The daily proclamations continue, while Congress is focused on the ‘one big beautiful bill’ designed to make Americans poor again. I want you to try to imagine the narrative if a Democrat president were attempting to do what Trump is doing. Fox and the right-wing media would be losing their minds. Empty ports, a 0.3% GDP contraction, small businesses being crushed, having to leave inventory at the docks or in China, while being forced to beg the Chinese President to engage in trade talks. Just writing it down leaves me speechless.
Trump is like a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder or, worse still, schizophrenia. Nobody can plan; markets are in a constant state of flux, having lost close to $10 trillion since he was elected. To put this into perspective, the losses represent over 25% of the already substantial national debt. Then, to add insult to injury, Republicans want to add a further $7 trillion in unfunded tax cuts for the rich. It’s like some sick economic joke.
It is essential to dispel once and for all the myth that significant tax cuts for the wealthy benefit the economy. There is little to no evidence to prove that such tax cuts deliver lasting benefits to the economy. The 2017 tax cuts cost $2 trillion. In a report by the Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities on April 8 2025, Chief Economist Gbenga Ajilore stated:
‘Despite claims from President Trump and the Administration’s Council of Economic Advisers, there is no evidence that the 2017 tax law, which included deep tax cuts skewed to the wealthy and corporations and drove up deficits, had significant positive impacts on the economy during Trump’s first term.’
For a more detailed analysis, please refer to the paper by Gbena and Brendan Duke, available here. (I've been sure to provide links to the credentials of the authors if you'd like to check them out.)
The key point, as identified in the paper, as it relates to TODAY, is:
The combination of extending and adding more tax cuts skewed to the wealthy, executive actions that undermine basic governance, and enormous tariffs (assuming they are implemented) will cost jobs and raise prices for consumers and businesses, making it harder for families to afford the basics. Given the heightened concerns about the recession, this agenda may well harm the economy.
I think it's generous to say “…may well hurt the economy.” In my opinion, it will undoubtedly harm the economy and be devastating to the poor and vulnerable. We often discuss economics in the abstract, without considering the ‘real impact’ of economic policy. It is beyond lunacy to take an inherited economy regarded as, and I quote, “The envy of the world” and burn it to the ground in less than 100 days. It simply defies logic and represents a level of inept management of the engine that drives hard-fought prosperity for American families.
There is no better example of Trump’s disregard for hard-working Americans than when he tells them on the campaign trail that they will have so much money, they won’t know what to do with it, but now tells them they will have to cut back on Christmas presents for their kids. As ever with Trump, it’s OK as long as HE is not enduring the pain. Incredulously, he thinks empty ports are a ‘good thing’. It might be if you’re a fat guy who can’t string a sentence together, sitting in the Oval Office, thinking up your next cruel act. Not the case, however, if you’re a port worker or work in any part of the supply chain, trying to pay your mortgage and feed your children. How can you say MAGA is the champion of the working class while simultaneously throwing them under the bus?
Tax cuts for the rich have NEVER delivered for the average American.
As shown in the graph above, there was no accelerated growth; instead, business investment declined. Housing investment cratored. The only thing that has grown is government spending, and that pattern is set to repeat itself, but this time on steroids, with the current Budget Bill. The report goes on to state :
‘Trump Administration promised the corporate rate cut would “very conservatively” lead to a $4,000 boost in household income, a study by economists from the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Federal Reserve Board found that workers in the bottom 90th percentile of their firm’s income scale saw “no change in earnings” from the rate cut. In addition, the authors find that the revenue loss from the decrease in corporate tax revenues far outweighs any boost in output from the tax cut.’
The truth is, the bottom quintile received just $100, while the top 1% received $61,500. My friends, this is not rocket science; it’s a mugging and extending the tax cuts will serve to crush everyone but the top 1%. The reporting concludes:
‘Extending the 2017 tax law along with a combination of cuts to Medicaid and SNAP and sweeping tariffs will result in higher costs for low- and moderate-income families while the rich get large tax cuts.’
I am struggling even to comprehend the level of cruelty it takes to devise a system that deliberately sets out to deceive those who voted for you and reward them with a forced march into poverty and economic slavery. Greed is entirely out of control, and the relentless craving for wealth is driving these grossly irresponsible policy decisions that have become Trump’s economic final solution to make America a concentration camp of economically enslaved people.
Before you describe that as sensationalism, please consider this. The unrelenting campaign of deregulation and removal of EVERY social safeguard, including Medicaid and critical programs like SNAP. The cancellation of high-speed Internet in poor communities and the removal of free school meals. The shuttering of the Department of Education, the cancellation of research grants, and attacks on higher education are not the policies of a government committed to a forward-thinking America. They are a premeditated shift back to the days of segregation. We are about to enter a new world of 21st-century plantation owners.
