This Is The Income Needed To Be Middle Class In Every US State

How much do you need to make to be considered middle class in the U.S.? According to research by SmartAsset, that can range from $36,000 to $200,000, depending on where you live.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, illustrates the income needed to be considered middle class in every U.S. state. Middle class in this graphic is defined as earning between two-thirds and double the median household income. SmartAsset compiled the data as of February 2025.

To Be Middle Class

The median household income in the U.S. is approximately $75,000, with half of Americans earning less. States with high urbanization and economic activity, like California and New York, tend to have much higher income requirements to count as middle class, while rural states with lower costs, like West Virginia and Arkansas, have lower thresholds.

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In Massachusetts, a household needs to earn between $67,000 and $200,000 to be considered middle class. The state has a high cost of living due to expensive housing, high taxes, and strong demand for services. Its economy is driven by industries like technology, healthcare, and education, attracting well-paid professionals and increasing competition for housing, especially in cities like Boston.

State Lower bound on middle class income Upper bound on middle class income Massachusetts $66,565 $199,716 New Jersey $66,514 $199,562 Maryland $65,779 $197,356 New Hampshire $64,552 $193,676 California $63,674 $191,042 Hawaii $63,542 $190,644 Washington $63,064 $189,210 Utah $62,274 $186,842 Colorado $61,934 $185,822 Connecticut $61,104 $183,330 Virginia $59,948 $179,862 Alaska $57,748 $173,262 Minnesota $56,718 $170,172 Rhode Island $56,642 $169,944 New York $54,725 $164,190 Delaware $54,235 $162,722 Vermont $54,135 $162,422 Illinois $53,532 $160,612 Oregon $53,435 $160,320 Arizona $51,538 $154,630 North Dakota $51,012 $153,050 Nevada $50,904 $152,728 Texas $50,515 $151,560 Idaho $49,956 $149,884 Georgia $49,750 $149,264 Wisconsin $49,749 $149,262 Nebraska $49,722 $149,180 Pennsylvania $49,211 $147,648 Maine $49,150 $147,466 Florida $48,869 $146,622 Wyoming $48,272 $144,830 South Dakota $47,869 $143,620 Iowa $47,617 $142,866 Montana $47,198 $141,608 North Carolina $47,198 $141,608 Kansas $46,884 $140,666 Indiana $46,313 $138,954 Michigan $46,117 $138,366 Missouri $45,692 $137,090 South Carolina $45,198 $135,608 Ohio $45,175 $135,538 Tennessee $45,083 $135,262 New Mexico $41,508 $124,536 Alabama $41,471 $124,424 Oklahoma $41,421 $124,276 Kentucky $40,741 $122,236 Arkansas $39,129 $117,400 Louisiana $38,815 $116,458 West Virginia $37,295 $111,896 Mississippi $36,132 $108,406

Meanwhile, in Mississippi, the minimum household income to be considered middle class is $36,162. Mississippi is one of the cheapest states to live in due to its low housing costs, lower-than-average wages, and relatively low taxes. The cost of goods and services, including groceries, healthcare, and transportation, is also lower than the national average. Additionally, Mississippi has a lower population density and is less of an economic hub compared to wealthier states.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out this graphic, which ranks the income a family needs to live comfortably in every U.S. state.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 18:00

Feds Investigate California Schools Accused Of Hiding Children's Gender Transition From Parents

Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times,

A California policy that prevents schools from requiring staff to disclose a child’s gender identity or sexual orientation to his or her parents may be in violation of a federal law, the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday.

The federal agency’s Student Privacy Policy Office, which oversees the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA), is investigating instances in California where school personnel in various districts allegedly hid information from parents and assisted students with their gender “transition,” a March 27 news release notes.

The Department of Education alleged that AB 1955, which took effect on Jan. 1, conflicts with FERPA, which gives parents the right to review students’ records. The department’s news release said federal law supersedes any state law in this case.

“Teachers and school counselors should not be in the business of advising minors entrusted to their care on consequential decisions about their sexual identity and mental health. That responsibility and privilege lies with a parent or trusted loved one,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in the news release.

“It is not only immoral but also potentially in contradiction with federal law for California schools to hide crucial information about a student’s well-being from parents and guardians. The agency launched today’s investigation to vigorously protect parents’ rights and ensure that students do not fall victim to a radical transgender ideology that often leads to family alienation and irreversible medical interventions.”

In an email response to The Epoch Times, the California Department of Education said the federal law only requires schools to provide student records on request, not verbal disclosures.

“AB 1955 prohibits local educational agencies from mandating that staff disclose students’ gender identity to parents without student consent unless otherwise required by state or federal law,” the California agency wrote. 

“AB 1955 does not mandate nondisclosure. Based on the plain language of both laws, there is no conflict between AB 1955 and FERPA, which permits a parent access to their student’s written records upon request.”

Upon returning to the White House, President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting schools from promoting the idea that there are more than two genders. School districts and states also face federal funding cuts for allowing males identifying as transgender to compete in girls’ or women’s sports.

Parents Defending Education, whose leaders in recent months have testified before legislative committees regarding educational issues, reports on its website that 1,214 districts across the country serving more than 12 million students in grades K-12 have policies openly stating that “district personnel can or should keep a student’s transgender status hidden from parents.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 17:40

Charlie Javice Convicted In JPM Fraud Case

The millennial who duped JPMorgan Chase into purchasing a now-defunct student finance startup—whose customer database was mostly fake—was found guilty of bank fraud by a Manhattan federal court jury on Friday and faces decades in prison. 

The startup, 'Frank,' was founded by former CEO Charlie Javice in 2016. It offered software to help young millennials obtain financial aid in what Javice framed as "an Amazon for higher education," and had the backing of billionaire Marc Rowan - the company's lead investor. 

