreement means that “reciprocal” tariffs between both countries will be cut from 125% to 10%. The U.S.′ 20% duties on Chinese imports relating to fentanyl will remain in place, meaning total tariffs on China stand at 30%.

The breakthrough comes after U.S. and China trade representatives held high-stakes talks in Switzerland over the weekend.

A bizarre conspiracy that European leaders snorted cocaine en route to critical Ukraine talks has been roundly ridiculed by the French president’s office, after it was promoted by Russian trolls as well as American conspiracists such as Alex Jones.

“This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation,” the Elysee Palace posted on X.

The conspiracy — thought to have started on the social networking app Telegram, which is popular in Russia — used edited footage of French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and newly elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

President Donald Trump’s top budget official is reportedly set to take over operations at the Department of Government Efficiency once Elon Musk steps aside.

Russell Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, will soon take on much of DOGE’s workload, including working with Congress to recoup funds, reclassifying federal workers and advancing his proposed 2025 budget – which would greatly slash government funding, the Wall Street Journal reports.

He has already served as Musk’s lower-profile partner, and has celebrated his own department’s efforts to slash government regulations – noting that President Trump had vowed to cut 10 government regulations for every one that is added.

Yet another equipment outage at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) caused widespread delays and a ground stop over the weekend.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the third outage in less than two weeks happened Sunday morning after a backup air traffic control system momentarily failed.

45-minute ground stop follows latest outage

The FAA confirmed the latest system outage, but unlike the previous two out of the Philadelphia facility that controls Newark Liberty’s operations, this one involved a momentary failure of a backup system, which prompted a 45-minute ground stop to ensure that system was back up and running properly. While the FAA said operations returned to normal, there was a domino effect with flights.

An early version of the House GOP’s tax plan would cost nearly $5 trillion, according to a new estimate from Congress’s nonpartisan tax scorekeeper.

The cost far exceeds what is permitted by the budget resolution Republicans adopted earlier this year, which set the parameters for the massive package of tax cuts and extensions, energy policy and border security investments the party wants to pass in the coming weeks.

The estimate, released Saturday evening by the Joint Committee on Taxation, also underscores how much hinges on the final details of the plan, which are likely to be unveiled Monday afternoon ahead of a scheduled Tuesday markup by the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.).

Hours before opening statements in Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sex-trafficking trial are set to start before a yet-to-be-seated jury, the defense is poised to take advantage of a self-wound of sorts by the prosecution.

As of Sunday night, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York has yet to re-establish contact with a key witness against the Bad Boy Records founder, I hear.

Only a few weeks ago Victim-3, as she is called in the indictment against Combs, had pledged to testify in the criminal trial that will likely see the plea deal rejecting Grammy winning defendant in prison for the rest of his life if found guilty. Shielded from having to give her real name Victim-3, according to court filings, would have detailed for the court and the jury just how Diddy allegedly sexually exploited her.

In its latest legal challenge, the Department of Homeland Security has subpoenaed California’s cash assistance program for immigrants. It is demanding a slew of records from Los Angeles County to determine if individuals in the United States illegally received payments stemming from the Social Security Administration, dating back to 2021.

The legal action centers on California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, or CAPI, providing cash assistance to “certain aged, blind, and disabled legal immigrants” ineligible for social security payments due to their immigration status.

The pending investigation led by Los Angeles’ Homeland Security Investigations – an investigative arm of DHS – has sought the following records.

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