Merkel And Trump: A Study In Contrasting Images From G-7

Wall Street Journal: “Trump told friends shortly before the Bessent announcement that he trusted him to execute the administration’s policies more than any of the other contenders. Trump’s advisers also said that the president-elect, who is known to take appearance into account when hiring, felt that the gray-haired, bespectacled Bessent looked the part.” “But Bessent’s glide path was upended by an 11th-hour play for the job by Cantor Fitzgerald Chief Executive Howard Lutnick, which culminated in Elon Musk signaling to his 200 million social media followers that he backed Lutnick and viewed Bessent as a ‘business-as-usual choice.’ As the deliberations dragged on, Trump at times expressed frustration with his options—and the many leaks about the process—prompting him to bring additional candidates into the mix.” Axios: What to know about Scott Bessent, Trump’s Treasury pick.

Washington Post: “In any other presidential transition, such a showdown and physical confrontation between two top advisers to the president-elect would be a showstopping breakdown in decorum.” “But in Trump’s freewheeling orbit, the incident was soon forgotten as his team has returned to the patterns of his first term in office — with shouting matches, expulsions from meetings and name-calling, all between the public celebrations and rocket-ship photo ops.

New York Times: “While election polling has been around for more than a century, election forecasts have come to the forefront only in the past decade and a half. And while polls are intended to provide a snapshot in time, taking the pulse of how Americans are feeling about a race, forecasts go a step further, analyzing the polling and other data to make a prediction about who is most likely to win, and how likely.” “But this year, with the polls already showing a razor-thin presidential race, the forecasts often indicated that the race was tied nationally or in swing states, or they gave one candidate or the other only a slight edge.” “These results raise the question: What is the value of these election forecasts?

“For months, European business leaders have watched as Donald Trump paved a path back to the White House by doubling down on an “America First” economic policy, putting protectionism and business-friendly tax and regulatory pledges high on the agenda,” the New York Times reports. “With the U. S. presidential inauguration less than two months away, they are now furiously lobbying policymakers in Brussels with an appeal of their own: Put Europe First.” “Nothing has galvanized the European business community quite as urgently as the prospect of a second Trump presidency, this time with Mr.

Fuck Around And Find Out (FAFO) is a term that we should all be familiar with as we watch the 2nd Trump term start (gag, sorry). Simply put, it is both a challenge and a mocking statement, usually directed at supporters of a political opponent. We know what you are doing is going to cause unexpected consequences. Or, shorthand, TRY ME. Tik Tok dropped a great theme song. @originalsinfluencer @The Lone Ranter we got you!

An analysis released Wednesday showed that the United States' 815 billionaires have seen their combined wealth surge by roughly $280 billion since Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election earlier this month, a finding that came as Republicans continued to lay the groundwork for another massive tax giveaway for the rich. Citing Forbes data, Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) noted that the collective net worth of the nation's billionaires jumped $276 billion between November 4—the day before Election Day—and November 12.