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President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) have exposed widespread federal waste and mismanagement that Congress long ignored. Despite the existence of oversight bodies like the Government Accountability Office, it took an executive order to uncover billions of dollars in egregious federal waste.

DOGE's drive to cut waste and root out fraud in the bloated federal bureaucracy has already resulted in nearly 300,000 job cuts and an estimated $160 billion in savings. As detailed in our series of reports, DOGE's actions are delivering tangible results—helping to reduce the nation's overall funding requirements. 

The debt-fueled spending spree under the Biden-Harris regime placed the nation on a crash course to financial ruin—but recent corrective actions by the Trump administration and DOGE, for now, have helped steer the trajectory away from a financial crisis.

Readers may recall some of those tangible DOGE-related results:

• March Deficit Unexpectedly Tumbles To 5 Year Low As DOGE Cracks Down On Democrat Money-Laundering Schemes

• US Treasury Unexpectedly Reports Sharp Drop In Debt Borrowing Needs, Rates Slide

• US Treasury Shocks With Second Biggest Budget Surplus In History

• Jobless Claims Jumped Last Week As 'DOGE Actions' Spark Biggest YTD Layoffs Since 2020

• Is DOGE Starting To Work? 'Deep TriState' Jobless Claims Surged Last Week

Some progresshttps://t.co/hNCBVYB4YV

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 11, 2025

Everything outlined above points to a solid start for DOGE, which has already uncovered hundreds of billions in waste, fraud, and abuse. However, that progress could be undone unless Congress moves to lock in those spending cuts through the reconciliation bill.

DOGE has identified hundreds of billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse, but unless Congress makes those spending cuts permanent through the reconciliation process, all that work will have been for nothing.@Paul_S_Mullen pic.twitter.com/7Y8j4T5ehJ

— Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) May 5, 2025

Another measure of DOGE's early success is the 20.5% reduction in non-defense federal obligations compared to 2024 levels—a decline that signals reduced future cash outlays as these obligations come due.

"Persistent government-wide contract reviews for wasteful spend, consistent with the DOGE Cost Efficiency Executive Order, are bearing fruit," DOGE's official X account wrote. 

Adding to the visible signs of progress, Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius, along with analysts Alec Phillips and others, noted Thursday that cash withdrawals from the Treasury General Account across several federal agencies continue to fall below 2023 and 2024 levels—yet another encouraging sign of success. 

Also, new monthly federal contract obligations have sharply slowed under DOGE after four years of large spikes under the Biden-Harris regime. 

"Notably, new federal contracts data has undershot trend in recent months and stood at $18.2bn in April (compared to $31.1bn in April 2024). Total government grant awards remain stagnated at Inauguration Day levels," the analysts said. 

More color here. 

However, Hatzius and his team noted that year-to-date cash withdrawals from the Treasury General Account remain $123 billion above 2024 levels.

The early results of DOGE mark a shift in federal accountability. In just months, DOGE has uncovered hundreds of billions in waste, slashed nearly 300,000 federal jobs, and driven $160 billion in savings. Yet why did it take an executive order from the president to have a group take a deep dive into how federal agencies spend their money?

But this progress is not guaranteed. Without congressional action to lock in these cuts through reconciliation, the swamp remains open for the bureaucratic bloat to return. The message is clear: DOGE is working, but can only be sustained through political action.

Update: Listen to all five hours of the Hur-Biden interview below:

*  *  *

A segment of former President Joe Biden's October 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur just dropped, and boy is it rough.

Biden couldn't remember details such as when his son Beau died, when he left office as vice president, what year Donald Trump was elected, and why he had classified documents in his possession that he shouldn't have had.

According to Axios, which released the recording, Biden frequently slurred words or muttered, and "appears to validate Hur's assertion that jurors in a trial likely would have viewed Biden as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

Listen:

Hur elected not to prosecute Biden for mishandling classified documents based partly on the former president's pea-soup brain - angering Republicans as Trump was facing his own charges of mishandling classified information.