All this schooling for what? 

Her political donations are blue...

In September 2021, JPMorgan touted the $175 million deal to purchase Frank, calling the platform the "fastest-growing college financial planning platform" used by over 5 million students at 6,000 institutions.

However, shortly after JPM closed the deal with Javice, the bank discovered that most of the platform's claimed 4.25 million users were fabricated, with the actual number totaling fewer than 300,000. 

The five-week trial concluded after jurors deliberated for about six hours, reaching a verdict on Friday morning: they found Javice guilty on the most serious count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

Here are more details about the trial (courtesy of AP News):

Javice's lawyer, Jose Baez, told the jury that JPMorgan knew what it was getting in the deal, and made up the fraud allegations due to buyer's remorse after government regulatory changes made the data it received in the deal useless to its hopes of gaining new young customers.

. . .

Frank's chief of engineering, Patrick Vovor, testified at the trial that Javice had asked him to generate synthetic data to support her claim that the company had over 4 million users. At the time, JPMorgan was insisting on verification of the customers. Vovor said he refused her request.

"I told them I would not do anything illegal," Vovor testified.

Defense lawyers attacked Vovor's credibility during the trial, suggesting he had a crush on Javice and was resentful that he had been rejected, a claim he denied.

Prosecutors said Javice then paid a college friend $18,000 to use a computer program to create millions of fake names with pedigree information. The results were sent to a third-party data provider that JPMorgan hired to verify the number of customers, but the data provider never checked to ensure the people were real, testimony showed.

At the peak, Javice regularly appeared on corporate media TV outlets, even appearing on Forbes' "30 Under 30"... 

There's something about millennials appearing on Forbes' "30 Under 30" and fraud. 

Javice is a Miami Beach resident who was arrested in 2023 and has been free on a $2 million bail since.  A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Whether she follows Elizabeth Holmes' path: Delaying prison time through repeated pregnancies—remains to be seen. Her legal team will likely weigh this as a viable strategy. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 17:20

Judge Extends Injunction Against Trump's Alien Enemies Act Invocation

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on March 28 extended a temporary restraining order that prevents U.S. officials from deporting illegal immigrants from the United States solely on the basis of President Donald Trump’s invocation of a wartime law.

Boasberg said in a 3-page ruling there is good cause to extend the order because Venezuelan nationals who sued over the invocation are entitled to relief preventing their removal “at least until they have had a chance to challenge that they are covered by the Proclamation.”

“That is so because they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that they are entitled to such an opportunity; that they will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of emergency relief; and that the balance of equities and the public interest tilt in their favor,” the judge said, citing his previous rulings in the case.

No developments have taken place since the entry of the order and a similar narrower order that call those decisions into question, according to the ruling.

The injunctions had been due to expire on March 29. They are now in place until April 12, or until further order from the court.

Lawyers for the illegal immigrants had asked Boasberg to extend the orders, which were entered on March 15, just hours after Trump’s proclamation was made public.

If the orders were allowed to expire, officials would resume deportation flights to El Salvador, the lawyers warned.

U.S. Department of Justice attorneys had opposed the motion for an extension. They wrote in a filing that the court lacks jurisdiction over the allegations, “which challenge matters within the President’s unreviewable authority and, nonetheless, sound in habeas and must therefore be brought as habeas claims in district of confinement.”

The extension came on the same day the Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the case, claiming that the block on utilizing the Alien Enemies Act to deport members of the Tren de Aragua terrorist gang “is forcing the United States to harbor individuals whom national-security officials have identified as members of a foreign terrorist organization bent upon grievously harming Americans.”

Chief Justice John Roberts soon after set a deadline of 10 a.m. on April 1 for lawyers for the illegal immigrants to respond.

The Alien Enemies Act states in part that whenever “a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion shall be perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States, by any foreign nation or government,” the president shall proclaim that nationals from that hostile nation shall be deported.

Trump said in a proclamation that Tren de Aragua, working with the Venezuelan government, has been “undertaking hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States.”

A divided federal appeals court on March 26 upheld the temporary restraining orders from Boasberg.

U.S. Circuit Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, in the majority, said in a concurring opinion that the U.S. District Court in Washington had jurisdiction to hear the case, even though the illegal immigrants have been detained in Texas. U.S. Circuit Judge Patricia Miller, also in the majority, said in a concurring opinion that the government does not face irreparable harm absent a stay, in part because officials can still deport the illegal immigrants through the typical deportation process outlined in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

U.S. Circuit Judge Justin Walker, in a dissent, said that the legal claims should have been filed in Texas. He also said the government has shown that the restraining orders “threaten irreparable harm to delicate negotiations with foreign powers on matters concerning national security.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 17:00

Tesla Takedown Revolutionaries Prepare Mobilization Nationwide

Far-left revolutionaries behind the "Tesla Takedown" color revolution operation have identified dozens of Tesla targets nationwide and are preparing to mobilize far-left agitators aligned with the Democratic Party to those locations as soon as Saturday, in what the rogue group—reportedly funded by Soros-linked organizations like Indivisible—calls a "Global Day of Action."

The Tesla Takedown website links to The Action Network—an online platform used by shady far-left NGOs to organize and fundraise—which shows that groups like Troublemakers and the Disruption Project are leading tomorrow's efforts to "tank Tesla's stock" and destroy shareholder value. 

"Stopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy," Tesla Takedown wrote on its website, adding, "The stakes couldn't be higher. No one is coming to save us—not politicians, not the media." 

Tesla Takedown's claims are baseless and not grounded in fact.

