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Donald Trump’s demand that Brazil stop its “witch hunt” of the so-called “Trump of the Tropics,” or face a 50 percent tariff shows that he is bored with being just the president of the US.
He’s now “Emperor of the Americas,” ordering the end to the criminal prosecution of ex-Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who like Trump felt Brazil’s last election was rigged.
Brazil’s treatment of Bolsonaro is “an international disgrace,” according to Trump. He was “a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term.”
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva responded to Trump’s threatening letter by saying his country isn’t going to be tutored by anyone. He told Trump to take a hike.
Brazil’s foreign ministry returned the letter to the acting US ambassador.
That’s beside the point. Trump has turned the notion of tariffs upside down. The US enjoys a trade surplus with Brazil.
Trump sees tariffs as just another PR tool to keep him in the spotlight.
The Emperor’s royal guard… ICE Funding from Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (which is more fittingly called “Big, Beautiful Bonkers Bill” by The Economist) will make Immigration and Customs Enforcement the most generously funded paramilitary force in the country, noted world chess champion and democracy advocate Garry Kasparov.
During the next four years, ICE is in line for $30B to hire more agents and $45B to build more jails.
ICE intends to add 10,000 new officers, which will result in a ratio of agents to undocumented immigrants at about 1:400.
Kasparov said that ratio is within striking distance of East Germany’s feared Stasi secret police force that had one cop for every 166 Germans, and far ahead of the Gestapo’s ratio of 1:2000.
Would Trump use a juiced-up ICE to go after his political opponents? We’ll soon find out.
It’s evident to all that our 80-year-old president is a man stuck in the past but did he really have to invoke the spirit of disgraced FBI director J. Edgar Hoover?... NYC probes prediction markets. Kalshi Polymarket, Coinbase and Gemini Titan... Does anybody want Karoline Leavitt's job? It's no fun playing second fiddle to Trump, who serves as his own press spokesperson.
Kudos to the American Academy of Pediatrics for pulling no punches in blasting Trump's new childhood vaccine recommendations as "dangerous."... Billionaire Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is tired of hearing about people struggling with the economy... Trump delivers priceless gift to Iran's propaganda machine.
Understatement of the Year: FIFA president Gianni Infantino concedes mistakes were made in his scheme to sell-out the World Cup... Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch charges Israel with deliberately targeting and attacking journalists in Lebanon... It will take images of US soldiers throwing rocks at the People's Liberation Army as it invades Taiwan before Trump admits the munitions shortage.
Donald Trump, who earned more than $2B last year, accuses oil companies of making too much money... Rocket science isn't easy, according to SpaceX chief Elon Musk... The volatile Jeanine Pirro has the edge over smarmy Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in the battle over blame for The Reflecting Pool mess... Omnicom CEO John Wren credits clients for adjusting pretty well to the disruptions caused by the Middle East, Ukraine and tariff chaos. 
FIFA chief Gianni Infantino’s audacious scheme to sell stakes in a new subsidiary that will manage the World Cup is the payoff for his obnoxious pandering to Donald Trump... PwC's "thought leadership" pieces on AI and electric vehicles are riddled with "hallucinations."... 
