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India Is Most Likely To Sign First Major Trade Deal With US, Here’s Why

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

India Is Most Likely To Sign First Major Trade Deal With US, Here’s Why

During his closely-watched CNBC interview today, Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that he has a trade deal with an unnamed country, pending approval. Speculation promptly emerged who that country may be, with the most likely candidates named as India, South Korea and Japan.

Of the three, India is the nation most likely to announce the first major trade deal with the Trump admin, not only because of Apple’s decision to shift all US-focused iPhone production from China to India, but because India and China have a bit of a regional superpower rivalry between them, with the former recently surpassing the latter as the world’s most populous country (China is facing a crippling demographic crisis in several decades that would rival Japan’s), and with ambitions to overtake China’s GDP over the next 2 decades.

Case in point, Indian trade negotiators are planning to showcase the country’s large pipeline of Boeing plane orders and the potential for more to come as they seek a favorable deal with the US, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. In the absence of a deal, Indian goods exports to the US face up to 26% levies after Trump’s 90-day pause on implementation of reciprocal tariffs ends in July.

The plan is to get Indian carriers’ existing orders and under-negotiation deals with the American planemaker counted in discussions for a bilateral trade pact that could potentially shield the country from higher US tariffs.

Along with Air India, Akasa Air-operator SNV Aviation and SpiceJet have placed a combined order for 590 aircraft worth $67 billion with Boeing in recent years. With deliveries and payments for 506 of those planes staggered over several years, India wants to highlight how these private purchases would serve to narrow the more than $47 billion trade surplus New Delhi runs with Washington — a key gripe of President Donald Trump.

Underscoring how India hopes to use airplanes as leverage in the global trade war, Air India, the erstwhile state-owned carrier acquired by the Tata Group in 2022, is already looking to take deliveries of some Boeing planes that were rejected by Chinese carriers in a tit-for-tat move over Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. The airline is also discussing fresh orders with the American plane maker.

Indian carriers growing orders with Boeing is also boosting the American plane manufacturer’s share in the South Asian market. Of the nearly 900 commercial passenger aircraft registered in India, a majority 538 belong to the Airbus SE 320 family, according to data consultancy KnowIndia.net. Only 140 are Boeing 737s, with the rest made up of widebody, turboprops and other types of aircraft. While India’s largest carrier IndiGo operates an Airbus fleet, it last year decided to lease some Boeing 787 aircraft for a few international routes.

India is not alone in wanting to use aircraft orders as a leverage for trade negotiations. Vietnam is also employing a similar tactic to win favor with the White House.

Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to buying more US goods, including crude oil, liquefied natural gas and defense items in a meeting with Trump in Washington in February, officials feel adding private commercial aircraft deals to the list could bolster New Delhi’s case for a trade deal with the US.

The Modi administration has already offered several concessions to the US, including overhauling its tariff regime to bring down levies on some 8,500 industrial goods including key American exports such as Bourbon whiskey and high-end motorcycles such as those made by Harley Davidson Inc.

Besides airplanes, India is also hoping to appease Trump by boosting the amount of oil the country imports from the US.

Indian refiners, who have relied largely on Russian oil in recent years, have been boosting US oil purchases before trade talks between the two nations next month. Around 11.2 million barrels of crude are set to arrive in India from the US in June, the highest volume since last August, according to data from analytics firm Kpler. That comes after a drop in prices in the West Texas Intermediate benchmark as the result of lower demand because of a refinery overhaul n Singapore, along with reduced appetite in China — the world’s biggest oil importer.

“WTI has to discount significantly more than usual to incentivize the rest of Asia to take in the barrels,” said June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities. “There is also a geopolitical element, where Asian buyers may seek more WTI as a negotiating tool with the US to reduce the reciprocal tariffs, per what we are observing with Indonesia and India.”

India’s trade deficit widened more than expected in March, as oil imports jumped more than 60% from a month earlier. The nation’s exporters have been urging New Delhi officials to seal a bilateral trade deal with the US as soon as possible, with in-person negotiations set to start in the second half of May, after President Donald Trump paused a proposed 26% tariff on the Asian nation this month.