It's also of course notable because the MSM insisted Biden was "sharp," and slammed Hur's assertions as politically motivated. 

Tapper says here that the footage of Biden freezing on stage was not a "Cheap fake". Exact words.

Okay so when he does he pull Brian Stelter on his show and ask him why he called it that, echoing the White house? When does the media pull Karine Jean-Pierre out of hiding and ask… https://t.co/D0JaXwKv65

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 16, 2025

The audio was from two three-hour sessions on Oct. 8 and 9, 2023 - which the Biden White House refused to release, arguing that they were protected "law enforcement materials," and that Republicans only sought to "chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes."

Let's go to the tape...

FLASHBACK: Karine Jean-Pierre attacked Robert Hur — refusing to release the transcript or audio, while claiming he had a partisan agenda to push. pic.twitter.com/DLdZXa4n3O

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 16, 2025

Ian Sams:

"To suggest that [Biden] couldn't remember when his son died is really out of bounds." pic.twitter.com/Roj31EBJyN

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 9, 2024

Don’t forget the way the press tried to dismiss Hur’s report. https://t.co/9Sd2NdVWuw

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) May 16, 2025

How long did Axios have this recording? Before the election?

Authored by Duggan Flanakin via RealClearEnergy,

The dream of humanity to imitate the forces that created their habitat has been alive for at least as far back as the time when humans with a single language decided to build a city with a tower that reached the heavens. For such a people, “nothing they plan will be impossible to them,” it is recorded.

For at least the same time frame, humanity has sought comfort through technology. While primitive heat producers like coal and wood are still used today, the discovery that petroleum, natural gas, and even moving water could generate a newly discovered phenomenon known as “electricity” transformed the industrial revolution into the modern era.

Not until the 1930s did German scientists build on Enrico Fermi’s discovery that neutrons could split atoms to recognize that splitting atoms would release significant energy – energy that could be used for both bombs and electricity generation. By the 1950s, scientists began building nuclear fission-based power plants that today provide about a tenth of the world’s electricity.

Scientists and engineers also began to envision the potential of nuclear fusion -- the reaction of light atomic nuclei powers the sun and the stars. Since that time, they have worked feverishly, but with little success, to replicate this energy-rich reaction using deuterium and tritium.

One group of scientists and engineers decided to try an alternative approach.

Founded in 1998, California-based TAE Technologies has been developing a reactor that runs on proton-boron aneutronic fusion – that is, a fusion reaction that fuses a hydrogen nucleus with non-radioactive boron-11 instead of fusing hydrogen isotopes of deuterium and tritium. Their goal is to develop commercial fusion power with the cleanest-possible environmental profile.

All efforts at fusion require chambers that can withstand temperatures of millions of degrees Celsius and immense pressure that are needed to fuse two isotopes together. To accomplish this requires huge amounts of energy – and until recently, more energy than the fusion produced.

Most fusion researchers, including those building the ITER project being built in France, rely on a donut-shaped tokamak reactor chamber, in which a stream of plasma must be held away from its walls by electromagnets for any energy to be produced. The tokamak design uses a toroidal magnetic field to contain the hydrogen plasma and keep it hot enough to ignite fusion.

Sadly, as with ITER, project costs have soared and timeframes have fallen by the wayside despite occasional breakthroughs. Over decades, tokamak designs became gigantic, with huge superconducting magnetic coils to generate containment fields; they also had huge, complex electromagnetic heating systems.

Spurred by the failures of wind and solar to fully satisfy the desire for “clean energy,” governments and private investors began investing heavily into fission and fusion projects. Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has tapped into a $60 million state fund intended to bolster both fission and fusion energy in atomic energy’s American birthplace.

New research at the University of Texas, in conjunction with Los Alamos National Laboratory and Type One Energy Group, uses symmetry theory to help engineers design magnetic confinement systems to reduce plasma leakage from tokamak magnetic fields.

