This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 111

… In middle of the night, US Customs quietly placed a tariff exemption on imported smart phones and other electronic devices, with no announcement from Trump or the US govt. BBC: “The inclusion meant the #1 Chinese export to America last year was exempted from the import taxes, alongside other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards.”

… “US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick just days ago announced that part of the point of escalating tariffs on China was to bring back iPhone production to the US, so this was a stunning about-turn. The US has now excluded the single biggest Chinese export, and certainly the most high-profile finished good from tariffs, without publicly announcing it at first. Just under a quarter of China's total exports are now exempt from the 125% tariff.”

… This latest exemption now means that 64% of exports to the US from Taiwan, 44% from Malaysia, and just under 30% from both Vietnam and Thailand now also exempt.

… “The 10% universal tariff is now riddled with exemptions, and the biggest carve outs are for many nations with massive trade surpluses from electronics manufacturing. The new tariff equation is to give an effective discount from the universal 10% to those with the biggest surpluses. For example, Taiwan has a $74B surplus with the US, and Vietnam a $124B surplus. This is the exact opposite of the infamous Navarro calculation from last week. In 10 days we've gone from the ‘looters and pillagers’ will be hit the hardest, to those with big surpluses getting the biggest exemptions.”

… But just when investors and huge corporations breathed a sign of relief on the electronics exemption, Lutnick then said on ABC that it’s just temporary. Q: So you're saying that the big tariffs on things like smartphones and laptops, all those iPhones built in China, that those tariffs are temporarily off but they're gonna be coming right back on in another form in a month or so? LUTNICK: “Correct. That's right. Semiconductors and pharmaceuticals will have a tariff model in order to encourage them to reshore.”

… Fox Business Analyst Charles Gasparino: “A senior Wall Street executive with ties to the Trump WH described Howard Lutnick’s comments about the temporary nature of the tariff exemptions as ‘off message. Now the market will open way down again since it appears the administration is totally confused. COS Susie Wiles needs to get control of Lutnick. He is a wrecking ball.’”

… Gasparino: “According to the WH and Lutnick this morning on ABC, semiconductor tariffs will be coming over the next month or two including smartphone/computer tariffs. The mass confusion created by this constant news flow out of the WH is dizzying for the industry and investors and creating massive uncertainty and chaos for companies trying to plan their supply chain, inventory, and demand.”

… “As we are in Masters week and it’s Sunday, this would be like changing the hole locations for the pro golfers in Augusta while the final round is going on in real time - this is how investors feel right now. What are the rules of the game? What do earnings look like? What will the new tariffs look like and can they be negotiated? How can companies give guidance in this environment?”

… Spencer Hakiman, Toulou Capital Management: “Susie Wiles must prove that she is worth her salt and immediately revoke Howard Lutnick and Peter Navarro’s press privileges. Neither of them should be allowed to talk with the press anymore. Do this right now. It cannot wait another day. Every single interview either of them do is an incoherent and impotent catastrophe. Since Wednesday, we have had:

• Universal “reciprocal tariffs”

• A removal back down to 10%

• 50% Chinese tariffs -

• 90% Chinese tariffs

• 104% Chinese tariffs

• 125% Chinese tariffs

• 145% Chinese tariffs

• Electronics exempted

• Electronics now potentially back on.

… “If you were a CFO of a Fortune 500 company, would you approve any new investment in a country this unstable? So let’s just get this crystal clear. If somebody is trying to manufacture a laptop in the US, the components that they import are going to be tariffed at 145%. But if somebody simply makes the laptop entirely in China, they are fully tariff free? And this is all to bring manufacturing back to the US?”

… Then Mad King Donald posted this on Truth Social: “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst! There was no Tariff ‘exception’ announced on Friday. These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’ We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.”

… I don’t think anybody has any idea what US policy is on this from one hour to the next. Absolute madness.

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… Financial Times: “Trump is motivated mainly by a desire to accumulate and exercise power, and tariffs are the best instrument of that power. The purpose of his general trade war is to remove the constraints imposed by the global economic order on the unilateral exercise of US power, and in particular the exercise of power by the president.

