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(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Matt Davies, Newsday)
(Rick McKee, caglecartoons.com)
(Peter Kuper, politicalcartoons.com)
(Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune)
(Martin Sutovec, caglecartoons.com, Slovakia)
(Dave Granlund, politicalcartoons.com)
(Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News)
(Joe Heller, hellertoon.com)
(Paul Noth, @paulnoth)
More winning on the stock market today:
Dow drops 2,200 points Friday, S&P 500 loses 10% in 2 days as Trump’s tariff rout deepens...The stock market was pounded for a second day Friday after China retaliated with new tariffs on U.S. goods, sparking fears President Donald Trump has ignited a global trade war that will lead to a recession.
Here’s a tally of the stock market damage:- The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2,231.07 points, or 5.5%, to 38,314.86 on Friday, its biggest decline since June 2020 during the pandemic. This follows a 1,679 point decline on Thursday and brings the drawdown from its record to more than 14%.
- The S&P 500 nosedived 5.97%, also the biggest decline since June 2020. The benchmark shed 4.84% on Thursday and is now off 17% off its recent high.
- The Nasdaq Composite, home to many tech companies that sell to China and manufacture there as well, dropped 5.6%. this follows a nearly 6% drop on Thursday. The measure is 22% lower than its December record, a bear market in Wall Street terminology.
- The selling was broad with only 14 members of the S&P 500 higher on the day. Major market indexes closed at their lows of the session... (our emphasis)
If you have invested in the market/ have a pension or 401(k), you've likely lost 10% in its value in just the last two days, thanks to the mindless Trump Tariffs. Wonder where will we be by this time next week?
(Image: Trump takes over from Slim Pickens, riding the nuke into the U.S. economy /"Dr. Strangelove"/ "Trump in Cinema" via YouTube)
"... Understand this: There is no going back.
"If, tomorrow, Donald Trump revoked his entire regime of tariffs, it would not matter. It might temporarily delay some economic pain, but the rest of the world now understands that it must move forward without America.
"If, tomorrow, Donald Trump abandoned his quest to annex Greenland and committed himself to the defense of Ukraine and the perpetuation of NATO, it would not matter. The free world now understands that its long-term security plans must be made with the understanding that America is a potential adversary, not an ally.
"This realization may be painful for Americans. But we should know that the rest of the world understands us more clearly than we understand ourselves.
"Vladimir Putin bet his life that American voters would be weak and decadent enough to return Donald Trump to the presidency. He was right. [snip]
"We have a deeply stupid government—from our economically illiterate president to our craven and foolish secretary of state, from the freelancing billionaire dilettante who is gutting American soft power to the vaccine-denying health secretary who is firing as much talent as he can. From the senior economics advisor who thinks comic books are good investments, to the senators who voted to confirm this cabinet of hacks, to the representatives who stumble over themselves justifying each new inane MAGA pronouncement.
"But also, we have the government we deserve.
"The American age is over. And it ended because the American people were no longer worthy of it." -- Jonathan Last, in The Bulwark, on "The American Age is Over." This is a sobering essay worth saving for posterity, as it defines a clear moment in our history when America forever ceased to be the America it was just a few short months ago. We've said it before, but today it takes on a more encompassing meaning: Sic transit gloria, America.
Trump's Tariffs --
Surprise! "Journalists" mislead public on Trump's Tariffs --
Not good; wondering what Russian asset they're going to install --
Trump thinks they're "suckers" and "losers," after all --
Corrupt fascists sticking together --
They set the tone --
Five step plan (Happy? Friday) --
LA indie band Lord Huron has a catchy new single out, "Nothing I Need," their second release after several years of touring.
Also, we must note that 61 years ago this week, The Beatles held the top 5 places on the U.S. singles Hot 100 chart, with No. 5 "Please Please Me," No. 4 "I Want to Hold Your Hand," No. 3, "Roll Over Beethoven," No. 2 "Love Me Do," and No. 1 "Can't Buy Me Love." They also had 9 other singles on the chart that week, for a total of 14 top 100 songs. To mark the occasion of skipping dipshit co-President Musk's $25 million failure to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, "Can't Buy Me Love" is our second song today. Enjoy!