The old method used for a stellarator reactor relied on perturbation theory. The new method, which relies on symmetry theory, is a game changer. It can also be used to identify holes in the tokamak magnetic field through which runaway electrons push through their surrounding walls and greatly reduce energy output.

The TAE Technology reactor is entirely different than any of the tokamak or stellarator fusion chambers.  In 2017, the company introduced its fifth-generation reactor, named Norman, which was designed to keep plasma stable at 30 million C. Five years later the machine had proven capable of sustaining stable plasma at more than 75 million C.

That success enabled TAE to secure sufficient funding for its sixth-generation Copernicus reactor and to envision the birth of its commercial-ready Da Vinci reactor. But in between, TAE developed Norm.

Norm uses a different type of fusion reaction and a new reactor design that exclusively produces plasma using neutral beam injections. The TAE design dumps the toroidal field in favor of a linear magnetic field that is based on the “field-reversed configuration” (FRC) principle, a simpler, more efficient way to build a commercial reactor.

Instead of massive magnetic coils, FRC makes the plasma produce its own magnetic containment field. The process involves accelerating high-energy hydrogen ions and giving them a neutral charge, then injecting them as a beam into the plasma. That causes the beams to be re-ionized as the collision energy heats the plasma to set up internal toroidal currents.

Norm’s neutral beam injection system has cut the size, complexity, and cost, compared to that of Norman, by up to 50%. But not only is an FRC reactor smaller and less expensive to manufacture and operate, says TAE, it can also produce up to 100 times more fusion power output than a tokamak -- based on the same magnetic field strength and plasma volume.

The FRC reactor also can run on proton-boron aneutronic fusion, which, instead of producing a neutron it produces three alpha particles plus a lot of energy. The fewer neutrons also do less damage to the reactor; the energy being released as charged particles is easier to harness. Less shielding is required, and, perhaps best of all, boron-11 is relatively abundant and not radioactive.

So, while “Norm” may not be the final step in developing commercial fusion energy, TAE’s hope is that fusion energy will the “norm” as early as the mid-1930s. FRC technology has materially de-risked Copernicus, according to TAE CEO Michi Binderbauer.

If Norm is as advertised, it will accelerate the pathway to commercial hydrogen-boron fusion – a safe, clean, and virtually limitless energy source.

But is humanity ready for free energy to be the “norm?”

Duggan Flanakin is a senior policy analyst at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow who writes on a wide variety of public policy issues.

Authored by Emma Suttie via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Bees are dying—and at an alarming rate.

Between 2023 and 2024, US beekeepers lost an estimated 55.1 percent of their colonies—the worst loss in more than a decade and nearly 15 percent higher than the previous 13-year average.

Lisa Schaetzle/Getty Images

Bees pollinate three-quarters of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts we eat, and many of us rely on bee products for their nutrition and health-promoting gifts. If bees vanish, it’s scary to think of all we stand to lose. And some say that if the bees go, we go too.

Jeff Pettis, president of Apimondia—The International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations—sums up the health benefits that bees offer humans in one word: huge.

Although two-thirds of our diet comes from carbohydrates—crops like rice, wheat, and corn—which are pollinated by wind rather than insects, many other important foods require bees.

“So we’re not going to starve if we don’t have bees. But literally, everything you can think of that’s nutritious—fruits, nuts, and vegetables—all of those are, we'll call it, animal-pollinated. The vast majority of those are pollinated by honey bees or other wild bees,” he told The Epoch Times.

Bees Pollinate

Ryan Burris is a third-generation beekeeper and the president of the California State Beekeepers Association. He points out that many people don’t realize how many fruits and vegetables we eat depend on bees for pollination.

“The biggest one, obviously, for beekeepers, is almonds. And then you have things like blueberries, watermelons, and stuff you don’t think about, like onions and carrots—all require pollination. There’s an estimated 100 crops that require pollination,” he told the Epoch Times.