State refiners including Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum have purchased at least 6 million barrels of June-arrival crude from the US across various tenders held this month, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Bharat Petroleum — which is also seeking spot supplies including grades from the US — bought 1 million barrels for the four months through September. Indian Oil has also started buying crude for July, including 3 million barrels from the US.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 17:20

Mark Zuckerberg Warns A ‘Reckoning’ Is Coming For One Of The Biggest Scams In America

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Mark Zuckerberg Warns A ‘Reckoning’ Is Coming For One Of The Biggest Scams In America

Via VigilantFox.com,

The student loan bubble is about to burst, and Zuckerberg knows it. He says there’s one huge problem with college today that no one can ignore anymore.

It started with a strange but telling moment. One that pulled back the curtain on the secretive world of Mark Zuckerberg.

On This Past Weekend podcast, comedian Theo Von joked about wanting to dig a tunnel underground. What he didn’t expect was for Zuckerberg to casually admit he had already done it.

“I do have an underground tunnel,” Zuckerberg said without hesitation.

Theo, caught completely off guard, asked, “Do you really? In the USA?”

Zuckerberg confirmed it was real and even bigger than Theo expected.

“I have this ranch in Kauai,” he said. “There’s this whole meme about how people are saying, I built this, like, bunker underground. It’s like more of underground storage.”

Theo, laughing, teased him: “Zucky got that bunky. What’s under the ground? Just more water, right?”

Zuckerberg brushed it off, but he didn’t deny the core of the rumor.

“It’s basically what you just said. It’s sort of a tunnel that just goes to another building.”

Not exactly a bunker, according to Zuckerberg, just an underground passage connecting parts of his remote island fortress. Well… Nothing to see here, right?

As the interview went on, Zuckerberg shifted gears and dropped a much bigger bomb.

He admitted what millions of Americans are starting to feel: college isn’t preparing young people for the real world anymore, and the student debt crisis is heading straight for a reckoning.

It’s a personal subject for Zuckerberg, who famously dropped out of Harvard to build Facebook, and now sees the system he left behind collapsing under its own weight.

“I’m not sure that college is preparing people for, like, the jobs that they need to have today,” he said. 

“I mean, I think that that’s like there’s a big issue on that. And like, all the student debt issues are like really big issues.”

He pointed to the crushing cost of a degree and the broken promises that come with it.

“I mean, the fact that college is just so expensive for so many people and then, like, you graduate when you’re in debt,” he said.

“If it’s not preparing you for the jobs that you need and you’re kind of starting off in this big hole, then I think that’s not good.”

In Zuckerberg’s view, the system isn’t just broken — it’s on borrowed time.

“There’s going to have to be a reckoning,” he warned.

“People are going to have to kind of figure out whether that makes sense.”

And the taboo around questioning college?

He says that’s starting to crumble too.

“It’s sort of been this taboo thing to say, like, maybe not everyone needs to go to college,” he said. 

“Because there’s like a lot of jobs that don’t require that.”

“But I think people are probably coming around to that opinion a little more now than maybe like ten years ago.”

And he wasn’t done yet.

The conversation soon turned to another taboo—one that most tech CEOs wouldn’t dare touch: the role of media elites in misjudging, mislabeling, and underestimating ordinary people.

Strange coming from the man involved in censoring millions of Americans and the president himself, but nonetheless, Zuckerberg unleashed on the media.

He slammed the entire idea that the public is too dumb to make their own decisions, a belief quietly pushed by many in the media.

“Like, I’ve always been a person who really kind of believes that people are smarter than people think,” he said, “and, and I think in general, are able to make good decisions for their lives.”

The real problem, Zuckerberg argued, isn’t the people — it’s the media’s failure to understand them.

“And when they do things that like the media or whatever thinks don’t make sense, it’s generally because the media doesn’t understand their life, not because the people are stupid.”

In one of the sharpest moments of the interview, he flipped the whole “misinformation” narrative on its head.

“Like if people are saying something that seems wrong, it’s not usually misinformation. It’s usually that you don’t understand what’s going on in that person’s life.”

And he didn’t stop there.

Zuckerberg called out the deep-rooted arrogance that still runs through legacy media outlets.

“I just think that there’s like a certain kind of paternalism in, in some of the, like, mainstream narratives and some of the media narratives,” he said.

But now, he hinted, the tide might finally be turning — because the so-called “experts” are losing their grip.

“I think it’s a little more receptive as maybe some of those cultural or media elite people are having a harder time predicting what’s going to happen in the world. Maybe there’s a little more humility of like, okay, maybe we don’t understand all of this.”

