This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 92

… NYT reported that investors are pulling their money out of the US stock market in recent weeks and investing overseas. The S&P 500 had outpaced foreign stock markets for years, but it has fallen 6% just since Trump took office while the DAX index in Germany is up 10%, Europe’s STOXX 600 is up 4%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong is up 20%, and Mexico’s IPC is up 5% over that span.

… Jitania Kandhari, Dep. Chief Investment Officer for Morgan Stanley: “It is definitely time to be looking outside the US.”

… WaPo reported that over 5 million Americans work in industries that could be impacted by retaliatory tariffs from China and Canada that just went into effect, and the vast majority of them live in counties that voted for Trump. New tariffs from those two countries primarily target the agricultural, manufacturing and energy sectors. Counties that face the greatest potential impact from retaliatory tariffs were three times as likely to have voted for Trump.

… CBC reported that Canada is actively looking for alternatives to the U.S.-built F-35 stealth fighter and will hold conversations with rival aircraft makers. This announcement was one day after Portugal said it intended to cancel their contract to purchase the fighter. Canada was set to purchase $19 billion of the aircraft from Lockheed Martin.

… Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Meet the Press that most Americans aren’t concerned if tariffs make things more expensive: "The American dream is not, 'let them eat flat screens'. The American dream is not contingent on cheap bobbles from China."

… Bessent’s net worth is $521 million.

… Kristen Welker: This was the worst week for the market in two years - does that worry you, Mr Secretary? BESSENT: “Not at all. I can tell you corrections are healthy. They're normal.”

… Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) was asked on Fox if he agreed with S&P Global’s analysis that Trump's tariffs will cause a recession: "Well, you know, look, these experts are funded by lobbyists who have an agenda."

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… Electrek, which tracks the worldwide EV markets, reports that Tesla is essentially dead as a brand in Germany after Musk’s recents statements. A new survey of over 100,000 Germans revealed that 94% will never consider buying a Tesla again. Tesla sales are down over 70% in Germany this year from last.

… Trump was asked on the Full Measure Podcast why Russia didn’t sign the cease fire agreement that was already agreed to by Ukraine: "We'll know more about the ceasefire on Monday." He was asked what his plan was if Putin doesn't agree to a ceasefire. Trump: “Bad news for this world.”

… Trump was then asked why he promised repeatedly during the campaign that he would easily end the war 24 hours after taking office but it hasn’t happened yet. He said he was just being “sarcastic” when he promised that hundreds of times.

… Trump angrily denounced news reports that Putin kept his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff waiting in the hallway all day before finally letting him in: “The Fake News, as usual, is at it again! Last night I read that President Putin kept my Highly Respected Ambassador and Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, waiting for over 9 hours when, in fact, there was no wait whatsoever. Other meetings with other Reps of Russia did take place and, obviously, they took some time, but they were very productive. The only reason they made up that story is to try and DEMEAN, because they are sick degenerates.”

… CNN’s Jake Tapper to Witkoff: Is it now clear that Putin is the impediment to peace? WITKOFF: “I think he has indicated that he accepts the philosophy of President Trump. President Trump wants to see an end to this. I think President Putin wants to see an end to this.”

… Lindsey Graham was asked if Putin was playing Trump: "I don't know yet, but I do know you play Trump at your own peril. If Putin is sincere about wanting peace, accept the ceasefire on the same terms as Ukraine and quit trying to mix the two: ceasefire and peace deal. What I would advise the Trump admin to do is to tell Putin, are you going to accept the ceasefire on the same terms as Ukraine, or not?”

… Graham: “But to me, Putin's a predator. The best way to judge Putin is not in a three hour meeting, but 30 years of action, and I see no indication that he's going to stop being a predator against Ukraine until the pain is too large. So if he refuses the ceasefire, that tells me all I need to know."

… Finland President Alexander Stubb to BBC on why Putin didn’t sign the cease fire agreement: "I don't think Putin wants a ceasefire. Putin doesn't want peace. His original aim was basically to have Ukraine ceasing to exist. He hasn't changed his aim. This is what all of us have to understand."

… UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Putin is "playing games" with the cease fire agreement, and his refusal to sign “demonstrates that Putin is not serious about peace." He also said he won’t be fooled by Putin’s promises if he tries to sign a phony agreement: "If Russia finally comes to the table, then we must be ready to monitor a ceasefire to ensure it is a serious, and enduring peace, if they don't, then we need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia to secure an end to this war."