… “Tariffs are the preferred tool for two reasons. First, Trump has believed for decades that the rest of the world will pay any price to gain access to the US market. Second, and perhaps more important, until Congress chooses to stop him, Trump has unlimited personal authority to impose (or withdraw) tariffs on any country, at any time, for any reason.”

… “What Trump wants above all is to display dominance and extract submission. Countries that did not actively resist his tariffs were graciously granted reprieves from the higher rates. The country that dared to defy him was savagely punished. Most countries now understand that the various economic rationales offered by Trump’s advisers are just window-dressing. So long as Trump is in charge, the US is unreliable, and no sane leader will join him in a crusade against China.”

… WH Econ Advisor Kevin Hassett to CNN: "The whole point of the trade policy is to address the national emergency that we're too dependent on foreign products in the US, especially if we were in a time of conflict. And we're doing something about that."

… James Surowiecki, former Financial Editor for New Yorker, responded: “Words actually have meaning. Our trade surplus with Australia is not a national emergency. Nor is our trade deficit with France, or Japan, or Lesotho. Yet they, and almost every other country in the world, has been slapped with a tariff. It's an absurd twisting of the law.”

… Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to MeidasTouch: “Whenever there’s a crisis anywhere in the world, terrible things happen. Investors, people who have money they can afford to invest in different places, you know what they do? They go to US govt treasuries. It’s called a flight to safety. Investors go to the US govt treasuries, because damn, it just doesn’t get any safer than that. Except with Trump as president.”

… “What we watched happen was that investors around the world, for the first time, really started easing back—right in the middle of the chaos—saying they weren’t so sure they wanted their money in the US or held by the US govt. That is not just a flashing red light. That one—you can hear the sirens going off, and you can feel things taking a really sharp dive down. That’s part of the cost of the Trump chaos from the tariffs—and it really is a reminder: he’s driving this economy over a cliff.”

… Former Rep. Tom Malinowski on CNN: “The last time he did tariffs we spent more money subsidizing farmers because of the limited tariffs on China than we spent on building ships for the Navy. This time, the price tag is going to be way more than that, and people will feel that burden and the embarrassment of it as well.”

… Malinowski: “Trump thinks that he is like this great and powerful Oz who can bend the world to his will with his giant tariff gun. He's actually in a really weak position with respect to all these other countries right now. Because they all saw what happened. They saw when he imposed these so-called reciprocal tariffs. The bond market, the stock market. He caved in 24 hours because of all of that.”

… The Hill reported that Republicans in Congress are increasing concerned that Trump’s trade war will hurt them at the ballot box in the midterms. Sen. Thom Tillis, who is facing a tough reelection in 2026: “You can go back to 1982 when I think it was about 26 congressional seats that were lost.”

… Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) noted that both Senators Reed Smoot (R-UT) and Willis Hawley (R-OR) were voted out of office in 1932 after their 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff act helped exacerbate the Great Depression: “Republicans went into the wilderness for a long, long time. The depression was multifactorial, but most historians have written that that Smoot-Hawley tariff actually made things worse and the depression longer. I don’t think the politics are good. The economics of tariffs are bad; the politics, if anything, are worse.”

… After reversing course again by exempting smart phones and other electronic devices from tariffs, Trump was asked how he is going to determine who gets waivers in the future: “Instinctively, more than anything else. You almost can’t take a pencil to paper, it’s really more of an instinct than anything else.”

… Columbia historian Tim Naftali to AP: “We have a democratic leader who seems to have the authority to act as whimsically as a 19th century European autocrat. He sneezes and everyone catches a cold.”

… Mark Cuban posted this from an entrepreneur “$30 million in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) wiped out for us in 2 months, a company I spent a decade building decimated in a matter of months. Unbelievable. People still don’t even have a basic understanding of tariffs at this point, and the head in the sand approach to what this is going to do to our economy is frightening. We are in cash preservation mode and have paused all shipments from China at this point.”

… NYT reported that hundreds of books have been removed from the US Naval Academy library under the new DEI ban by SecDef Pete Hegseth. Books like Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ are still there, but ‘Memorializing the Holocaust’ about female victims of the Holocaust has been removed. ’The Bell Curve,’ which argues that Black men and women are genetically less intelligent than white people, is still there. But a critique of the book was pulled.