"Let's start with the stock market yesterday. We talked about the almost 5 percent drop. This is actually $5 trillion of wealth lost since the inauguration. [snip] The stock market dropped here was actually larger than the stock market drop in every other major index, every other major country. In Japan, it was down 2.8 percent. In Europe it was down 2.6 percent. In the U.K. just 1.6, and in China just 0.6%. So why is that?
Trump thinks he's hurting all these people. He thinks everything is, you know, negotiation where somebody wins and somebody loses and he thought he was the winner and we turned out to be the loser." -- Steve Ratner on MSNBC this morning. (our emphasis)
"The US dollar experienced its largest single-day decline on record, dropping by 2.1% against major currencies. Investors are concerned about the potential negative impact of President Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs on the US economy, leading to a shift away from the dollar and towards safer assets like the Japanese yen and Swiss franc." -- CNBC this morning. (our emphasis)
"The U.S. job market is slowing at a time when Americans are increasingly anxious about what President Donald Trump’s trade wars are going to do to the economy.
When the Labor Department releases employment numbers for March on Friday, they are expected to show that U.S. businesses, government agencies and nonprofits added 130,000 jobs last month, down from 151,000 in February..." -- Associated Press this morning. (our emphasis)
"IF YOU failed to spot America
being “looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far” or
it being cruelly denied a “turn to prosper”, then congratulations: you
have a firmer grip on reality than the president of the United States.
It’s hard to know which is more unsettling: that the leader of the free
world could spout complete drivel about its most successful and admired
economy. Or the fact that on April 2nd, spurred on by his delusions,
Donald Trump announced the biggest break in America’s trade policy in
over a century—and committed the most profound, harmful and unnecessary
economic error in the modern era..." -- The Economist yesterday. (our emphasis)
And now for some "alternative facts":
"President Donald Trump offered a rosy assessment after the stock market dropped sharply Thursday over his tariffs, saying, 'I think it’s going very well.'
'The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom,' he said when asked about the market as he left the White House to fly to one of his Florida golf clubs."
Yes, it's likely everything's going to boom, as in "explode." But it's nice he's got a golf club to fly off to.
(photo: "We'll make those penguins on Heard and McDonald Islands pay!" Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
More than 1,100 “Hands Off!” protests and meetings are planned in nationwide demonstrations across all 50 states on Saturday in what organizers say are a response to the dramatic cuts to the federal workforce overseen by Trump adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them,” the organizers say on their website. “They’re taking everything they can get their hands on, and daring the world to stop them.”
Citing what they see as President Trump’s moves to gut services, including the eventual “slashing” of Social Security and Medicaid, a coalition of more than 150 organizations — including Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Service Employees International Union, the American Civil Liberties Union, League of Women Voters and Greenpeace — will take part in Saturday’s demonstration
“Nearly 100 days in, President Donald Trump has kept his promises to go after his enemies, but not in order to help Americans. With Elon Musk at his side, he’s attacking the foundations of opportunity: public education, healthcare, collective bargaining and Social Security,” the American Federation of Teachers wrote in a Facebook post. “This Saturday, April 5, we're joining thousands nationwide to say: Hands off our Social Security. Hands off our public schools. Hands off our jobs.”...
We're sure the mindless Trump Tariffs, with the unnecessary pain and dislocation they'll cause, will be another focus of the demonstrations.
To find out more, please go here; click on "Find Event" for demonstrations in your area.
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(Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Canada)
(Manny Francisco, caglecartoons.com, Manila)
(David Rowe, Financial Review, Sydney)
(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com, Canada)
(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
(Jason Adam Katzenstein, @j.a.k._)
(Pedro Molina, Counterpoint)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(R.J. Matson, CQ/Roll Call)
(Walt Handelsman, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
(Phil Hands, Wisconsin State Journal)
(Guy Richards Smit, The New Yorker)
Buh-bye $2 trillion in stock values, just today (including your pension fund and 401(k)!):
Roughly $1.7 trillion was erased from the S&P 500 Index at the start of trading on Thursday amid worries that President Donald Trump’s sweeping new round of tariffs could plunge the economy into a recession.
The damage was heaviest in companies whose supply chains are most dependent on overseas manufacturing. Apple Inc., which makes the majority of its US-sold devices in China, was down about 8% after the open. Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Nike Inc., among companies with manufacturing ties to Vietnam, were down around 10%. Walmart Inc. and Dollar Tree Inc., retailers whose stores are filled with products sourced outside of the US, were trading lower by about 2% and around 11%, respectively.