Here is the most comprehensive list of nearly 200 @Tesla Takedowns scheduled for this Saturday, March 29th, 2025.

If you get footage of the protests or catch acts of violence or vandalism on video, please put it inside the Tesla Takedown WatchDOGE community we created at… https://t.co/n7tyTsPmKl

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 28, 2025

Meanwhile, this call to action, or in other words, a mobilization of far-left agitators, some of which are paid by rogue NGOs, is being supported by unhinged Democratic lawmakers! 

Wow

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 20, 2025

And a failed vice-presidential candidate...

As Gov. Walz gloats about Tesla stock dropping, records from the Minnesota State Board of Investment show that as of 6/30/24, the state of Minnesota had 1.6 million shares of Tesla in its retirement fund, and 211,000 shares of Tesla in its non-retirement fund. I've reached out to… https://t.co/W0EA0cPASS pic.twitter.com/r1obVBpfU7

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 19, 2025

And far-left academia...

Tesla Takedown Organizers Plan Color Revolution To "Kill" Brand & "Death Spiral" For Investors https://t.co/JIf80uPeEt

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 21, 2025

Elon Musk previously wrote on X that an investigation found five ActBlue-funded groups have fueled Tesla protests in recent weeks, including Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project, and Democratic Socialists of America (AoC's party). 

Has there ever been such a level of coordinated violence against a peaceful company?

I understand not wanting to buy a product, but this is extreme arson and destruction! https://t.co/AIL8WPt0uv

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 20, 2025

Tesla Takedown claims on its website that its movement is "peaceful" and "oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property." Yet, there has been a series of domestic terrorism attacks on Tesla vehicles, service locations, and charging networks in recent weeks as the party of radicals and their corporate media allies push dangerous and toxic rhetoric to energize activists. This is nothing more than a rudderless party nurturing hate, violence, and destruction.

Here's our latest reporting on the Democratic Party's planned color revolution against Tesla by using their network of rogue NGOs:

• Rogue Soros-Funded NGO Plots Multi-City Assault On Tesla As Domestic Terrorism Escalates

• Tesla Takedown Organizers Plan Color Revolution To "Kill" Brand & "Death Spiral" For Investors

• "Tread Carefully": Pam Bondi Issues Warning To Unhinged Rep. Jasmine Crockett Over Musk "Takedown"

Dems are using the same color revolution playbook with NGOs that was seen during the BLM riots in 2020. The party is resorting to violence as DOGE slashed NGO funding by neutering USAID and handing it over to the State Department.

All of this chaos comes as the Democratic Party's polling numbers have imploded to record lows as their strategy becomes attacking an American company with some of its supporters firebombing private property.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 16:40

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Fannie and Freddie: Single Family Serious Delinquency Rates Unchanged in February

Excerpt:

Freddie Mac reported that the Single-Family serious delinquency rate in February was 0.61%, unchanged from 0.61% January. Freddie's rate is up year-over-year from 0.54% in February 2024, however, this is close to the pre-pandemic level of 0.60%.

Some of the recent increase in the 90+ day delinquency rate is probably related to the hurricanes last year.

Freddie's serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 4.20% following the housing bubble and peaked at 3.17% in August 2020 during the pandemic.

Fannie Mae reported that the Single-Family serious delinquency rate in February was 0.57%, unchanged from 0.57% in January. The serious delinquency rate is up year-over-year from 0.53% in February 2024, however, this is below the pre-pandemic lows of 0.65%.

The Fannie Mae serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 5.59% following the housing bubble and peaked at 3.32% in August 2020 during the pandemic.

There is much more in the article.

Bedlam, Pending

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

"You need a sufficient amount of ruthlessness to run a country" 

- Will Chamberlain on "X"

You understand, all these lawsuit shenanigans with select federal judges from Woke-crazed districts like Boston, San Francisco, Rhode Island, and the DC Beltway are aimed at provoking a second civil war. The objective is to burden Mr. Trump with so many restrictions on the executive that the country can’t be governed without declaring a national emergency.

This is the Democratic Party’s desperate strategy to stay alive: to preserve the flow of taxpayer money to its minions stuffed into the organs of government like cancer cells, and the vast network of NGOs that employ its agents and spread its sickness. The Democratic Party is a malignancy within the republic and the money is the blood-flow that feeds it.

DOGE is the chemotherapy that has starved some of the worst tumors, such as USAID. Chemotherapy is always hard on the patient. Cancer is a very tough and resourceful enemy of a healthy body, and fights back by any means available. Ultimately, it seeks to kill the body it has come to inhabit — in this case, the body-politic of the USA. We are fighting for the life of our republic against a demonic enemy.

The Democratic Party displays exactly the characteristics that human beings traditionally associate with pure evil. Above all, it lies about everything that it does. It lies, of course, in order to deceive you, so that you won’t understand how it is working to vanquish you and your posterity (your kids and their future). RussiaGate, Covid-19, the Ukraine War, all were marinated in lies. The lies operate through the perversion of language, so you won’t understand what is being said. For instance: that the Democratic Party is working to save our democracy. That howler persists in their every public performance.

The Democratic Party controls the major organs of information: The New York Times, CNN, Hollywood. They are the conveyers of lies, bamboozling the body politic to divide and conquer it. The Democratic party is a bad faith legion enlisted to defend the Father-of-Lies, America’s Deep State (a.k.a. the blob). That information regime is failing now along with the Democratic Party. The Deep State is failing with them. They are the parasites that kills its host. They intend to kill the republic as they go down.

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is supposed to function like an immune system for the body politic, defending it against political sickness. The current organized action in the federal judiciary against the executive is a grave sickness induced by the Deep State that must be corrected by the SCOTUS. We await that corrective action — a sweeping decision in reply to 100-plus lawsuits — that the chief executive is in-charge of the executive department and that his prerogatives to manage the staffing and actions of the executive agencies can’t be arrogated by federal judges.

