Hi all, hope your Thursday is going well. Thanks to everyone who read and commented on my earlier post.
It’s time for today’s mid-day update. For our new subscribers, please note you can look forward to Ron Filipkowski’s full recap of the day’s news later today right here on this Substack. I know I am biased because, well, I run MeidasTouch, but Ron’s daily bulletins are the best political bulletins out there right now.
Let’s start with the economy, as data came in this morning that Trump desperately wants to hide.
U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs in January alone, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That is a 205 percent increase from December and the worst January for job cuts since 2009, at the height of the Great Recession, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the economy was in freefall. We’ve been hearing that phrase “since 2009” far too often lately when it comes to Trump’s economy. That’s ominous.
Economist Heather Long summed it up clearly: the U.S. hiring recession shows no sign of ending. Job openings fell to 6.5 million in December, the lowest level since September 2020. The hiring rate is stuck at 3.3 percent, meaning companies are not even thinking about expanding payrolls. A new Fox News poll found that 72 percent of Americans believe the economy is in poor or only fair condition.
While layoffs surged and hiring stalled, Trump stood at the podium ranting, boasting, and recycling the same delusions he has clung to for years at the National Prayer Breakfast. He again claimed the 2020 election was rigged. He framed his obsession with “winning” as a matter of ego. He portrayed himself as a victim, even as working families face layoffs and shrinking opportunities.
At one point, Trump bragged about his appearance in Davos, telling the audience that people there probably thought inviting him was “the stupidest invitation we ever gave to somebody in Switzerland.” He’s probably not wrong on that one, to be honest.
So let’s do a split screen for a second.
On one side, Trump raving at a prayer breakfast. On the other, economists posting sobering data showing that job cuts have more than doubled year over year, reaching levels not seen since the 2009 financial crisis. We are also seeing a decoupling of economic growth from employment, a classic sign of a system tilted toward the wealthy, where profits rise while workers are discarded. It is the textbook definition of K-shaped growth.
And the instability does not stop there.
The crypto market is collapsing in spectacular fashion. Since October 2025, crypto has lost over $2 trillion in market value. After peaking at a $4.3 trillion market cap, the entire sector is now worth roughly $2.3 trillion. The sell-off has been relentless.
Trump’s own family company, World Liberty Financial, managed to buy crypto near the top of the market and is now dumping it at a loss. Reports show they have sold more than $5 million worth of Bitcoin after the crash, locking in losses rather than profits. It is a familiar pattern. Buy high. Sell low. Call it genius.
Back at the prayer breakfast, Trump could not resist turning what was supposed to be a bipartisan, reflective event into a political attack. He questioned how “a person of faith” could vote for a Democrat, once again attempting to weaponize religion for partisan ends.
And no, we didn’t miss the irony of a man who is in the Epstein files over 38,000 times speaking at a prayer breakfast. Documents from the latest tranche continue to be exposed, further proving the close relationship between Donald and Melania Trump and Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Newly surfaced emails also show Maxwell’s response to Melania after Melania praised Epstein’s profile in New York Magazine. That was the article where Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” who “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” In Melania’s email to Maxwell, she referring to her with the nickname “G.” In response, Maxwell called Melania “Sweet Pea” and promise she’d call soon.
In response to Republican efforts to turn the Epstein investigation into a political sideshow, Hillary Clinton issued a direct challenge. She called for public hearings, cameras on, transparency guaranteed, and pledged that she and Bill Clinton would testify under oath. Her message was simple: stop the games and let the facts come out in public. The obvious question remains whether Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and any of the many others in Trump’s orbit would be willing to do the same.
Corruption concerns deepened further on Capitol Hill during a Senate hearing. I just recorded an entire video on this for our YouTube channel, but I’ll share one of the most powerful moments now.
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego held Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s feet to the fire about the fact that the Treasury Department could be ordered to cut Donald Trump a $10 billion check in taxpayer money over his claim that leaked tax returns damaged him. That’s right. Trump is suing his own administration for $10 billion. During the exchange, Bessent acknowledged that if the Department of Justice instructed Treasury to pay, he would comply.
This is a sitting president potentially using the machinery of government to enrich himself at public expense to the tune of billions of dollars. If every taxpayer affected by that same data breach sued for similar damages, the government would collapse under the weight of the claims. Yet somehow, the system is being bent to accommodate and enrich one man.
Amid all of this, there was a rare moment of positive news.
In Virginia, Democratic leaders announced plans for a 10–1 congressional map in favor of Democrats, a direct response to aggressive Republican gerrymandering in states like Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri. The message from Virginia lawmakers was clear: these are not normal times, and democracy cannot survive if one party is allowed to rig the rules because it cannot win on ideas.
They pledged transparency, public debate, and voter input.
The Republicans started the gerrymandering war. Democrats appear like they are going to win it.
We’ll keep you up-to-date throughout the day. Thanks for reading and watching!