Twenty thousand species of bees grace our planet, and 4000 species are native to the United States. Bees are some of our most well-known and beloved pollinators. One in every three bites of food you eat depends on pollinators to produce, and bees pollinate one in every four bites.

Beyond their critical role as pollinators, bees also gift us powerful products like honey, bee pollen, propolis, and royal jelly—each packed with nutritional and medicinal benefits.

Honey

The Ancient Egyptians may have been the world’s first beekeepers. They crafted clay hives and transported them on rafts along the Nile, allowing bees to pollinate whatever flowers were in season. Bees were deeply revered, and honey was considered sacred.

Throughout history, honey has played many roles—it was used in religious rituals, medicine, currency, and offerings to the gods. When archaeologists uncovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb, they found a sealed jar of honey more than 2,000 years old. Because honey doesn’t spoil, it was still safe to eat.

Honey offers a treasure trove of healing properties. It soothes a cough, benefits digestion and oral health, treats constipation and diarrhea, protects the heart, and has anticancer properties—in addition to being antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and a powerful antioxidant.

Jana Schmidt is a board-certified naturopathic doctor and master herbalist who keeps bees. She says not all honey is created equal, and knowing where your honey comes from is crucial, as many store-bought varieties are synthetically made or artificial. If you want the good stuff, go for raw, local honey—ideally straight from a beekeeper.

“Darker varieties have higher antioxidants than the lighter varieties,” she noted, saying bees make the darker types in the winter months when it’s cold, and they need more nutrition—which is passed to us when we eat it.

She says that honey added to tea before bed can help you sleep—something she did for her children when they were little.

“It helps regulate your sleep, but it also protects the teeth from the bacteria that causes cavities, which seems crazy because it’s sweet. You think, oh, that’s going to cause cavities, but actually, it protects the teeth,” she told The Epoch Times.

Studies have found that honey’s antibacterial properties fight harmful bacteria, such as Salmonella and E. coli. In addition, honey has been studied for its potential benefits against cancer—including breast, liver, and colorectal cancers, where it has shown cytotoxic effects on cancer cells, the ability to inhibit cancer cell growth, and prevent the formation of new blood vessels that tumors need to grow.

Raw honey is a potential source of Clostridium botulinum spores, which can cause botulism—especially in babies. Therefore, it’s generally recommended that infants under one year of age should not be fed raw honey.

Bees are prolific producers of a diverse array of products with numerous potential health benefits, according to experts.

Bee Pollen

Honeybees collect pollen from flowers and mix it with their saliva, which contains special enzymes. They then store it in comb cells inside their hives. Once the pollen is stored and processed in the hive, it is called beebread, or ambrosia—a vital food for the bees—containing proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals they need. When beebread is stored, it undergoes a natural fermentation process, which preserves it and makes its nutrients easier to absorb.

Bee pollen. hanif66/Shutterstock

“To me, it’s God’s perfect multivitamin because it has every vitamin and mineral known for human nutrition. It has approximately 96 different nutrients and bioavailable energy. It’s antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and the most digestible protein per ounce than anything else out there,” Schmidt said.

Bee pollen offers a source of sustained energy throughout the day and not a spike like you might get from sugar or caffeine, she said.

“I don’t drink coffee or anything like that. I just take my bee pollen in the morning, and I’m good to go,” she beamed.

There is growing scientific interest in bee pollen, particularly because of its antimicrobial properties, which can fight a wide variety of pathogens, including bacteria and fungi. This ability is notable because some bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics. Bee pollen (beebread) seems able to fight microbes without creating resistance, which some scientists believe is because it contains several different natural compounds that work synergistically. Bee pollen also supports the body’s good bacteria, benefiting healthy gut microbes—behaving like a prebiotic.

Schmidt adds that as a natural fertility specialist, bee pollen is her number one fertility supplement.

“If you think about it, it’s the fertility for the plants. Why wouldn’t it be fertility for us, too? So sometimes that’s all it takes. The couple start taking bee pollen, and bam, they’re fertile. So that’s been pretty fun to be a part of.”

