WITH TRUMP AND MUSK IT’S CHAOS ALL THE TIME
Every day in America now it’s crazy and chaotic because of Trump and Musk. They are wrecking our government, our economy is sinking and (soon) the debt will be exploded to continue Trump’s trillions of dollars tax cut for the rich.
A perfect symbol for what they are doing to America is what just happened to Musk’s SpaceX rocket:
- There was an actual explosion of a SpaceX rocket. The failed test launch of the Starship rocket system rained debris and disrupted air traffic from Florida to Pennsylvania.
With Trump back in office, and Musk as his hit man, our country’s stable economy is being destroyed by abrupt, erratic, chaotic actions that are not researched or thought through or planned out. Musk and the DOGE bros summarily fire people then they realize they have to rehire the people they fired because they are essential: they guard our nuclear weapons and tell us when disasters are coming etc etc. First Trump says one thing, then he says another, then he changes his mind again. There will be tariffs on Canada and Mexico and China! Then there won’t be tariffs on Mexico until April. Then Canada gets included in that delay. Who knows what he will decide next? No one but Trump. Trump is arbitrary and capricious, the exact opposite of what is needed for a strong, sustainable economy.
Trump is destabilizing what was a really good, recovering economy that Biden had rebuilt after the pandemic, and replacing it with one that is unstable because it is based on Trump’s whims. Trump doesn’t care if he is unpredictable or if we have a recession because of his destabilization. The goal is to make over this country one that relies on him for everything. That is how you remake a democracy into a dictatorship, an autocracy.
To do that he is making himself the one and the only person in charge of making decisions. His aides and cabinet members are his obedient servants. Every decision depends on HIS stamp of approval, HIS agreement, HIS enrichment, HIS thinking. He is turning our country from one that was reliably rules based into one that relies solely on Trump: We have entered: The World According to Trump, a kind of twilight zone where Trump’s often limited, rigid, nonfactual, short term thinking is the thinking everyone is forced to accept.
It’s not like Trump plays three dimensional chess either. He is more of a one dimensional thinker. Tariffs is an example. Trump has loved the idea of tariffs as a transactional weapon for decades. Tariffs are kind of a showy thing that you can say, look what I did, I banged those guys… so you know, you can be a tough guy. Whether or not they are effective in any way is really open to discussion. [BBC Clyde Prestowitz]
As a result he has started a trade war with our closest allies and trade partners: Canada. Mexico and China. This will not end well for us, the American consumers.
He has other off base, frankly wrong ideas that he adheres to with unshakeable bullheadedness. As David Brooks points out:
Trump is a leader who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He believes that there are tens of thousands of 160-year-olds getting Social Security benefits, but that’s fictional. He says South Korea is protectionist toward the United States, but we signed free trade deals in 2007 and 2012. He said that he would lift tariffs on Canada when opioid death rates fell, but they were already falling sharply.
NO GUARDRAILS THIS TIME
Last time he was president, Trump clearly had many rigidly held, fact free ideas (remember hydrochloriqine to treat covid-19 and shining a light inside the body?) but his cabinet and close advisors generally limited or stopped him. Those guardrail advisors are gone now.
All he has around him these days are ditzy cheerleaders, the congressional Republicans at his State of the Union. They act like they’re a bunch of drunks cheering on their football team, encouraging everything he says, even lies, like each one is a touchdown. I was surprised that there weren’t Trump merch vendors traipsing up and down the aisles selling red and black MAGA hats during Trump’s 100 minute State of the Union lie-a-thon. Maybe we’ll see that at the next State of the Union.
No Republican is willing to tell the emperor he is butt naked. They all pretend he looks great in his handsomely tailored nonexistent suit.
THE COURTS ARE TOO SLOW
The courts are generally upholding the law. They are acting as a corrective. But they are way too late! Trump gets to wreck the car before the courts can even put up a roadblock.
When courts rule, as they are doing, that Trump reinstate some of these illegally and abruptly fired workers who are essential (they warn us about bird flu, measles, track a coming hurricane, or are doing research work to prevent Alzheimer’s), or when courts order him to release funds that were illegally impounded, restart foreign aid that was wrongly stopped, and so forth, the damage has already been done to a great extent.
Why? Because Trump’s actions are creating massive uncertainty and destabilizing our government and our economy which is affecting the stock market, will slow investment in our country, will increase unemployment because employers don’t know how to plan for the future, and negatively affect business growth.
The so-called great businessman who was going to usher in an era of fantastic, amazing business development in America is, instead, sabotaging our country’s financial health, insisting we believe his alternate universe or be subject to attack by his MAGA mobsters, and deepening the divisiveness we have been saddled with ever since he came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower.