… Canada PM Mark Carney: “I spoke with UK Prime Minister Starmer, President Zelensky, and many of our closest allies this morning to discuss Ukraine’s path to peace. Canada supports the proposal for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Now, Russia must stop stalling and launching its attacks. It’s time for Russia to come to the table in good faith. As the G7 agreed, we will tighten the monitoring of sanctions to encourage compliance. Canada is Ukraine’s steadfast ally. We will make sure Ukraine has the military support it needs to defend itself — now and into the future.”

… After the Kremlin told the US State Dept that they did not want Special Envoy Keith Kellogg to be involved in peace negotiations since they deemed him too sympathetic to Ukraine, Trump dutifully complied and removed him from his position. However, Trump framed it like he was giving Kellogg a promotion: “Kellogg has been appointed Special Envoy to Ukraine. General Kellogg, a Highly Respected Military Expert, will deal directly with President Zelenskyy, and Ukrainian leadership. He knows them well, and they have a very good working relationship together. Congratulations to General Kellogg!”

… It was interesting to watch how right-wing news outlets and even some legacy media framed this. This move was simply Trump removing Kellogg from negotiations at Putin’s request. Giving him to a new job title where he only gets to talk to Ukraine is essentially firing him without wanting to admit that you are firing him because that’s what Putin wanted. Amazing how easily Trump can manipulate the media on what should be a major story.

… Greg Sargent in The New Republic: “Trump's State Dept quietly terminated a contract that was in the process of transferring evidence of Russian abductions of Ukrainian kids to European law enforcement. This contract is highly sensitive. The Yale lab tracking these kids is doing highly sophisticated work. They released an explosive report about 314 kidnapped kids in December. The transfer of underlying evidence to Europol has now been interrupted.”

… Sen. Amy Klobuchar: The Trump Admin just terminated a contract with a university research team working to find Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia. We need to stand with the Ukrainian people and hold the Russian government accountable.”

… Former EPA Administrators, Republicans and Democrats, are sounding the alarm on new EPA chief Lee Zeldin’s new proposals. Zeldin announced this week that he planned to roll back 31 key environmental rules on everything from clean air to clean water and climate change. Zeldin said he is “driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age”.

… The Guardian reported that one of the former EPA administrators called it “the most disastrous day in EPA history”.

… William Reilly, EPA chief under George HW Bush said it is a “catastrophe” and “represents the abandonment of a long history” of EPA actions to protect the environment.

… Christine Todd Whitman, head of EPA under George W. Bush: “What this admin is doing is endangering all of our lives – ours, our children, our grandchildren. We all deserve to have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. If there’s an endangerment finding to be found anywhere, it should be found on this admin because what they’re doing is so contrary to what the EPA is about.”

… Guardian reported that EPA will also “eliminate rules restricting industrial pollution of mercury and other air toxins, soot pollution and a ‘good neighbor’ rule intended to restrict smokestack emissions that burden downwind areas with smog. Zeldin also targeted a clean water law that provides federal protections for rivers, streams and wetlands.”

… Rep. Jamie Raskin: “If Vladimir Putin had a plan to foul our air and water, wreck public health and drive America over the cliff of irreversible lethal climate change, it would look exactly like Lee Zeldin’s plan. This is a plan for self-inflicted environmental disaster.”

… After tornadoes killed 34 people in the Midwest this weekend, AP reports that experts who have been warning about DOGE cuts to the NOAA, which monitors severe weather patters and storms and issues warnings, are going to make this scenario more common and cost more lives. Some of the 34 people in Missouri, Arkansas, and nearby areas were killed while they slept in their homes.

… NOAA, which includes the National Weather Service, has already had 10% of its total workforce terminated. NOAA monitors and warns about hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis and space weather that could cause widespread death, destruction and power outages. It also manages the country's fisheries, runs its marine sanctuaries and provides navigation information to ships.

… Speaker Mike Johnson was asked on Fox why he didn’t find all the supposed fraud in government spending that Musk is targeting: “This is the fraud, waste, and abuse that we’ve been trying to target in Congress for decades. But we have not been able to get to it because we did not have the algorithms Elon has.”

… It also looked like Johnson went in to get some work done. He looks like he got the Mar-a-Lago Face special from the doctor in Palm Beach.