Trump’s now dedicated to making America dumb and poor again, and the red hat brigade will cheer him on while punching themselves in the face to achieve his objectives. In what world would ANYONE vote for that? Please help me understand.
The thing that makes this so difficult to navigate is that it’s counter to any fiscally responsible thinking from a party that has spent decades indoctrinating voters into seeing Republicans as good stewards of the economy. The truth is, EVERY piece of evidence points to the contrary. The current direction of travel makes no sense and has economists and leaders around the world scratching their heads as they attempt to make sense of it.
My deep concern is this. I fear the real forces behind his economic strategy are intentionally fracturing the global economic order as part of preparing the ground for a structured default on American debt. Whoa, Martin, I hear you scream, wait just one minute! Give me a moment to explain and to be VERY CLEAR, this is based only on my assessment of some extensive reading, something is going on in the background that doesn’t feel right, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. Trump’s persistent tests of market manipulation and his experiments with crypto make me feel very uneasy. Aside from being a vehicle to sell untraceable access to foreign powers for influence, I think it’s part of a larger market manipulation strategy.
Trump is desperate to reduce interest rates. To better understand the wider strategy, it’s important that you familiarise yourself with the Mar a Largo Accord. The central premise here is that it seeks to redefine the bond market by tying defense to trade, but it’s much more disruptive than that as you can see in the clip provided.
In a piece for the Council of Foreign Relations, Rebecca Patterson writes:
‘President Trump wants to have his economic cake and eat it too.
He wants to keep the dollar globally dominant but weakened to support U.S. exporters. He wants tax cuts that will increase the budget deficit but lower Treasury bond yields. He wants to raise tariffs on other countries to reduce the U.S. trade deficit but strengthen America’s standing as an attractive destination for foreign investment.
Achieving these aggregate goals – aimed at increasing U.S. manufacturing jobs and making the U.S. economy more resilient – will be difficult enough. But even more complicated - and risky - are the proposals to bake this economic cake: the Mar-a-Lago Accord.’
The bottom line is, the US is facing having to refinance debt in the near term and that includes $9.2 trillion this year. The original borrowing to finance the debt was at a time when interest rates were at historic lows, not the case now. As a result, the cost of refinancing is going to hurt in terms of servicing debt payments. As of March 2025 it cost $582 billion to maintain the debt, which is 16% of the total federal spending in fiscal year 2025. Take a breath to digest that. Now consider the additional $7 trillion Republicans propose to add to the national debt over the next decade with their unfunded additional tax giveaway to the rich.
There has never been a time when the rich really don’t need another helping of corporate welfare, yet here we are. Corporate welfare is literally draining social welfare. Taking food from the mouths of poor children, seniors and veterans to feed the greed of the rich. Is that who we’ve become? Trump is going all in on the economic future of the country to reward the rich who have literally gorged themselves on taxpayer bailouts during COVID and price gouged American families under the cover of their own manufactured inflation. These are the same corporations who will now price gouge you some more under the guise of tariffs. Tell me at what point do the pitchforks come out of the cupboard?
The US is not struggling to service its debt because of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It’s struggling to pay its debt because it has choked off tax revenue and refused to insist the rich pay their fair share. This is economics 101, if you can’t pay your debts, you have to up your tax receipts or slash and burn the fabric of society. Trump has chosen the latter and the scary thing is, even after any vestige of social responsibility has been removed, it’s still not enough to pay for the tax cuts and that’s why he’s introduced an additional tax burden on every American in the form of a stealth consumer tax (tariffs).
On that basis, America is insolvent because the rich have embezzled all the wealth and that is why I believe if pushed, Trump will opt for a structured default on US debt. He is a man who prompted the Republicans to default in the last negotiations on the debt ceiling. He’s a man that wears defaults and bankruptcy as a badge of honor.
There is little doubt Trump is intent on asset stripping America and there is no better example than in the selling off of public land. We must view everything we have discussed today through the lens of selling off the American family silver. You need to be aware, this fight for the soul of America is happening on multiple fronts. My aim is to try my best to focus in not on headlines, but the malign intent hidden within so called ‘good news’ sound bites. I now feel much more confident in my ability to identify key areas to focus on, leaving others to deal with the tsunami of headlines designed to misdirect attention.
Next I’m doing a deep dive into Trump’s lower drug price promise. As with everything he promises, truth is his enemy. I want to lay out the facts and the obstacles that will likely limit deliver on his promises.
"Fox and the right wing media" have already lost their minds.. using their platforms to lie to ALL of us, just to grab ratings and unprofessionally abdicate their reaponsibility to give us TRULY "fair and balanced" coverage. I wonder how any of them sleep at night at the damage they have done to truth.
Thanks, Rupert. You created these monsters.
And still the rebuttal will be,
“ But Hillary’s emails!”
God help us all. God is throwing up her hands.