Finally, Zuckerberg ended with a brutal warning for the tech world—one rooted in hard experience.

The biggest mistake tech companies make? 

Thinking they’re smarter than the people they claim to serve.

Zuckerberg explained why arrogance toward everyday users almost always leads to disaster.

“To me, the best predicting thing has always been like, all right, if you build something, do people actually think it’s good?” he said. 

“Because like at some level, you know, it’s like, I just believe that people are actually very smart and understand their lives very well.”

He reiterated that the real test isn’t winning awards or impressing other executives. It’s whether real people actually find what you build useful.

“If you’re building something that is useful for them, then they will use it,” he said. “And if you’re building something that is not useful for them, then they have other options. They will do something else.”

Zuckerberg said trusting people’s judgment — not lecturing them — has been his greatest advantage.

“I don’t know, it’s always served me well to generally have faith in people and believe that people are smart and can make good decisions for themselves.”

But he also offered a serious warning.

Whenever companies start thinking they know better than their customers, it’s the beginning of the end.

“Whenever we try to, like, adopt some sort of like attitude of, oh, we must know better than them, it’s like—we’re like—we’re the people building technology. That’s when you lose, right?”

And when you lose touch for long enough, the fall is brutal.

“If you have that attitude for long enough, then you just become a shitty company and you lose and you lose and you lose and then you’re irrelevant.”

In the end, Zuckerberg said, it’s not the elites who shape the future, it’s the people.

“I tend to just think that at the end of the day, yeah, I mean, I think people are smarter than a lot of people think, and I think ultimately drive the direction that society goes in.”

 Underestimate everyday people and you lose everything.

Watch the full conversation between @TheoVon and Mark Zuckerberg here:

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 17:00

Trump’s First 100 Days In Charts

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Trump’s First 100 Days In Charts

Upon returning to the White House, President Donald Trump unleashed a wave of executive orders and aggressive policy shifts, making his first 100 days of his second term one of the most impactful starts to a presidency in recent memory.

Now serving as the 47th president, Trump has resumed many of the core initiatives from his previous administration -initiatives he says were obstructed by the Russia probe, civil unrest tied to Black Lives Matter protests, and the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With renewed urgency, Trump has zeroed in on the cornerstone issues of his “Make America Great Again” platform: securing the southern border, confronting China’s trade abuses, and boosting American energy independence.

And or course, the highly controversial tariffs that sent investors on a round-trip rollercoaster from hell this month.

Trump has already surpassed President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s historic mark of 99 executive orders within the first 100 days, a sign of his determination to reshape federal policy without waiting for Congress.

Which were of course met with a flood of legal challenges in front of left-wing judges…

Nearly all of the legal challenges are working their way through the courts. Some of the president’s actions have been blocked or allowed temporarily pending further court action. The court allowed the deferred resignation, or voluntary departure plan, by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to continue. Harvard University’s legal challenge to the administration’s funding freeze over anti-semitism and removal of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs has yet to be heard by the court. –Epoch Times

Backers view Trump’s opening stretch as a return to American assertiveness, while critics argue it reflects executive overreach and instability.

Eager to seize the early momentum, Trump has pushed forward rapidly on both international and domestic priorities, knowing the political clock is already ticking.

As his administration hits the 100-day mark, here is a breakdown of the major actions taken so far by the Epoch Times.

Economic Indicators: Up, Down

Economic indicators mostly improved through March, the last month for which complete data is available. Nonfarm job creation nearly doubled since Trump took office, although the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percent.

Inflation declined by 0.5 percent, reaching 2.8 percent, its lowest level since February 2021.

Trump’s tariff strategy, launched on April 2, which he called “Liberation Day,” appeared to cause uncertainty among investors, which could affect economic indicators for April.

The president said his tariff strategy is to reverse the trade imbalance between the United States and other nations by levying reciprocal tariffs on their goods coming into this country. The tariffs will also encourage manufacturers to create products in the United States, according to Trump.

The Standard and Poor’s 500, an index that tracks the performance of leading companies, dropped steeply in the days following the tariff announcement. Prices rallied on April 8, the day after Trump announced a pause in many of the tariffs.

Manufacturing Build-Back: $1.75 Trillion

More than a dozen domestic and foreign manufacturers have announced large investments in their U.S. operations since Trump took office.