… Trump launched multiple airstrikes against various groups in Yemen including the Houthis, who attacked shipping in the Red Sea last year after Israel’s invasion of Gaza. They have pledged to carry out the attacks until a cease fire occurs in Gaza, but have not attacked shipping in the past few months. The group claimed that at least 31 people were killed and 101 wounded in the airstrikes, mostly women and children. The Trump Admin claims that 6 Houthi leaders were also killed.

… Senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti to Al Mayadeen: "The US strikes are unjustified because our actions are directed solely at Israel. Our response is coming. For us, there is no difference between Trump and Biden—we will not abandon our support for Palestine.

… Ansarallah spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam: “The claims made by the American president about an alleged threat to international navigation in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait are false. The maritime siege announced by Yemen in support of Gaza exclusively targets ‘Israeli’ shipping, ensuring that humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza. We affirm that international navigation in the Red Sea remains safe from the Yemeni side, and that the American airstrikes are an attempt to remilitarize the Red Sea, which in reality poses the true threat to international navigation in the region.”

… NYT reported that some White House advisers are pushing Trump to conduct broader strikes designed to force Houthis out of territory they control in northern Yemen.

… Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY): “This shipping route is mainly used to get exports from Asia to Europe. Its economic value to the United States is primarily in importing oil from the Middle East, but we can drill our own oil. Most U.S. imports from Asia come via the Pacific.”

… The top 5 countries that use this route are China, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

… Massie later posted: “Regarding US activity in Yemen: I recently said to watch for a new military engagement to compensate for the pull back in Ukraine. The Military Industrial Complex demands about $50 billion a year from our government, above and beyond what’s necessary to defend our own country.”

… Right-wing podcaster Ann Coulter: “Why did we have to do this? Is it part of our constitution that we must be bombing someone at all times?”

… The Sundance Film Festival is set to announce their home for the next 10 years between current host Park City, UT, Boulder, CO, or Cincinnati, OH. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that a bill banning Pride flags from schools and state buildings which is sitting on UT Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk that would prohibit the Pride flag in schools and other state government buildings could wreck their bid if he signs it into law.

… One Sundance official: “What are they thinking? Utah is Utah, but this goes to the heart of the community Sundance has worked years and years to develop.”

… The festival’s current 10-year contract with Park City expires after Sundance 2026. An economic impact study by Y2 Analytics showed that the 2024 festival brought in $132 million in economic impact for Utah and generated 1,730 jobs.

… CNN reports that the IRS is in complete chaos because of issues with DOGE as it heads into peak tax season. Young DOGE staffers have been working inside the IRS for the past month, and thousands of workers and auditors have already been fired with 110 taxpayer assistance offices across the country also being shut down. DOGE plans to cut 20% of all IRS employees by May 15.

… One IRS employee: “They just randomly drop by people’s offices, demanding access to systems. They’re bullying us and there’s no discipline in what they are doing, which really worries me.”

… Another: “It’s a clusterfuck, and I can’t believe no one is stepping in to do anything.”

… A third IRS source: “We are paralyzed.”

… WH Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the report, and issued this statement: “This story is based on anonymous sources and the fraudsters always scream the loudest. The vast majority of Americans support President Trump rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse.”

… NPR reported that Voice of America was shut down over the weekend, with employees showing up to work only to find that they have been locked out their building. On Friday night, Trump ordered that the agency be shut down - and it appears all 1,000+ employees are going to be fired.

… Trump’s nominee to take over VOA is Kari Lake, who signed an order cancelling all contracts, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. It is unclear whether Lake had the legal authority to terminate these contracts and this will likely result in another lawsuit agains the Trump Admin.

… VOA Director Michael Abramwitz:"I am deeply saddened that for the 1st time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced. VOA needs thoughtful reform and we have made progress in that regard. But today's action will leave Voice of America unable to carry out its vital mission." He was one of the 1,300 employees who were informed they are on administrative leave pending dissolution of the agency.

… Grant Turner, former CFO at the US Agency for Global Media: "From what I hear, this is shaping up to be a really sad day. USAGM networks share important news, information and American values around the world. It took decades to build this goodwill and an audience of hundreds of millions every week. Seeing arsonists just set fire to it all is awful."

… Steve Capus, President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: "The cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's grant agreement would be a massive gift to America's enemies. The Iranian Ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years. Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker. We've benefitted from strong bipartisan support throughout RFE/RL's storied history. Without us, the nearly 50 million people in closed societies who depend on us for accurate news and information each week won't have access to the truth about America and the world."

… Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): “Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty play important roles in getting America’s story to the rest of the world. We stand for freedom, free markets and rule of law. We want to promote our values.”

… VOA Correspondent Kateryna Lisunova: “VOA has made a significant impact on the world since WWII and continued to do so until this past Saturday. During the Chornobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, many Ukrainians first learned about it through VOA radio broadcasts from the U.S. The Russian-Soviet govt never informed its people that they were slowly dying from radiation exposure.”

… “But even more recently, I’ve been receiving messages from Ukrainians living under Russian occupation in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. They reached out to tell me they were watching every VOA show. For them, it was a glimpse of freedom and hope for future liberation. To do so, they have to use fake names on social media and remain as discreet as possible because if the Russians found out they were listening to VOA, these people under occupation could pay with their lives.”

… Exactly what Putin and autocrats around the world want - and their best friend in America is now president.

… US District Judge James Boasberg issued an order temporarily blocking the removal by the Trump Admin of alleged Venezuelan gang members. The court issued the ruling since many of the individuals claimed they were not in the gang and there had been no hearing where they could present evidence to prove that. Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 on Saturday to justify deporting them without due process in an immigration court.

… Immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: “Holy crap. The DOJ is arguing that the President can unilaterally deport anyone he wants without ANY statutory authority, just on his inherent authority as President over national security. That is a terrifying claim to make and has never been recognized before in US history. Furthermore, Bondi's claim that Trump's invocation of authority here is ‘well-established’ is complete nonsense. This law has been invoked only 4 times in the last 225 years, all during declared wars with foreign nations, and NEVER against a street gang.”

… Katherine Yon Ebright, Counsel for The Brennan Center: “That is how the law was used in World War II to intern 31,000 noncitizens of Japanese, German, and Italian descent who the FDR administration ‘deemed dangerous.’”

… Sen. Chuck Grassley: “Another day, another judge unilaterally deciding policy for the whole country. This time to benefit foreign gang members. If the Supreme Court or Congress doesn’t fix this, we’re headed towards a constitutional crisis. Senate Judiciary Committee will be taking action.”

… Former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich: “Those upset by the emerging dictatorship of district court justices behaving as though they were president should read the Judiciary Act of 1802. Jefferson and his party completely revised the court system and abolished a series of federalist judges they deemed illegitimate. A warning to the current out of control judiciary.”

… Trump’s former NSA Michael Flynn replied to Gingrich: “I believe we’ve reached that point, especially at the district court level. Far too many judges are making decisions based on their political bias. Just as Americans have lost trust in the institutions of government, the legal profession, along with appointed judges, has also lost the trust of the American people by weaponizing the rule of law. People must be held ACCOUNTABLE for their treasonous and seditious behavior to our way of life (including certain judges).”

… Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX): “I’ll be filing Articles of Impeachment against activist Judge James Boasberg this week.”

… Republican Reps Andrew Clyde and Eli Crane posted that they will co-sponsor Gill’s bill to impeach Judge Boasbert. Elon Musk then said it was “necessary” for the judge to be impeached. Brandon Gill is married to Dinesh D’Souza’s daughter and this is his first year in Congress.

… It appears that the Trump Admin intends to simply ignore the court order and continue grabbing people off the street, putting them on planes, and flying them out of the country if ICE deems them to be dangerous - despite the fact that many have pending asylum claims and citizenship applications.

… Despite the fact that the court ordered planned flights to be cancelled until an emergency hearing is held within the next 14 days, at least two flights left from the US to El Salvador, where the immigrants where hauled off the plane by armed guards in fatigues and sent to a private detention facility on a contract basis paid for by the US government.

… El Salvador President Nayib Bukele: “Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable). The US will pay a very low fee for them, but a high one for us.”

… This is what I posted on Friday, BEFORE all of this went down this weekend with Judge Boasberg:

… Sen. Chris Murphy was asked on NBC if he thinks that Chuck Schumer is the best person to lead their caucus: "He can lead this caucus, but we need to have a conversation as a caucus about whether we are willing to stand up to Republicans."

… Murphy: "If we continue to observe norms, if we continue to engage in business as usual, this democracy could be gone. I don't think we have a year to save American democracy. I think the way the president is acting puts out democracy at immediate risk."