So far, obviously, the SCOTUS has not yet come to issue that decision. Many of you worry that they will fail to, because Chief Justice John Roberts appears to be somehow under the influence of the Deep State. Let’s have a look. Sheldon Snook is Special Assistant to Chief Justice Roberts, and is deeply involved in the day-to-day management of the SCOTUS. Sheldon Snook is married to Mary McCord. Ms. McCord has been a leading actor, via her various roles in the Deep State, in the seditious operations against President Trump since 2017.

As Acting Attorney General for National Security in 2017, Mary McCord, turned James Comey’s FBI jihad against National Security advisor Mike Flynn into a malicious and ultimately unsuccessful prosecution. (The DOJ dropped the charges, which Judge Emmet G. Sullivan refused to execute, thus necessitating a pardon from Mr. Trump.)

Mary McCord was instrumental in the DOJ’s dishonest FISA application to surveil Carter Page (when Judge James Boasberg sat on the FISA Court). Ms. McCord quit the DOJ to become a counsel to the committee in the first impeachment of Donald Trump. In that role, she assisted Norm Eisen, the Chief Counsel to committee Chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler. Norm Eisen has gone on since that time to become the chief coordinator of lawfare operations against Mr. Trump. Mary McCord remains a senior fellow of the Atlantic Council, sponsored by George and Alex Soros. Sheldon Snook remains at John Roberts’ right hand.

Do you find these connections disturbing? Do they suggest where Justice John Roberts may stand in the war between the Deep State and President Donald Trump? I suppose we are going to find out.

So, if the SCOTUS upholds the arrogation of executive powers and prerogatives by federal district judges, don’t expect Mr. Trump to roll over for that decision. It may come to pass, as per all the above, that he will be constrained to declare a national emergency to vacate the Deep State actors who are trying to make it impossible for him to govern, establishing special tribunals to disarm them. This, of course, will be seen by the Deep State and the Democratic Party as cassus belli, an excuse to declare war against the president. We seem to be headed in that direction. There will be friction, heat, and light.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 16:20

Trump Revokes Security Clearances For Law Firm That Hired Robert Mueller

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on March 27 suspending security clearances held by WilmerHale lawyers due to activities that he deemed “detrimental to critical American interests.”

The order directs government agencies to revoke security clearances for WilmerHale employees, terminate any contracts with the law firm, and restrict its employees’ access to government buildings.

The proclamation specifically cited WilmerHale’s employment of former special counsel Robert Mueller, along with his top aides, Aaron Zebley and James Quarles.

Mueller had previously investigated allegations of cooperation between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russian actors. The probe ultimately found no evidence that they conspired to influence the election.

In his order, Trump accused WilmerHale of engaging in “obvious partisan representations to achieve political ends” by employing lawyers who, he said, abused their prosecutorial power “to upend the democratic process and distort justice.”

“Mueller’s investigation epitomizes the weaponization of government, yet WilmerHale claimed he ‘embodies the highest value of our firm and profession’,” the order stated. “This weaponization of the justice system must not be rewarded, let alone condoned.”

The proclamation also alleges that WilmerHale used its pro bono practices to allow noncitizens to vote and undermine efforts “to prevent illegal aliens from committing horrific crimes and trafficking deadly drugs within our borders.” The law firm is also accused of discriminating against employees based on their race.

WilmerHale employs more than 1,100 lawyers and has a leading U.S. Supreme Court practice. Some of its major clients include Apple, Harvard University, Meta, and Tesla.

In response to Trump’s proclamation, a WilmerHale spokesperson defended its hiring of Mueller, saying that he retired from the firm in 2021 after a “long, distinguished career in public service.”

“We look forward to pursuing all appropriate remedies to this unlawful order,” the spokesperson said in a statement to multiple news outlets.

The spokesperson said that the proclamation resembled an executive order targeting another law firm, which has been blocked by a judge. Trump signed an order on March 6 targeting Perkins Coie—the law firm hired by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee–due to what he perceived as “dishonest and dangerous activity” conducted by the firm.

Trump’s order also Perkins Coie’s hiring of opposition research company Fusion GPS, which then employed Christopher Steele, the retired British counterintelligence specialist who compiled the now-discredited Steele dossier accusing the Trump 2016 presidential campaign of conspiring with Russia.

Perkins Coie has challenged Trump’s executive action, arguing that the president’s order violated its rights of free speech, free association, and due process under the Constitution. District of Columbia District Judge Beryl Howell on March 12 agreed to temporarily block parts of Trump’s order imposing certain sanctions on the law firm, saying the law firm was likely to win its lawsuit.

Trump also signed an order on March 14 directing government agencies to revoke the security clearances held by employees of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (Paul Weiss). The order also directs agencies to terminate their contracts with the law firm.

That order was withdrawn on March 20 after Paul Weiss released a statement agreeing to review its hiring practices, committing to merit-based hiring, retention, and promotion, and dedicated the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono services in support of the Trump administration’s initiatives such as assisting veterans, and the president’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.

In response to Trump’s moves against certain law firms, 20 Democratic state attorneys general and the American Bar Association accused the president of posing dangers to the U.S. legal system by chilling lawyers’ freedom to choose their clients.

The Epoch Times has reached out to WilmerHale for further comment and did not receive a response by publication time.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 13:20

Zelensky Sensationally Claims 'Putin Will Die Soon'

Throughout the more than three-year long Ukraine war, there have been various waves of reporting in the West suggesting that President Vladimir Putin is in extremely poor health. This typically takes the form of rumor and wild speculation from western tabloids.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has revived these rumors this week, going so far as to say in an interview that Putin "will die soon" - in response to yet more unverified reports of his poor health.