In at least one case, Trump’s tariff policy played a part in the decision to invest here. Honda is expected to manufacture its next-generation Civic hybrid in Indiana rather than Mexico.

Nissan and Hyundai are expected to move some manufacturing facilities to the United States as well, according to the White House.

Those investments include more than $1 trillion from tech giants Nvidia, Apple, Oracle, and others. Merck, the German pharmaceutical company, opened a $1 billion manufacturing facility in North Carolina this year.

Multinational automaker Stellantis announced a $5 billion investment in its U.S. manufacturing sites.

Illegal Border Crossings: 90 Percent Reduction in 40 Days

Trump’s early actions on border security included a national emergency declaration, invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to combat speed deportation, and directing the military to augment security at the nation’s borders.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began increased deportation operations targeting criminal illegal immigrants on Jan. 21. Immigration officials reported 32,800 arrests in the first three weeks of the Trump administration, about 73 percent of whom were illegal immigrants with a criminal charge or conviction.

ICE made 113,400 total immigration arrests during the last fiscal year of the Biden administration, according to the agency’s records.

Customs and Border Protection reported a nearly 90 percent drop in illegal immigrant apprehensions at the southern border between December 2024, the last full month before Trump took office, and March.

Taxpayer Savings: $1.6 Billion per Day

Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, on Jan. 20. Headed by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, DOGE took rapid action to reduce government spending with the goal of reaching $1 trillion in cost savings.

Immediate targets included tax-payer funded programs related to gender ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion. DOGE also targeted waste, such as leases on unoccupied buildings.

Agency heads have reduced spending to save Americans about $160 billion in 100 days, or nearly $1,000 per taxpayer, according to DOGE.

Trump offered a Deferred Resignation Program, which allowed federal employees to voluntarily resign and retain salary and benefits until Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. About 77,000 of the more than 3 million federal employees opted into the program.

Other staff reductions have eliminated about 66,000 positions, nearly all of which were retirements or voluntary transitions, according to DOGE.

Three other recent presidents made significant staffing reductions during their first 100 days, as did Trump during his first term.

Now let’s see what happens in May with all this port FUD and talk of empty shelves…

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 16:40

We Need To Reclaim Our Country’s Soul From The Radical Left

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

We Need To Reclaim Our Country’s Soul From The Radical Left

Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com,

In a stunning display of misplaced priorities, Democratic lawmakers recently traveled to El Salvador—not to address the border crisis devastating American communities, but to advocate for MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia. 

This disturbing development perfectly encapsulates how far the Democratic Party has strayed from protecting American interests.

The same Democrats who rushed to El Salvador to defend a gang member remained conspicuously silent when Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was brutally murdered by an illegal alien on her college campus. 

They offered no words of comfort when 18-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was found dead in a San Diego canyon, raped and murdered by two illegal immigrants. And where were their impassioned speeches about “due process” when Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was murdered on a hiking trail by an illegal alien with a violent criminal history?

Border Czar Tom Homan and former Trump advisor Stephen Miller have both exposed the dangerous hypocrisy of these actions. 

While Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) claims he’s merely defending “due process,” the facts tell a different story. 

Garcia’s own wife has accused him of domestic abuse, and he’s been accused of MS-13 gang affiliation. 

And then there are his connections to human trafficking.

“The Democrat Party has become the party of terrorists and illegal aliens,” Miller declared during a recent Fox News appearance.

“Who does it fight for? Who does it move heaven and earth to protect? Illegal alien gang members and foreign terrorists.”

The statistics are damning: Under the Biden administration, America witnessed a 600% increase in sex trafficking, while over 10.5 million people entered illegally. A quarter-million Americans have died from fentanyl flooding across our open borders. The brutal Tren de Aragua gang now plots assassinations on U.S. soil.

“Where were you when thousands of American parents buried their children?” Homan demanded of the Democrats during a recent appearance on Sean Hannity’s show. 

“They got separated from their children forever ’cause they were killed by illegal aliens. That’s preventable crime.” 

The graves of Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray, and Rachel Morin stand as stark testimonies to this preventable tragedy.

Even more shocking, Van Hollen spent taxpayer money to meet with Garcia while ignoring murders committed by illegal aliens in his own state—released despite ICE detainers. 

During Biden’s presidency, Van Hollen never once visited the border to witness the catastrophe firsthand or spoke with the family of Rachel Morin, one of his actual constituents.