THE STOCK MARKET IS DOWN
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 427.51 points lower, or 0.99%, to 42,579.08, after falling more than 600 points at session lows. The S&P 500 tumbled 1.78% to 5,738.52. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.61% to 18,069.26, officially closing in correction territory, which is when an index falls 10% from a recent high.
Thursday’s declines come as U.S. tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports have rocked financial markets after taking effect this week. Canada and China each responded with retaliatory levies of their own, while Mexico said it would unveil measures over the weekend. The Nasdaq has dropped more than 4% week to date, while the Dow and S&P 500 have slid around 2.9% and 3.6%, respectively. All three are on pace for their worst week since September 2024. [CNBC]
Monday, March 10th
Stocks plunged today — their worst day of 2025 — as recession fears spread.
- The S&P 500 fell 2.7%. The Nasdaq dropped by 4%. The Dow was down 2.1% (890 points).
What we’re watching: Wall Street is increasingly concerned that tariffs and general economic chaos will cause stagflation — stagnant growth and high inflation — Axios Macro co-author Neil Irwin writes.
THE POTENTIAL FOR RECESSION IS UP
Economists and betting markets agree: Odds of a recession are rising. The chance of a US recession jumped to 32% on Thursday on Polymarket, up 23% from late February. Wall Street economists say the reason is Trump-shaped — the administration’s unpredictable policy moves could shake consumer confidence to the core.
THERE IS MORE DANGER AHEAD
Shutdown threat. Congress has until March 14 to pass a bill to fund the government or risk a shutdown.
- Republicans want to pass a budget that chops spending to pave the way to enact Trump’s fiscal agenda — a difficult task without cutbacks to politically sensitive (and expensive) entitlement programs.
Tax cuts: Some CEOs say the extension of Trump 1.0 tax cuts could offset potential economic weakness from the trade war.
- Concerns about blowing out the deficit might hamper that effort.
- The price tag is ballooning. In a congressional address, Trump called for no tax on tips, overtime or Social Security benefits. He pitched tax-deductible interest payments on loans for U.S.-made cars.
Immigration: The construction industry has warned about the potential double-whammy from deportations that could dent labor supply.
BUSINESS WORLD IS FEELING THE UNCERTAINTY
As the year’s first earnings season kicks off, dozens of companies in health care, technology, real estate and defense — industries that might have expected rising profits from President Donald Trump’s business-friendly campaign posture — are warning investors in their quarterly reports and conference calls that the effects of rapid change in Washington are unpredictable and could hurt their bottom lines. [Washington Post 3/9/25]
BREAKING THINGS IS EASIER THAN BUILDING THINGS
When Trump took office, he got Musk and his DOGE bros to be his chainsaw wielding attack squad to make deep cuts to our government. All government agencies were suddenly under assault and still are under assault. The ultimate goal? Make Trump in charge of everything in the guise of trimming the fat.
PEOPLE ARE TAKING THEIR ANGER OUT ON MUSK’S TESLAS
Elon’s rocket is not the only thing blowing up along with our economy. One way people are expressing their anger about what is happening is by blowing up Teslas and attacking Tesla dealerships, selling Teslas, covering the logos on the car, and staging protests at Tesla dealerships.
In March, several Tesla superchargers at a shopping center in Littleton, Massachusetts, were set ablaze. Vandals in Maryland also spray-painted “No Musk” onto a Tesla building, alongside a swastika-like symbol.[Washington Post]
On Wednesday, at least seven bullets tore into the dealership in an overnight attack, damaging three cars and shattering windows. No one was injured, and so far, there have been no arrests.
In another incident, police have a 41-year-old man in custody in Oregon after he allegedly targeted a dealership in Salem, causing major damage with Molotov cocktails in January and then opening fire with an AR 15-style rifle last month.
Oregon has been a hotbed for protests against Musk and Tesla and a growing grassroots movement called “Tesla Takedown,” which encourages people to “stop Musk now” by selling their Teslas, among other actions.[News Nation]
BACKLASH
Trump is messing with our government, our economy and our peace of mind. When you promise to fix the price of eggs, end crime and close the border but instead: torpedo the economy, abruptly fire people for no good reason, force white supremacy on Americans (banning DEI which is the reinstatement of Jim Crow), close the national parks, make it unsafe to fly, cripple FEMA, end the Dept of Education, end research into diseases that kill Americans, cancel words that can appear in federal documents that you don’t like such as “injustice”, “inequality”, “climate science and climate crisis”, “mental health”, “immigrants”, “disability” and “trauma” (yes, those words are no longer allowed in government documents), and you take money from vets and struggling Americans to give to the richest 1%, it’s predictable that Americans will get mad about it.
The broligarchy is taking over our country with the goal of enriching themselves at the expense of struggling Americans. People don’t like that.
Musk is acting as a heat shield for Trump right now. But there will be some level of blowback on Trump himself when Americans are personally affected by the chaos Trump has unleashed.