He made the unexpected claim in a sit-down interview with journalists alongside French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday in Paris.

Zelensky asserted that Putin "will die soon, and that's a fact, and it will come to an end," and added that death is "what he is afraid of."

The Ukrainian leader was responding to the latest British tabloid stories which described that Putin has been shaking uncontrollably at public events.

"It was reported last week that Putin, 72, suffered a 'mini stroke' after shaking uncontrollably at a conference, The Standard reported," one US media report said. 

Zelensky naturally didn't offer any evidence or proof, and even Fox called his words 'sensational'...

Putin hopes to "remain in power until his death," Zelenskyy said, adding that the Russian leader seeks "a direct confrontation with the West," per the outlet. 

Of course, the Kremlin has rejected such reports, and there's been no indications issued by US intelligence of some kind of dire health event impacting Putin's ability to rule.

Zelensky's motive in claiming this became evident elsewhere in the interview, when he said: "It is very important that America does not help Putin to get out of this global isolation now."

Europe has been vocalizing stronger support to Kiev, even as Washington distances itself - and as it pursues bilateral talks and negotiations with Russia.

France's Macron is even pushing a coalition of countries willing to deploy Western troops to Ukraine, which if followed through on would certainly spark broader war with nuclear-armed Russia.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 13:00

Trump Says Call With Carney "Extremely Productive", Says They Will Meet After Election

Authored by Matthew Horwood via The Epoch Times,

U.S. President Donald Trump said he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney over the phone, and that the two leaders plan to meet “immediately” after the federal election. 

“It was an extremely productive call, we agree on many things,” Trump said on Truth Social on March 28, adding that the two would meet “immediately after Canada’s upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors.”

Trump added that the discussion between the two leaders will “end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada.”

Carney has not yet commented on the call, and no readout has been issued by the Prime Minister’s Office. Carney is scheduled to meet with provincial and territorial leaders this afternoon.

On March 26, Trump announced he would put 25 percent tariffs on all vehicles and some car parts imported into the United States. 

The automobile tariffs are set to kick in on April 3, a day after the U.S. will impose reciprocal tariffs on all its trading partners. Tariffs on auto parts will take effect on May 3.

Trump also placed 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico on March 4, but soon after, announced a one-month tariff pause on all products compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Trump also imposed 25 percent tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum, including from Canada, on March 12.

Following a U.S.-Canada cabinet commitee meeting on March 27, Carney announced he would hold a phone call with Trump in the coming days, where he said he would make clear that the two countries are “best served by cooperation and mutual respect.”

During that press conference, the prime minister said his government was considering “many options” to retaliate against the latest tariffs, and that these measures would have “maximum impact in the United States and minimum impacts here in Canada.”

Carney previously said on March 24 that a phone call with Trump would not happen until after the next Canadian election on April 28, as he said he thinks the U.S. president is “waiting for the outcome of the election“ before talks, to ”see who has a strong mandate from Canadians.”

Carney, who was sworn in as prime minister on March 14 after winning the Liberal leadership race, said that call would need to happen “on our terms as a sovereign country, not as what he pretends we are,” in reference to Trump’s repeated remarks that Canada should merge with the United States.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 12:40

Panama Canal Deal Derailed After Beijing Launches Antitrust Probe

The Chinese Communist Party has been furious over Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's deal to sell Panama Canal ports to a consortium of investors that includes BlackRock, following pressure from President Trump as the US moves to bolster hemispheric defense—a massive security effort in which Panama plays a critical role. 

A new report from the South China Morning Post said Friday morning that Li's flagship CK Hutchison Holdings, "will not go ahead with the expected signing of a deal next week to sell its two strategic ports at the Panama Canal ... with Beijing saying it will launch an antitrust probe into the sale."

There were multiple reports this week that Beijing was tightening the screws on Li's CK Hutchison to stop the sale to BlackRock next week.

In one such report, The Telegraph noted, "Chinese authorities have effectively blacklisted CK Hutchison and the business interests of the Li family by telling Chinese state-backed firms they will struggle to get regulatory approval for any work involving the group."

Here's more from SCMP's report:

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison Holdings will not go ahead with the expected signing of a deal next week to sell its two strategic ports at the Panama Canal, the Post has learned, with Beijing saying it will launch an antitrust probe into the sale.

The State Administration for Market Regulation said on Friday it was looking into CK Hutchison's US$23 billion deal to sell 45 ports spread over 23 countries to a consortium led by United States investment firm BlackRock.

The investigation was announced after pro-Beijing media Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao asked whether the deal required approval from the country's antitrust review.

"We have noticed this transaction, and will review it in accordance with the law to ensure fair competition in the market and safeguard the public interest," a spokesman from the anti-monopoly department under market regulator said in a written reply.

The watchdog did not reveal when the investigation would be launched.

The department is responsible for conducting antitrust reviews and providing guidance to companies over their response to mitigate risk and ensure compliance overseas.

What's evident is that the sale of the Panama ports, including Balboa and Cristobal on either side of the canal, to the consortium that includes BlackRock has put the HK billionaire in the direct firing line of the CCP. 

In a separate report on the temporarily derailed deal, the Wall Street Journal cited sources familiar with the negotiations who said the April 2nd deadline will not be met.

Here's more color on what sources are saying:

Some of the people said the delay in signing the documents and Beijing's regulatory review didn't mean that the deal would be called off—only that a little more time was needed. Others said Beijing believed it might be able to force a more substantial delay or rethinking of the deal.