The American people face a critical choice. 

We can either stand with those working to secure our borders and protect our communities or watch as radical Democrats continue dismantling our national security to protect criminals and terrorists.

We will continue to expose the radical left for their indifference to the safety and security of this country and its citizens.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 16:20

Axios Clown Claims Media “Missed” Biden’s Mental Decline

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Axios Clown Claims Media “Missed” Biden’s Mental Decline

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

The funniest joke at the White House Correspondent’s dinner Sunday came courtesy of Axios ‘journalist’ Alex Thompson, who suggested that the media didn’t report on Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive decline because his handlers ‘covered it up’.

Thompson claimed that “Biden’s decline and its cover up by the people around him is a reminder that every White House regardless of Party is capable of deception.”

“But being truth tellers also means telling the truth about ourselves,” he continued, adding “We, myself included, missed a lot of this story and some people trust us less because of that.”

You didn’t “miss” it, you ignored it.

You also actively denied it was a thing.

“We bear some responsibility for faith in the media being at such lows,” Thompson further stated, adding “I say this because acknowledging errors builds trust and being defensive about it further erodes it. We should have done better.”

No shit.

While every conservative was for years screaming about Biden’s brain turning to mush, the media was amplifying Democrats calling him “sharp as a tack.”

*  *  *

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 15:25

“We Are Refilling The Reserve Now”: Energy Secretary Wright Confirms SPR Refill After Biden’s Reckless Drain

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

“We Are Refilling The Reserve Now”: Energy Secretary Wright Confirms SPR Refill After Biden’s Reckless Drain

The effort to refill America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, depleted under President Biden in 2022, is progressing slowly under the Trump administration, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a CNBC interview this week.

“We are refilling the reserve now, and we will continue to refill the reserve the whole time I’m in office,” Wright stated, warning it could take years. He criticized Biden’s decision to release oil from the SPR as “such an irresponsible action to drain that reserve so quickly for electoral reasons.”

The Biden administration authorized a historic sale of 180 million barrels over six months to fight surging gasoline prices and inflation, and in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Newsmax.

Wright added that the rapid drawdown damaged infrastructure: “It was drained so fast, it did some damage to the facilities. And so, right now, we only can fill two of the four major salt caverns we have, so we are doing repair work on the other two.” He said he’s pushing for more funding to speed up the repairs and refill effort.

Recall back in March we noted that Wright told Bloomberg in an interview that the Energy Department was preparing to purchase $20 billion worth of crude oil as the first step in refilling the nation’s depleted SPR to a sufficient level.

At the time, he said the initiative, which may take years, would restore holdings “just close to the top.” 

The initiative, which may take years, would restore holdings “just close to the top” to maintain efficient operating status, Wright said in an interview on Thursday in Louisiana after touring a natural-gas export plant. Trump said he planned replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during his inaugural address in January, part of a broad embrace of conventional energy that’s also included pledges to boost domestic oil production and roll back regulation. The storage facility — the largest of its kind — is meant to provide a cushion to guard against crude supply disruptions. “Ultimately, that’s what it was built for — to have the maximum security for the American people,” Wright said. -BBG 

Currently trading at approximately $61 per barrel, WTI has decreased by about 13.76% since the beginning of the year and the re-escalation of trade disputes, particularly between the U.S. and China, has dampened global economic outlooks, leading to reduced demand projections for oil

Recall, under Biden’s first term, the reckless administration dangerously drained the SPR from around 650 million barrels to about 395 million. 

Bloomberg noted back in March: “Congress will need to approve funding to refill the system, which isn’t guaranteed. Energy Department funds for purchases ran out after the Biden administration bought about 60 million barrels.”

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 15:00

Trump Order Strips Funding From Sanctuary Cities Engaged In ‘Insurrection’

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Trump Order Strips Funding From Sanctuary Cities Engaged In ‘Insurrection’

Authored by Bethany Blankley via The Center Square,

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday to enhance national security and enforce federal immigration and criminal law in so-called sanctuary jurisdictions and take a range of actions against those obstructing enforcement, including eliminating their federal funding.

Trump’s “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens” executive order directs the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions that obstruct federal immigration enforcement and take action against them.