… Rep. Jake Auchincloss: "Democrats need to demonstrate with every opportunity we have how we would govern if we were given power, and voting for a bill that further empowers Trump to tank the economy and threaten our allies and take away benefits from veterans is not a good way to do that."

… PA Gov Josh Shapiro: "Schumer had leverage. There was an opportunity for more action.  Don't let anybody tell you you have to be a party of resistance or you have to be a party of getting stuff done. I think you can be both, and I think it's a false choice to suggest it's an either or."

… Rep. Jasmine Crockett was asked on CNN about Sen. John Fetterman mocking House Dem women’s recent social media video as being too cringe: “He’s not the one to talk about anything. I don’t show up in hoodies when I go on the floor.”

… Crockett was asked if AOC should run against Schumer: “That’s 4 years from now. There are a lot of people watching his leadership in this moment. I definitely think that younger, fresher leadership is something that many Americans are looking for - especially in NY.”

… Sen. Chuck Schumer begins his book tour this week with the following dates:

• Mon 3/17 at Central Library, Baltimore

• Wed 3/19 at Politics and Prose, DC

• Thursday 3/20 at the Weizman, DC

• Sunday 3/23 at the Moss Theatre, Santa Monica

• Mon 4/21 at MJCCA, Atlanta

… CNN poll in 2017: 74% of Dems said that their party leaders should work with Republicans. That same poll today: 42%.

… Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema resurfaced after several months to blast Democrats in Congress who had been critical of the filibuster in the past for hypocrisy after they wanted a filibuster to stop the CR. She asked, “So do Democrats now favor the filibuster rule?”

… AOC responded to Sinema: “Still no. In fact, the same Dems who argue to keep the filibuster ‘for when we need it’ do not, in fact, use it when we need it. It’s only used to block Dem policies. Never to block harmful GOP ones. They could have proved us wrong - instead they proved our point.”

… Trump claims that he won another Club Championship today: "I just won the Golf Club Championship, probably my last, at Trump International Golf Club, in Palm Beach County, FL. Such a great honor! The Awards dinner is tonight, at the Club. I want to thank the wonderful Golf Staff, and all of the many fantastic golfers, that participated in the even. Such fun!"

… I have chronicled Trump’s golf game for many years and posted hundreds of video clips of him on the course. I have also corresponded with Sports Illustrated great Rick Reilly, who wrote the book ‘Commander in Cheat’ about how Trump cheats at golf. By my count, this is the 27th Club Championship he has claimed at one of his courses. These are not senior championships - these are against the young guys. There is no way any of them were legit.

… Karoline Leavitt told Sean Spicer on his podcast that she will not be attending WH Correspondent’s Dinner next month: "This is a group of journalists who’ve been covering the WH for decades. This is an exclusive group of journalists, they have not really welcomed other people, new media, independent journalists, with open arms.”

… KY Dem Gov and likely 2028 presidential candidate Andy Beshear on Gavin Newsom hosting Charlie Kirk, Michael Savage and Steve Bannon on his first podcasts: "I think that Gov. Newsom bringing on different voices is great. We shouldn’t be afraid to talk and to debate just about anyone. But Steve Bannon espouses hatred and anger, and, even at some points, violence. And I don’t think we should give him oxygen on any platform - ever, anywhere."

… Illinois Dem Gov JB Pritzker is going to New Hampshire next month to headline the state party's annual fundraising dinner, which is a strong signal he is also running in 2028.

… Former Jeffrey Epstein pal Alan Dershowitz seems pleased that AG Bondi is heavily redacting the files before she releases them: “I think Pam Bondi has extraordinary experience, she is tough, she has the right priorities.”

… AP reported that the Air Force has removed training courses with videos of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in order to comply with Pete Hegseth’s order to eliminate DEI initiatives in the military. The videos were shown to Air Force recruits during basic military training.

… The Air Force responded to the story with a statement: “We will fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency and in alignment with national security objectives.”

… The nonprofit Tuskegee Airmen Inc. issued a statement that it “strongly opposed” the removal of the videos. These stories “are an essential part of American history and carried significant weight in the World War II veteran community. We believe the content of these courses does not promote one category of service member or citizen over another. They are simply a part of American military history that all service members should be made aware of.”

… Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI): “Shutting down recognition of Tuskegee Airmen? Who are these idiots? Will spineless Republicans push back at this?”

… Definitely not.

If you missed Friday’s Bulletin, you can read it here.