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Today in Politics, Bulletin 129. 5/12/25

Today in Politics, Bulletin 129. 5/12/25

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Ron Filipkowski
May 12, 2025
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Today in Politics, Bulletin 129. 5/12/25
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… Trump surrendered again on tariffs - this time agreeing to reduce his ridiculous 145% tariffs to 30% on China in exchange for absolutely nothing except China reducing their reciprocal tariffs in response.

… Economist Justin Wolfers: “The US will cut the rate at which it taxes Americans who buy stuff from China, to 30%. China will cut the rate at which it taxes Chinese folks who buy stuff from the US, to 10%. There are two ways to frame this news: 1. US trade policy and our macroeconomic prospects are much better today than they were yesterday. 2. US trade policy and our macroeconomic prospects are much worse today than on Inauguration day. Both are true.”

… Wolfers: “Yet another zig, another zag, and another 90-day pause is just more policy chaos. I mean, we are now in the midst of a different 90-day pause with 189 other countries. The extent of this chaos cannot be understated.”

… Fox Business analyst Charles Gasparino: “Trump raised tariffs on the world, the markets, particularly the bond market - which we need to finance our debt - rebelled. Trump then was forced to back off. End of story. Film at 11 of the president spinning this as a major victory. Ok sorry, I couldn’t help myself. But what we have seen is a little lesson on how markets exert their power, how when you have to depend on them as we still do, and you cant go to trade war with the world without bad stuff happening.”

… Gasparino on the stock market going up in response: “Bond yields are telling an altogether different story this morning with the 10-year spiking now to close to 4.5%. Uncertainty about inflation is possibly one explanation; maybe investors don't like the temporary nature of the truce with China. I guess the notion that tariffs will pay down the deficit and for the tax cuts is off the table.”

… Goldman Sachs: “The large reduction in the US tariff rate on China should only have a limited impact on the overall US effective tariff rate. After accounting for a reduction of that magnitude, the full set of US tariffs would still be considerably higher and broader than expected by markets at the start of the year.”

… Press Sec Karoline Leavitt: “Thanks to the strength of President Trump, we were able to cut this initial deal with China.”

… Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO): “We now have a trade deal with China. Will all those who told us tariffs would ruin us eat their words now? Don’t doubt President Trump on the economy. You’ll only end up looking wrong!”

… WH Economic Advisor Kevin Haslett says Canada is to blame for the issues between the two countries right now: "Canada kept making it worse and worse with their rhetoric."

… Trump announced an executive order on drug prices: "I'm directing the US trade reps and Dept of Commerce to begin investigations of foreign nations that extort drug companies. We're gonna tell those countries, like those represented by the EU, that that game is up. Sorry. If they want to get cute, then they don't have to sell cars into the US anymore."

… This is even more bizarre than the scheme he tried with this during the first term, which was struck down by the courts. He is threatening to tariff countries who are able to negotiate better drug prices with big pharma than us. As if that is their fault.

… AP: “President Trump set a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to lower the cost of prescription drugs in a sweeping executive order. The order calls on RFK Jr. to broker new price tags for drugs. If a deal isn't reached, a new rule will kick in that will tie the price of what the US pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries. Trump's ‘most favored nation’ approach to Medicare drug pricing has been debated since he tried to implement it during his first term, with a court order blocking the rule.”

… New chief negotiator RFK Jr was at the presser: "I'm very very proud of you, Mr. President, for your courage. I'll say because I don't want to be crude, your intestinal fortitude - your stiff spine, and your willingness to stand up for the American people. There has never been a president more willing to stand up to the oligarchs than President Trump.”

… Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL): "I am delighted that President Trump, who comes from that very high billionaire class, is thinking about those who are below him. That makes him a great leader."

… Bernie Sanders’ Chief of Staff Faiz Shakir: “Some of you may have thought that Trump wanted lower drug prices for Americans. Wrong. He wants higher drug prices for Europeans and others - and higher profits for drug companies.”

… NYT: “President Trump signed an executive order asking pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily lower their prices, but cited no obvious legal authority to mandate changes.”

… Jon Bauman, Vice Chair of DNC Seniors Council: “The Dictator’s Executive Order to ‘cut drug prices’ is going to be the same lousy theater as his first term. This has to be done legislatively like Biden did and Republicans will never do it. Try electing Democrats in ‘26 and then see what Trump does. So just to confirm, The Dictator’s drug price act was the same performative drivel as in has first term when the courts stopped him. He pretends he wants to cut drug prices knowing this has to be done by Congress and Republicans will never do it. And the cult buys into this BS.”

… Sen. Bernie Sanders: "As Trump well knows, his executive order will be thrown out by the courts. If Trump is serious about making real change rather than just issuing a press release, he will support legislation I will soon be introducing to make sure we pay no more for prescription drugs than people in other major countries."

… Trump says all the money the govt is going to save on drug costs will pay for his ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense shield: “Your cost for Medicaid and Medicare and just basically pharmaceuticals and drugs is going down at a level that nobody has ever seen before. It'll pay for the Golden Dome. That'll easily pay for the Golden Dome. And we'll have a lot of money left over.”

… Trump posted about the “palace in the sky” jet from Qatar: “So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!!”

… Trump’s “very public and transparent transaction” on the Qatar jet grift only came to light after confidential sources told ABC about it. Neither Trump nor anyone in the admin disclosed it to the public.

… He then got angry when asked about it today. Reporter: What do you have say to people who view that luxury jet as a personal gift to you. Trump: “You are ABC fake news. You should be embarrassed. There was a golfer Sam Snead - he had a motto: ‘when they give you a putt, you say thank you very much and take it.’ A lot of people are stupid, they insist on putting it and they miss it and their partner gets angry at them.”

… Leavitt on Fox: "The Qatari govt has graciously offered to donate a plane to the DOD. Any donation to this govt is done in full compliance with the law. We commit ourselves to utmost transparency. They know President Trump and they know that he only works with the interest of the American public in mind.”

… RFK Jr: “We now have a president who is a man of his word. He can't be bought. He’s standing for the American people.”

… Fox host Larry Kudlow: “I don't care if they give him a new Air Force One. What the heck? The president's Air Force One is very uncomfortable. There’s no real place to rest if you're a senior staff. These guys are big tall guys. Give it to him.”

… Trump supporter Ben Shapiro went off on Trump on his podcast today about the jet and his crypto scam: “I promise you, if these issues continue to dog his admin, Republicans will lose Congress. It’s that simple. Then whatever Trump wants to do, his entire agenda, will be DOA and there will be endless investigations. Trump promised to drain the swamp, this is not draining the swamp. It need to stop.”

Thanks again for reading my work, sharing it with others, and supporting it by subscribing. I know you have a lot of great choices now on Substack with new people coming over every day from mainstream media, and that is a really great thing. I try to make these Bulletins something unique and special that makes it worth it for you to be here. It is designed for people who want to stay up on everything while avoiding the social media war zone, or to supplement those of you who are also on X or Bluesky.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. See you tomorrow with Donald of Arabia!

Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

… After his press conference today, Trump boarded the current Air Force One for his trip to the Middle East. CBS: “With us on AF1 for Trump's 1st multi-stop foreign trip: Pete Hegseth, Howard Lutnick, Chris Wright, Susie Wiles, James Blair, Taylor Budowich, Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino, Steven Cheung, Karoline Leavitt, Will

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