“Federal supremacy with respect to immigration, national security, and foreign policy is axiomatic,” the order states, citing Article II and Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, vesting the federal government with the power to protect national security and “protect each of [the States] against Invasion.”

The invasion argument was first made by 55 Texas counties that declared an invasion citing Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, The Center Square exclusively reported.

“The prior administration allowed unchecked millions of aliens to illegally enter the United States,” the order states, creating a public safety and national security crisis, exacerbated by transnational criminal organizations, terrorists and others intent on harming Americans.

Trump’s latest executive order, as many of his previous ones, is likely to be challenged in court.

Citing an invasion at the southern border, which Trump officially declared on his first day in office, his administration is now responding to some state and local officials who “violate, obstruct, and defy” federal immigration enforcement, the order states.

Local jurisdictions who obstruct federal deportation efforts are engaging in “a lawless insurrection against the supremacy of Federal law and the Federal Government’s obligation to defend the territorial sovereignty of the United States,” it states.

In addition to creating “intolerable national security risks,” the order states sanctuary jurisdictions’ “nullification efforts often violate Federal criminal laws, including those prohibiting obstruction of justice, … unlawfully harboring or hiring illegal aliens …, conspiracy against the United States …, and conspiracy to impede Federal law enforcement.”

The order also notes that “assisting aliens in violating Federal immigration law could also violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act,” an argument made by America First Legal, The Center Square reported. In January, AFL launched a resource to help Americans fight sanctuary policies and sent letters to more than 250 elected officials demanding that they comply with federal law or expect to be sued.

“Concealing, harboring, or shielding aliens could also trigger liability under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statute,” AFL said.

“Civil RICO remedies are available to ‘[a]ny person injured in his business or property by reason of a violation’ and shall recover threefold the damages he sustains and the cost of the suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee.’”

Trump’s order also states that those who assist illegal foreign nationals might be violating federal laws that prohibit discrimination against Americans and might be violating Americans’ civil rights.

In order for the federal government “to restore the enforcement of United States law,” Trump directed the attorney general and Secretary of Homeland Security to publish a list of states and local jurisdictions that obstruct the federal immigration enforcement. Each jurisdiction is to be notified of its alleged violation of federal immigration and criminal law.

Those that remain in defiance will lose all federal funding, the order says. The AG and DHS secretary are directed to work with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to identify, suspend and terminate all federal funds allocated to sanctuary jurisdictions, including grants and contracts. They are also directed to “pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance” with U.S. laws.

The order also prevents all federal benefits from being spent on illegal foreign nationals living in sanctuary jurisdictions, including through private entities. It requires federal agencies to create a mechanism “to ensure appropriate eligibility verification is conducted for individuals receiving federal public benefits” under Title 8 of federal immigration law.

It also creates provisions for the AG, DHS secretary and agency heads to “identify and take appropriate action to stop the enforcement of state and local laws, regulations, policies, and practices favoring aliens over any groups of American citizens that are unlawful, preempted by federal law, or otherwise unenforceable.”

This includes state laws that provide in-state higher education tuition “to aliens but not to out-of-State American citizens that may violate” federal law or “that favor aliens in criminal charges or sentencing.”

The order was issued after the Trump administration already warned sanctuary jurisdictions like Massachusetts, whose officials remained steadfast in their policies to protect illegal foreign nationals. They continued to do so after federal authorities arrested alleged terrorists tied to the murder of U.S. troops and hundreds of criminal illegal foreign nationals were charged or convicted of committing violent crimes against Massachusetts residents, The Center Square reported.

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 14:40

UPS To Slash 20,000 Jobs On Amazon Pullback & Looming Freight Slowdown

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

UPS To Slash 20,000 Jobs On Amazon Pullback & Looming Freight Slowdown

United Parcel Service plans to cut tens of thousands of jobs this year and close dozens of leased and owned facilities by the end of June, describing the move as a “network reconfiguration and efficiency effort.” The reductions follow a pullback in partnership between the carrier and e-commerce giant Amazon for low-margin deliveries, a shift that began earlier this year, and come amid a broader slowdown in package volumes from China to the U.S. because of President Trump’s tariff wall. 

“In connection with our anticipation of lower volumes from our largest customer [Amazon], we began our Network Reconfiguration, which is an expansion of Network of the Future and will lead to consolidations of our facilities and workforce as well as an end-to-end process redesign,” UPS stated in a press release. 