People involved in the negotiations and outside analysts have said they expect the deal would ultimately go through. They pointed to the risks for Beijing if it appeared to block a commercial transaction that doesn't involve ports in mainland China or Hong Kong.

. . . 

Chinese officials have telegraphed to Hutchison that they would call in BlackRock for a regulatory review if the parties went ahead with the transaction, people familiar with the matter said. Antitrust officials have started examining BlackRock's businesses, especially its investments in China, some of the people said.

CK Hutchison has denied the sale was politically motivated, while HK newspapers slammed the deal, calling it "a spineless kneeling, profit-seeking and unrighteous act, ignoring national interests and national justice, and betraying and selling out all Chinese people." 

The HK paper Ta Kung Pao warned that BlackRock could charge "special docking fees" to Chinese commercial ships and "suppress China's development" in the region. 

More broadly, the CCP is expected to fight tooth and nail to block Trump's hemispheric strategy in the Americas—from Canada to Greenland to Panama. But this will only push Trump to escalate the trade war until the communists in Beijing say "uncle."

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 12:20

 

 

This week, I speak with author and financial journalist Michael Lewis. Michael has written countless New York Times bestsellers including Flash Boys and Going Infinite. His book The Big Short was turned into an Oscar-winning film, alongside his Oscar-nominated books-turned films The Blind Side and Moneyball.

We breakdown the ins and outs of government and his latest book “Who is Government: The Untold Story of Public Service.”

A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Lisa Shalett, Chief Investment Officer and head of Global Investment Office for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, with more than $100 billion in assets under management. She leads the development of all asset allocation models, global investment due diligence and portfolio analytics, and oversees the Global Investment Committee’s models and Outsourced Chief Investment Office mandates.

 

 

His New Book

 

Published Books

 

 

 

 

 

The post MiB: Michael Lewis on ‘Who is Government’ appeared first on The Big Picture.

VDH: The Passing Signal Psychodrama

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson,

When we finally learn the full melodrama of the so-called Signal 1-2 day “scandal” of inviting a leftwing, Trump-despising, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg onto a supposedly secure conference list, involving most of the top Trump security officials, lots of questions need asking and answering.

Most importantly, who exactly had Goldberg’s private number, and ostensibly (in error [?]) could have possibly inserted it into the cleared list of participants in the discussions? Why Goldberg, rather than some random person of some 345 million Americans? 

So why in the world would any top Trump officials or their staffers ever even have Goldberg’s private contact information—given his quite public record of a) fabricating stories with unnamed sources, and b) suffering from a decade of chronic Trump derangement syndrome? 

Did Goldberg know the mechanisms that had prompted and continued his stealthy presence on the secure discussions? 

Why did citizen Goldberg not simply come clean on day one that he realized he was mistakenly included in key national security conference communications, to which he did not belong, and thus should be obviously excluded immediately? Why stealthily listen in for eleven some days? Was the idea of informing his hosts of his own improper presence too old-fashioned morality? 

Did Goldberg’s publicizing these discreet discussions really affect in any way at all the otherwise completely successful mission to neutralize years of appeased Houthis aggression and begin to end their veritable destruction of Red Sea international maritime commerce? 

How did this blunder rank with prior diplomatic and military screw-ups? 

Did it rate with the indiscretion of Secretary of State Dean Acheson’s January 1950 Press Club speech de facto excluding South Korea from the American defense umbrella—an omission that may or may not have contributed to the June 1950 North Korean invasion of the South? 

Was it comparable to Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie’s assurance to Saddam Hussein, “We have no opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait”— a needless remark that may have mistakenly green-lighted his 1990 invasion of Kuwait? 

Was it comparable to Barack Obama’s March 2012 “hot mic” quid-pro-quo assurance to Russian president Medvedev? Obama got caught in front of the world promising Putin that he would have “flexibility” on American-Eastern European missile defense—if Putin gave him “space” during his “last” election. 

And indeed, it is forgotten that both kept their promises: Obama foolishly dismantled American-sponsored Eastern European plans for missile defense, and Putin stayed put for Obama, perhaps empowering Obama’s successful election cycle—postponing his preplanned invasions of Ukraine until 2014. Careerism at the expense of national security? 

Did it rank with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley, stealthily contacting his Chinese communist counterpart Chinese Gen. Li Zuocheng, to warn him that he would likely prewarn the People’s Liberation Army leader, if he, Milley, had self-diagnosed his Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump as supposedly dangerously likely to trigger an existential war? 

Why would Hillary Clinton weigh in given her illegal use of a private server to transmit classified State Department information and her subsequent destruction of subpoenaed communication devices? 

Why would the serial fabulist Susan Rice weigh in, given in the election-year 2012 she flat-out lied to the nation on five Sunday news shows, claiming preposterously that the deadly preplanned terrorist attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi were actually unexpected "spontaneous" demonstrations incited by anger over an anti-Muslim video? Ditto her fallacious Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl “honor” narrative or her lie about the removal of Syrian WMD. 

Why would Leon Panetta weigh in, when he was one of the supposed “51 intelligence authorities” in 2020 who ridiculously claimed Hunter Biden’s FBI-authenticated laptop had all the hallmarks of a Russian intelligence disinformation effort—a lie designed to arm Joe Biden before the last 2020 debate, and which might well have affected the 2020 election and for which Panetta has never apologized? 

In the end, this was a blunder, but also what the left calls a “teachable moment”, in which a) all future similar conferences should be either held in person or its participants triple-checked on a secure line; and b) all Trump high appointees and their staffers should know enough to have nothing to do with those who wake up each morning wishing to destroy them - and go to bed each night lamenting that they have not done enough to advance that destruction.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 12:00

Trump Asks Supreme Court To Allow Venezuelan Deportations To Proceed During Legal Challenge

The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to step in and allow the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador while a legal battle plays out in lower courts.