Few stocks in the US were unscathed with the benchmark index on pace for its biggest decline since 2022. Roughly 70% of companies in the S&P 500 were trading lower at 9:35 a.m. in New York, with almost half of its 500 stocks down at least 2%.
“There’s really not anybody getting spared in absolute terms,” said Garrett Melson, a portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions. “You’re just wrapped up, today at least, in a broad de-risking, and so it’s kind of just across the board taking chips off the table.”...
That's just for starters, folks.
The immediate impact of the Malignant Fascist's tariff roll out can be seen here as well:
BONUS: Hold on for dear life (our emphasis) --
Stocks nosedived Thursday, sending the S&P 500 back into correction territory and toward its biggest one-day loss since 2020, after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs, raising the risk of a global trade war that plunges the economy into a recession.Day One of Trump's Tariffs.
The broad market index dropped 5%, putting it on track for its worst day since June 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1,630 points, or 3.9% for its biggest decline since September 2022...
Trump's "indescribably crazy" tariffs --
Then (Biden) and now --
Trump and Musk are "taking your jobs and picking your pockets" --
What's that Musk-y smell? Wisconsin schadenfreude --
DUI hire Hegseth's DEI mania targets commemoration of female Jewish Naval Academy grads --
We'll bring the popcorn (if we can afford it) --
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) has an insightful and important explanation of how the autocratic Malignant Fascist is using tariffs for political power and extortion, not just abroad but here in the U.S. The MF's narcissistic belief that everything is about him makes tariffs a tool for shakedowns and retribution domestically for this would-be dictator. The following is Sen. Murphy's Bluesky post thread last night, condensed into paragraph form:
"Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive. No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief. This week you will read many confused economists and political pundits who won’t understand how the tariffs make economic sense. That’s because they don’t. They aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool.
You see, our founders created a President with limited and checked powers. They specifically put the power of spending and taxation in the hands of the legislature. Why? Because they watched how kings and despots used spending and taxes to control their subjects. British kings used taxation to reward loyalty and punish dissent. Our own revolution was spurred by the King’s use of heavy taxation of the colonies to punish our push for self governance. The King’s message was simple: stop protesting and I’ll stop taxing.
Trump knows that he can weaken (and maybe destroy) democracy by using spending and taxation in the same way. He is using access to government funds to bully universities, law firms and state and local governments into loyalty pledges. Healthy democracies rely on an independent legal profession to maintain the rule of law, independent universities to guard objective truth and provide forums for dissent to authority, and independent state/local government to counterbalance a powerful federal government.
But the private sector also plays a rule to protect democracy. Independent industry has power. The tariffs are Trump’s tool to erode that independence. Now, one by one, every industry or company will need to pledge loyalty to Trump in order to get sanctions relief. What could Trump demand as part of a quiet loyalty pledge? Public shows of support from executives for all his economic policy. Contributions to his political efforts. Promises to police employees’ support for his political opposition. The tariffs are DESIGNED to create economic hardship. Why? So that Trump has a straight face rationale for releasing them, business by business or industry by industry. As he adjusts or grants relief, it’s a win-win: the economy improves and dissent disappears.
And once Trump has the lawyers, colleges and industry under his thumb, it becomes very hard for the opposition to have any viable space to maneuver. Trump didn’t invent this strategy. It’s the playbook for democratically elected leaders who want to stay in power forever." (our emphasis)
Though application of tariffs, the MF hopes to get industries and other economic entities to plead for relief, and to be forced to make a deal with him. It's right out of the organized crime playbook, but when you elect a felon and lifelong con artist, that's what happens.
The Shyster Surrender Squad has another member:
A fourth major U.S. law firm, Milbank, reached an agreement on Wednesday with President Donald Trump, who has targeted other firms with punitive executive orders, in a deal disclosed a day after the firm of former Vice President Kamala Harris' husband struck its own pact.