In January, UPS shares posted their largest single-day drop after news broke that the carrier planned to improve profitability by cutting the number of low-margin parcels it delivers for Amazon. At the time, UPS forecasted that its shipping volume with Amazon would be halved by the second quarter of 2026. 

UPS on Tuesday provided more color on the reductions: “We launched our Efficiency Reimagined initiatives to undertake the end-to-end process redesign effort which will align our organizational processes to the network reconfiguration. We expect to reduce our operational workforce by approximately 20,000 positions during 2025 and close 73 leased and owned buildings by the end of June 2025.” 

The latest Bloomberg data shows UPS has around 490,000 workers, suggesting the planned reduction only accounts for about 4% of the entire workforce. The move comes after 12,000 management jobs were cut earlier this year. 

President Trump’s tariff wall around the U.S. market on China — at 145% — will certainly reduce shipment flows by the carrier in the weeks and months ahead – unless a trade deal is resolved. 

The latest data from the Port of Los Angeles — the primary gateway for U.S. trade with Asia — shows a sharp decline in container volumes entering the port, with conditions expected to worsen through mid-May.

As we outlined here, this sudden drop in shipments from Asia, particularly from China, is likely to ripple across U.S. warehouses and trucking networks.

UPS also reported first-quarter earnings that Goldman analyst Jordan Alliger described as much better than expected: 

We come away reasonably encouraged by Domestic’s better than expected volumes (perhaps indicative that volumes ex Amazon and Chinese EC players held up better than we thought), yields and margins in the context of the AMZN wind-down – however, we fully understand that tariff and economic related uncertainty can as yet impact overall freight demand (and profit performance; note we have adjusted down most of our coverage during this EPS season) as we progress in 2025 – TBD. We would expect more color on the call around the AMZN exit and how it could be factoring into domestic margin performance in the 1Q and looking ahead.

Alliger noted that UPS did not provide any update to its full-year outlook due to economic uncertainty: 

Regarding the aforementioned uncertainty, UPS indicated that it will not be providing an update to its previous annual guide – something that is likely not unexpected, all things considered with tariffs and global trade. UPS will, however provide expectations for its 2Q 2025 financial outlook on its earnings call.

The UPS-Amazon wind-down of low-margin deliveries, combined with the incoming slowdown in freight from China due to the trade war, has created significant uncertainty for the world’s largest package delivery company. And just imagine the impact on smaller, mom-and-pop delivery firms — the conditions are nothing short of nightmarish (read:here).

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 14:20

Why Rushing To Buy A Car Before Tariffs Hit Might Not Mean A Good Deal

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Why Rushing To Buy A Car Before Tariffs Hit Might Not Mean A Good Deal

Authored by Austin Alonzo via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

New automotive tariffs are beginning to take effect in April and May. While some anxious buyers are rushing to dealerships to make a purchase, buying today may not necessarily ensure a good deal, several experts said.

Yes, that lambo you’ve been holding off on…

Prices for new and used cars have been surging since 2019. U.S. tariffs on auto imports have added a new source of pressure on an already difficult market. Some experts argue that prices will inevitably rise, while others suggest a more cautious approach.

One auto market observer told The Epoch Times that buyers fearful of price hikes shouldn’t make a purchase based on emotions.

Karl Brauer, an executive analyst at car search engine and price aggregation service iSeeCars.com, said in an email that automakers and dealers are both “playing up the potential price increases to increase sales in the near term.”

“Even they don’t know exactly how tariffs will play out in their pricing structure,” Brauer said. “While higher future vehicle prices are possible, they are not guaranteed, and buyers should never be driven by fear or intimidation.”

Charles Benoit, a trade counsel at the Coalition for a Prosperous America, predicts that if the tariffs are successful in driving production back to the United States and pushing consumers to buy American, the increased production capacity will lower automotive prices.

Recent sales data show that consumers are nonetheless more than a little spooked about the potential impacts of a 25 percent tariff on completed automobiles enacted in April.

New Mazda cars are driven from an auto processing terminal on a car hauler at the Port of Los Angeles in Wilmington, Calif., on April 3, 2025. The Japanese automaker, among other foreign automakers, is affected by the Trump administration’s new 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Through the first week of April, new vehicle sales are up by 22 percent compared with the same time in 2024, according to data shared by Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke.

Used car sales in that timeframe are up by 12 percent, he said.