… Navy spokesperson to Fox: “We can confirm the Naval Academy has removed nearly 400 books from their Nimitz Library collection in order to ensure compliance with all directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president.”

… Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “These DEI hires in the Trump admin, like Pete Hegseth, the so-called Secretary of Defense – Dumb Effing Individuals – continue to try to test our resolve and cancel our history. The latest is a book ban at the Naval Academy that removes works, including those about slavery, the civil rights movement and the Holocaust. At the same time, keeping books written by Adolf Hitler.”

… “They tried to cancel Jackie Robinson. We reversed it. They try to cancel Harriet Tubman. We reversed it. They tried to cancel the Tuskegee Airmen. We reversed it. We’re going to keep the pressure on until this book ban is reversed and Pete Hegseth is fired.”

… Hegseth asked on Fox about his trip to Panama to discuss the canal: “America is gonna take it back.”

… Trump attended a UFC fight in Miami, which was also attended by several members of his Cabinet. As Trump approached the seats of RFK Jr. and his wive Cheryl Hines, he stopped and shook hands with Jr and they spoke briefly. Trump then turned towards Hines and as she reached out to greet him he walked right by her without saying a word. It was shown live on ESPN. Hines appeared embarrassed by the snub.

… NYT detailed how RFK Jr has taken steps quietly behind the scenes against vaccination efforts: “The NIH halted funding for researchers who study vaccine hesitancy and hoped to find ways to overcome it. It also canceled programs intended to discover new vaccines to prevent future pandemics. The CDC shelved an advertising campaign for the flu shot. HHS cut billions of dollars to state health agencies, including funds needed to modernize state programs for childhood immunization.”

… “The FDA canceled an open meeting on flu vaccines with scientific advisers, later holding it behind closed doors. A top official paused the agency’s review of Novavax’s Covid vaccine. In a televised interview last week, Kennedy said falsely that similarly created vaccines don’t work against respiratory viruses.”

… Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Dir. of Annenberg Public Policy Center: “This is a simultaneous process of increasing the likelihood that you will hear his voice and decreasing the likelihood that you’ll hear other voices. He is decertifying other voices of authority.”

… The US measles outbreak has now reached 712 cases in 25 states, according to the latest data from CDC.

… SFGATE reported that scientists, park rangers and IT workers at Yosemite National Park, are now having to clean campground bathrooms because of cuts to custodial workers by DOGE. One employee: “I have signed up for it, but I don’t really have a choice in the matter. I’m not above cleaning a bathroom, but personally am sick of our leadership not pushing back on anything and just towing the line.”

… WaPo reported that Greg Pearre, a senior executive at the Social Security Administration, was physically dragged from his office this week after a dispute with DOGE staff. Pearre was in charge of an IT team working on the agency’s data systems, and objected to DOGE’s effort to cut off immigrants from being able to access bank accounts or credit cards.

… After his huge rally with AOC in LA, Sen. Bernie Sanders made a surprise cameo at Coachella. The crowd repeatedly erupted in loud applause during his brief appearance: "I'm not gonna be long but this country faces some very difficult challenges and the future of what happens to America depends on your generation. You can turn away and ignore what goes on but you do it at your own peril. We need you to stand up and fight for justice, to fight for economic justice, racial justice and social justice."

… "Now we've got a president of the United States," the crowd then erupted in boos. "I agree. He thinks that climate change is a hoax. He is dangerously wrong, and you and I are going to have to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and tell them to stop destroying this planet."

… Bernie at his rally earlier that day: “Thank you Los Angeles for our biggest rally ever. 36,000 people came out today to say NO to Trumpism, NO to oligarchy, NO to authoritarianism, and NO to a rigged economy.”

… “Our good friend Elon Musk sent out a tweet and in essence, he said, you know, Bernie Sanders has been talking about the growth of oligarchy year after year after year. Well, Elon, you're damn right. That's what I've been talking about . The difference is I'm no longer talking about how we're moving to oligarchy. I'm talking about how we are living today in an oligarchic form of society.”

… “You know why we have all these great musicians here today? We're going to make our revolution with joy. We're going to sing and dance our way to victory against hatred and divisiveness.”