Alleged Tren de Aragua gang members are processed at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador

The move comes two days after an appeals court upheld a temporary block on the Trump administration's ability to deport illegal migrants under the Alien Enemies Act.

In their request, the DOJ argued that federal courts should not be allowed to interfere with diplomatic matters, the Associated Press reports.

"The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the President," Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the request. "The republic cannot afford a different choice."

Earlier this month US District Judge James Boasberg paused the flights by ruling that alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua deserve a hearing to deny they belong to the gang. Boasberg also demanded details on two flights on March 15 to determine whether the administration defied his oral and written orders to block them.

The Trump administration also asked the Supreme Court to overturn Boasberg's order pausing flights, and to put that order on hold while they consider that request.

"Those orders – which are likely to extend additional weeks – now jeopardize sensitive diplomatic negotiations and delicate national-security operations, which were designed to extirpate TdA’s presence in our country before it gains a greater foothold," wrote Harris.

The Supreme Court has asked lawyers for some of the deported Venezuelans to respond by 10am Tuesday to the Trump admin request.

The DOJ has argued that Trump had the authority to declare TdA a foreign terrorist organization and deport them without hearings. Government lawyers also refused to release flight information on the deportations, arguing that it would reveal sources and methods behind the deportations.

"Once that secondary disclosure occurred, any opportunity for appellate review would be moot; the damage would be done, and the effect on United States foreign policy could be catastrophic," the DOJ wrote.

The DOJ insists that the government obeyed Boasberg's written order blocking the flights, but says that his earlier oral order while the flights were in the air weren't enforceable. Government lawyers also contend that Trump had the authority to conduct the flights as commander-in-chief of the US military and the country's head of foreign affairs.

Trump, meanwhile, has called for Boasberg's impeachment - saying that the lifetime Obama-appointee is "a troublemaker and agitator."

*  *  *

Grow your own food with HEIRLOOM SEEDS (39 varieties - 4,500 seeds) from ZH Store!  Free shipping in the USA.

Click pic... buy seeds... take food supply into your own hands... Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 11:40

From BofA:

1Q GDP tracking is down from our recently updated official forecast of 1.5% q/q saar to 1.0% q/q saar. [Mar 28th estimate]
emphasis added

From Goldman:

We lowered our Q1 GDP tracking estimate by 0.3pp to +1.0% (quarter-over-quarter annualized). [Mar 27th estimate]

And from the Atlanta Fed: GDPNow

The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the first quarter of 2025 is -2.8 percent on March 28, down from -1.8 percent on March 26. The alternative model forecast, which adjusts for imports and exports of gold as described here, is -0.5 percent. [Mar 28th estimate]

Capitalist To Socialist Professor: "Consent Is The Root Of Morality"

In 1917, amidst the chaos of World War I, Vladimir Lenin declared that "the state is the instrument of class oppression." Just months later, the Bolshevik Revolution transformed Russia into the world’s first socialist state—an experiment that would spiral into decades of authoritarianism, economic ruin, and millions of lives lost. But was it the failure of socialism itself or the perversion of its ideals by authoritarian regimes that doomed it?

Last night, we dove into this centuries-old debate with Rutgers Professor Ben Burgis defending the promise of socialism, while Libertarian Institute editor Keith Knight argues that capitalism remains the only true path to freedom and prosperity. 

The Capitalist View: Consent

“Capitalism is a social system based on the explicit right of private property and voluntary contracts between consenting adults." That was the position of Mr. Knight who emphasized several times that capitalism ultimately comes down to the concept of consent (aka volunteerism).

"Under a system of private property and voluntary exchange, no one can get a penny out of your pocket or a second of your time unless you voluntarily agree to it.”

Hear his full opening remarks:

pic.twitter.com/6dxvW4T8xv

— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) March 28, 2025

The Socialist View: Equality

Now imagine a world where "working people collectively own the means of production and decided together how to divide up the proceeds." This is Burgis’s vision and in it, he says, workers would have a "reasonable level of democratic input." 

"If the mission was bring about economic equality and equal human dignity for everyone, it failed." The disparity between the rich and the poor is "morally indefensible.”

Hear his opening remarks:

pic.twitter.com/sNzjU61Mok

— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) March 28, 2025

“Exploitation”

An interesting faultline was exposed around the definition of ‘exploitation’.

To Marx, it’s the “forced extraction of labor by a ruling class.” Listen as our Libertarian Keith fires off questions to get to the root of Marxist logic:

pic.twitter.com/sZcCOYtNFh

— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) March 28, 2025

Watch full debate below and subscribe to our YouTube Channel:

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 10:40

Trump Issues Pardon To Nikola Founder Trevor Milton

Update (1030ET):

There was widespread speculation over whether President Trump had actually pardoned Trevor Milton, the former founder and CEO of the now-bankrupt Nikola.

But according to CNBC, citing a White House official, that now appears to be true.

Found the reason...​

NEW: @nikolamotor founder Trevor Milton, just pardoned by Trump for fraud, donated over $2 million to Republicans between September and December of last year, per FEC records. His largest was $920K to the Trump 47 Committee.

He'd never previously made political donations. pic.twitter.com/ngvxFQLo61

— Ken Bensinger (@kenbensinger) March 28, 2025

Did anyone have "Trump pardons Trevor Milton" in their 2025 bingo card stack? ​

*   *   *

 

Trevor Milton—founder and former CEO of the now-bankrupt Nikola—claimed on X late Thursday that President Trump had issued him a "full and unconditional pardon" and said the president "called me personally."