In an April 16 presentation, Smoke said those purchases were likely driven by consumers wanting to beat any tariff-related price hikes. Cox data indicated that the activity was driving down the available supply of both new and used vehicles on dealer lots across America.

According to Cox inventory data, foreign brands such as Lexus, Toyota, Honda, and Subaru were selling the fastest, while the American brands Lincoln, Dodge, and Ram took the longest to sell.

Bringing Back Production

President Donald Trump, whose administration has imposed new tariffs to boost domestic industries, said on April 2 at the White House that the automotive tariffs are necessary. In his speech, Trump said the tariffs will counteract actions by foreign nations that have “devastated our industrial base and put our national security at risk.”

With a wave of nation-specific reciprocal tariffs on hold, Trump and his Cabinet have suggested they are willing to negotiate to secure more favorable bilateral trade agreements and other concessions. On April 23, White House officials confirmed to The Epoch Times that the Trump administration is considering potential tariff exemptions for some automakers, but did not provide any specific details about those policy shifts.

Benoit told The Epoch Times that the Trump administration’s actions shouldn’t have been a surprise. Rather, the first Trump administration recommended assessing a similar tariff on finished vehicles in 2019.

Right now, Benoit said, imported automobiles account for more than half of the American car market. U.S. trade policy has allowed this proliferation of imports while other countries are buying an insignificant amount of American vehicles. Automotive factories, he said, are running at less than 60 percent capacity.

In 2024, according to sales data published by Car and Driver, six of the top 25 top-selling cars in the United States were models made by U.S.-based companies.

The 2024 Ford F-150 truck is assembled at the Dearborn Truck Plant in Dearborn, Mich., on April 11, 2024. The Trump administration said automotive tariffs are designed to strengthen domestic manufacturing. Currently, imported automobiles account for more than half of the American car market, experts said. Carlos Osorio/File/AP Photo

If the tariffs are successful at attracting production to the United States, Benoit expects consumer prices to fall.

He said the tariffs are already reaping benefits in the automotive sector. Foreign auto companies are adjusting their plans to move production to the United States or dial back foreign production.

Most recently, Honda Motor Co., the second-largest Japanese automaker, said on April 16 it will only make a five-door Civic hybrid model in Indiana rather than produce it in Japan and the United States.

On April 4, Stellantis NV, a Dutch company that makes Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram models, said it was temporarily idling plants in Mexico and Canada as it assessed the impact of the tariffs. Stellantis also announced it will temporarily lay off 900 workers in Michigan and Indiana.

Brauer said all automakers can quickly add production capacity by simply adding another shift to their U.S. facilities, but the overhaul needed to fully address the changes demanded by the new tariff schedule could take years.

“When tariffs change abruptly with little warning, it’s tough for all the automakers,” Brauer said. “They just can’t react quickly when that happens.”

Read the rest here…

Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 14:00

Trump Displays Criminal Alien Images On White House Lawn; Guess What MSNBC Does…

Filed Under: THE NEWS, Zerohedge

Trump Displays Criminal Alien Images On White House Lawn; Guess What MSNBC Does…

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

To mark the first 100 days in office, The Trump administration has decided to make a public display with mugshots of all the criminal illegal aliens arrested so far, prompting MSNBC to freak out and hide the images.

The line up includes shots of illegals arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child, murder, rape, child molestation, and plenty of other violent crimes.

The pictures were printed on to placards and placed prominently on the White House lawn where the TV media usually reports from.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair confirmed that this was done because “The mainstream media doesn’t want to cover this story.”

A Morning Joe host, doesn’t matter what his name is, complained “What’s particularly noteworthy about this location is it is right directly behind the positions where TV correspondents do their hits from the White House lawn. So, therefore, no matter what network you’re on, that includes MSNBC, if you’re doing a hit from the White House right now, those pictures will be behind you.”

Oh no!

They even blurred out the images in social media posts. Or in other words, censored the truth.

In an Instagram post MSNBC claimed “The White House has not provided any information to support their claims that these are criminals who have been arrested.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Morning Joe (@morningjoe)

Er, yes they have.

Guest Maria Teresa Kumar claimed that some images promoted by Trump officials in the past “were found to be altered,” contending “Our job is always to have our true north” and encouraging other networks to also blur out the images.

Incredible.

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/29/2025 – 13:20

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