… AOC to the crowd of 36,000: “Oligarchy or democracy - we cannot have both. Los Angeles, I’ve made my choice. We must fight the oligarchy that has created this nightmare. That is why I have never taken money from lobbyists or corporations and it’s why I never will.”

… “Let’s be clear: the WH’s tariff shuffle had nothing to do with manufacturing, despite what they claimed. It was about manipulating the markets. It was about hurting retirees and everyday people in the sell-off—so Trump could quietly enrich his friends, who he tipped off to ‘buy the dip’ before reversing it all in the morning. Trump is a criminal—convicted on 34 felony counts of fraud. He is lying, and he is manipulating the stock market too. At his best, he enriches himself, the billionaires who back him, and the members of Congress who trade with him. Not you. Not me. Not the people.”

… “Congress has somehow conditioned itself to believe that it’s normal for elected representatives—who swear an oath to serve the American people—to day trade individual stocks and make millions using the sensitive information we are entrusted with for the purpose of governing. How can anyone possibly make an objective vote on healthcare, energy, or war when their personal wealth is tied up in pharmaceutical, oil and gas, or defense company stock?”

… Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) also spoke at the rally: “They're the ones hoarding wealth beyond imagination. We have to tell people the reason you can't pay your rent has nothing to do with trans people. The reason you don't have healthcare has nothing to do with immigrants. It has to do with billionaires like Elon Musk.”

… Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) to MeidasTouch: “At the end of the day, they believe you pay taxes to make them and their friends richer. They believe you should work longer hours for less pay—again, to make them and their friends richer. And maybe they can even squeeze in a little insider stock trading on the side.”

… Two days after Trump issued his 4th “final warning” to Putin on Truth Social that he better agree to a cease fire, Putin bombed a church service on Palm Sunday in Kiev. The Financial Times: “Russia just killed dozens of Ukrainians in a missile strike on Palm Sunday, a day after Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin, shook hands and posed for cameras. Witkoff visited an Orthodox Christian cathedral. Today, church-goers were targeted. The death toll from Russia’s Palm Sunday ballistic missile attack on Sumy is now 32 killed, including 2 children, and 99 people injured, of which 11 are children, according to the state emergency service of Ukraine.”

… Here is Witkoff greeting Putin two days ago:

… US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, who is resigning because she disagrees with Trump’s policy: “Today, Palm Sunday, Russia launched ballistic missiles on Sumy - killing 32 Ukrainian civilians & injuring 99. Reports indicate, as in Kryvyi Rih, cluster munitions were used, increasing the devastation and harm to civilians. Our prayers are with the people of Sumy.”

… Trump said nothing today about Putin’s bombing of the church service. He posted several things on Truth Social in between golf. Nothing about that though.

… Michigan Gov. and future presidential candidate Gretchen Whitmer faced some backlash after she was in the Oval Office being praised by Trump as he was announcing executive orders directing DOJ to criminally investigate some of his former officials.

… Whitmer said she went there to discuss issues related to Michigan when she was unexpectedly ushered into the room in front of the cameras so Trump could use her as a prop. Whitmer knew that she had just been taken advantage of by the master manipulator, so she actually tried to cover her face as photos were taken.

… Trump’s appointee to run the Kennedy Center and constant crybaby Ric Grenell was complaining on Fox about JD Vance getting booed when he went to a show there: "We don't need to be booing Republicans like when the vice president shows up. People need to be able to sit in chairs and enjoy the arts without trying to figure out what the person next to you believes or who they voted for."

… Trump went in for his annual physical this weekend, and the results from his doctor were released today. He was also given a cognitive exam, and was asked about it after: “It went, I think, well. I had every test you can imagine, I was there for a long time. The yearly physical, and I think I did well. Overall I felt I was in very good shape. A good heart, a good soul, a very good soul. I took a cognitive test and I don’t know what to tell you other than I got every answer right.”

… This from the White House physician’s letter on the results of Trump’s exam: “President Trump remains in excellent health. His active lifestyle continues to contribute to his well-being. President Trump’s days include multiple meetings, public appearances, press availability, and frequent victories at golf events.”

… The report also said Trump is 6’3” and weighs 224 pounds.