In a social media post, the Republican president said Milbank approached him about a possible deal. Trump said the terms reached with the firm require it to perform $100 million in pro bono legal services on mutually agreed causes such as helping veterans and combating antisemitism. Trump also said Milbank would not engage in diversity, equity and inclusion programs.In a letter to Milbank's employees seen by Reuters, firm Chairman Scott Edelman wrote, "The only commitments that we have made to the Government are those that we are happy to make."Milbank's deal deepens the divide within the legal community over how to respond to Trump's pressure campaign to punish perceived enemies in the profession.Trump to date has signed executive orders targeting five firms aimed at curbing their business with the federal government. All of the firms either have ties to attorneys who have or have been involved in challenges to Trump's policies.Three of the firms - Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Jenner & Block - sued Trump in response. Judges have issued orders that blocked key provisions of Trump's orders against those three. One firm targeted in a directive, Paul Weiss, reached a deal with Trump to have the directive rescinded. Covington & Burling has not sued to challenge the order targeting that firm.Milbank and two other firms, Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Skadden Arps, have reached agreements with Trump without being hit with an executive order. The deal with Willkie Farr & Gallagher, whose partners include Harris' husband Doug Emhoff, was disclosed on Tuesday... (our emphasis)
Stephen Colbert's takes on Trump's Tariffs, South Afrikaner co- President Musk's humiliating defeat at the hands of Wisconsin voters, and Sen. Cory Booker's (D-NJ) historic Senate filibuster -- too good to pass up this morning.
Here's the list of the Malignant Fascist's across- the- board tariffs announced today. See if you can spot the glaring omission in his list of draconian, self- sabotaging tariffs:
China - 34%
European Union - 20%
Vietnam - 46%
Taiwan - 32%
Japan - 24%
India - 26%
South Korea - 25%
Thailand - 36%
Switzerland - 31%
Indonesia - 32%
Malaysia - 24%
Cambodia - 49%
United Kingdom - 10%
South Africa - 30%
Brazil - 10%
Bangladesh - 37%
Singapore - 10%
Israel - 17%
Philippines - 17%
Chile - 10%
Australia - 10%
Pakistan - 29%
Turkey - 10%
Sri Lanka - 44%
Colombia - 10%
Peru - 10%
Nicaragua - 18%
Norway - 15%
Costa Rica - 10%
Jordan - 20%
Dominican Republic - 10%
United Arab Emirates - 10%
New Zealand - 10%
Argentina - 10%
Ecuador - 10%
Guatemala - 10%
Honduras - 10%
Madagascar - 47%
Myanmar (Burma) - 44%
Tunisia - 28%
Kazakhstan - 27%
Egypt - 10%
Saudi Arabia - 10%
El Salvador - 10%
Cote d’Iovire - 21%
Laos - 48%
Trinidad and Tobago - 10%
Morocco - 10%
Algeria - 30%
Oman - 10%
Uruguay - 10%
Bahamas - 10%
Lesotho - 50%
Ukraine - 10%
Bahrain - 10%
Qatar - 10%
Mauritius - 40%
Fiji - 32%
Iceland - 10%
Kenya - 10%
Liechtenstein - 37%
Guyana - 38%
Haiti - 10%
Bosnia and Herzegovina - 35%
Nigeria - 14%
Namibia - 21%
Brunei - 24%
Bolivia - 10%
Panama - 10%
Venezuela -15%
North Macedonia - 33%
Ethiopia - 10%
Ghana -10%
Serbia - 37%
Botswana - 37%
Notice the missing country in this mind- boggling list of friends, allies, and others?
Did anyone really think the Malignant Fascist would slap a tariff on his puppetmaster Putin?
Contrary to White House spin, while trade with Russia has been greatly curtailed by sanctions, U.S. - Russia trade still amounted to $3.27 billion in 2024 -- a lot more than, say, Fiji. So, not insignificant. Trump's Tariffs are another huge win for Russia, isolating the U.S. even further from the world, while Russia escapes any economic damage. Well done, Agent Krasnov!
BONUS: We'll feel the pain --
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(John Buss, @repeat1968)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Joe Heller, hellertoon.com)
(Morten Morland, The Times, London)
(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
(Matt Davies, Newsday)
(J.D. Crowe, Alabama Media Group)
(Jeff Danziger, The Rutland Herald, VT)
(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)
(Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency)
(Clay Jones, claytoonz.com)
(Becky Barnicoat, The New Yorker)