Quick refresher on Milton: In 2023, a jury found him guilty of lying to investors about Nikola's electric and fuel cell semi-truck technology and sentenced him to four years in prison. 

Nikola was first exposed by short seller Nathan Anderson, founder of Hindenburg Research, after the startup released a 2020 promotional video, which showed its Nikola One truck rolling down a hill to simulate full functionality.

Last month, Nikola filed for Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The defunct-startup also filed a motion seeking permission to pursue an auction and sale process under Section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code. 

Back to Milton, he wrote on X:

"This pardon is not just about me—it's about every American who has been railroaded by the government, and unfortunately, that's a lot of people. It is no wonder why trust and confidence in the Justice Department has eroded to nothing... I saw firsthand the tactics they use to guarantee convictions. I am incredibly grateful to President Trump for his courage in standing up for what is right and for granting me this sacred pardon of innocence." 

Today I was issued a full and unconditional pardon by @realDonaldTrump himself. He called me personally to tell me.

This pardon is not just about me—it’s about every American who has been railroaded by the government, and unfortunately, that’s a lot of people. It is no wonder… pic.twitter.com/qpT0jjI6Fy

— Trevor Milton (@nikolatrevor) March 28, 2025

Milton's video was immediately fact-checked by Community Notes, which pointed out that multiple U.S. government databases did not show evidence of a pardon.

"There is no mention of the pardon on the White House Website, or a Department of Justice catalog of presidential pardons." 

Separately, Milton's media team released a press release through PR Newswire, declaring:

"Founder of Nikola Motor Company, Trevor Milton, Pardoned by President Trump." 

Here's EV blog Electrek's take on the situation:

So, despite us seeing no evidence yet that this pardon is actually real, maybe it's an attempt to incept the idea of a pardon into the empty headcase of a vain ignoramus who for some reason has access to the pardon pen (despite there being a clear Constitutional remedy keeping insurrectionists like himself away from it).

It also seems quite similar to a proposed tactic by another corporate criminal, Sam Bankman-Fried. Fried had planned to "Go on Tucker Carlsen [sic], come out as a republican" in an attempt to angle for a pardon, again playing on the vanity, credulousness and love of fraud shown by the idiot-in-chief.

But then, in the last line of the press release, we get to what is perhaps the real point of this stunt – it ends with a link to a trailer for a documentary which purports to exonerate Milton. Kind of strange that someone would need to release a documentary making the case for exoneration when one has already been exonerated, isn't it?

So, for these reasons, we think that this pardon didn't actually happen.

. . . 

*  *   *

After selling out quickly, 25 of these just showed up! Free Shipping. (click pic) Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 10:30

The post Five Alarm Fire on Signalgate appeared first on CEPR.

Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in shelter from the CPI report and housing from the PCE report this morning, both through February 2025.

CPI Shelter was up 4.2% year-over-year in February, down from 4.4% in January, and down from the cycle peak of 8.2% in March 2023.
Housing (PCE) was up 4.3% YoY in February, down from 4.5% in January and down from the cycle peak of 8.3% in April 2023.

Since asking rents are mostly flat year-over-year, these measures will slowly continue to decline over the next year as rents for existing tenants continue to increase.
The second graph shows PCE prices, Core PCE prices and Core ex-housing over the last 3 months (annualized):

Key measures are well above the Fed's target on a 3-month basis. Note: There is possibly some residual seasonality distorting PCE prices in Q1, especially in January.

3-month annualized change:
PCE Price Index: 3.9%
Core PCE Prices: 3.6%
Core minus Housing: 3.5%

Fed's Favorite Inflation Indicator Re-Accelerates In February As Savings Rate Soars

The Fed's favorite inflation indicator - Core PCE - printed hotter than expected in February, rising 0.4% MoM, bring prices up 2.8% YoY...

Source: Bloomberg

"Core PCE was higher than expected, and it might be hard to go lower from here because incomes are high and  tariffs are coming," said David Russell, Global Head of Market Strategy at TradeStation.

"We might be looking at the last remnants of the old economy before inflation expectations are permanently reset upward. This might be the opposite of Goldilocks, with incomes and inflation too high for the Fed to lower rates very much. Meanwhile, prospects for growth and profit margins are dimming."

For now there is no tariff-driven impact in the PCE data as it was Services costs that were the big driver of the reacceleration...

Source: Bloomberg

The rise in Services contribution to Core PCE gains was the highest in a year (again we note, not tariff driven)...

Source: Bloomberg

Disappointingly sticky is the phrase that comes to mind, while the headline PCE rose 0.3% MoM as expected with the YoY price change slowing modestly...

Source: Bloomberg

Under the hood, Services costs dominated the headline gains...

Source: Bloomberg

Perhaps most troubling was the sizable rebound in so-called SuperCore PCE (Services Ex Shelter)...

Source: Bloomberg

With Housing and Non-Profits seeing prices surge MoM...

Source: Bloomberg

Meanwhile, as prices rose, so did personal income, jumping 0.8% MoM - the most since Jan 2024, considerably outpacing the 0.4% rise in personal spending...

Source: Bloomberg

Inflation-adjusted consumer spending edged up 0.1% after falling in January, with goods outlays bouncing back and services spending falling.

The income to spending differential sent the savings rate to its highest since June 2024

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, is this the start of the 70s-esque rebound in inflation?

Source: Bloomberg

Does this look like it's going to be 'transitory' again?

The bottom line - it was a very mixed bag - spending slows as inflation speeds up... but the consumer appears resilient as incomes rise. Despite the anguish expressed by legacy media ad nauseum, it appears Americans are not rushing out to spend their money ahead of the tariff 'tax hikes'.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/28/2025 - 08:50