Studies have found that bee pollen has other wide-ranging medicinal benefits to humans, including:

• Benefiting metabolic syndrome disorders
• Preventing obesity
• Combating liver disorders
• Cardioprotective effects
• Lowering uric acid
• Detoxifying (based on animal studies)
• Regulating ovarian functions
• Alleviating allergic reactions
• Improving digestion and absorption
• Stimulating the immune system
• Improving cognitive dysfunction

“It takes bees working eight hours a day, two to four weeks, to gather one teaspoon of pollen, Schmidt said. They work so hard. They visit over 2 million flowers to get one teaspoon of pollen. It’s pretty amazing.”

Propolis

Propolis, also known as “bee glue,” is a resinous substance bees gather from different types of plants. Bees use it as a type of construction material for the hive. It seals holes and cracks, improves structural integrity, smooths the inner surface of the hive, maintains a constant internal temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and protects the hive from the elements, predators, and pathogens. Once hardened, it helps create an antiseptic internal environment.

Bee propolis. Ihor Hvozdetskyi/Shutterstock

Schmidt offers a long list of propolis’s benefits, particularly to the brain. These include reducing inflammation in the brain and oxidative stress, helping reduce the toxic effects of methylmercury—a highly toxic form of mercury—and aluminum in the brain, increasing synaptic efficiency, and protecting against neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment.

She adds that it is a great prebiotic and excellent for gut health.

“Anytime there’s an infection, and you’re not quite sure what it is, I usually go to propolis—it just boosts your immune system like nothing else I’ve ever used,” she said.

Studies have revealed that this amazing substance has many applications for human health and has the following medicinal properties:

• Antioxidant
• Anti-inflammatory
• Antiulcer
• Anticancer
• Immunomodulatory
• Neuroprotective
• Anti-allergic
• Cardioprotective
• Antidiabetic

Studies in humans and animals have shown propolis to possess powerful healing properties beneficial in multiple acute and chronic diseases—from autoimmune diseases like Type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and COVID-19.

In a 2021 randomized, controlled clinical trial, 124 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were split into three groups. Two groups received Brazilian green propolis—400 or 800 milligrams daily—in addition to regular treatment—while the third group did not receive propolis.

The researchers found that patients who received propolis were released from the hospital five to six days sooner, and those who received 800 mg of daily propolis had less kidney damage associated with COVID-19. Thus, the study authors concluded that propolis is a safe and effective adjunct treatment for patients with COVID-19.

Royal Jelly

Humans have used royal jelly as a powerful medicine for millennia. It is extremely popular and highly regarded in Chinese medicine—in ancient times and today. Royal jelly is an overall tonic that promotes the robust development of bones, teeth, and the brain. It also helps boost fertility for women and soothe the symptoms of menopause.

Royal jelly. Bin Zhu/Shutterstock

Royal jelly is a white milky substance secreted by worker bees to feed the queen bee larvae. Worker bee larvae get a different type—called worker jelly that contains fewer nutrients. According to one study, the higher quality royal jelly fed to the queen allows her to live a long life (up to five years) and lay 2,500 eggs daily. In comparison, worker bees only live about 45 days and, although female, do not reproduce.

Rich in proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals, royal jelly is a vital food source for bees. Today, humans use it as a dietary supplement, medicine, and ingredient in cosmetic and skincare products.

Studies have shown royal jelly to have the following medicinal properties:

• Antioxidant
• Anti-lipidemic
• Antiproliferative
• Antimicrobial
• Neuroprotective
• Anti-inflammatory
• Immunomodulatory
• Antiaging
• Estrogenic activities

Despite its medicinal benefits, Schmidt says that she does not recommend royal jelly because of how it is harvested, as it hurts the bees and the hive only to collect a tiny amount.

“I just don’t like the practice overall ... I feel like it takes it a step beyond what we should be doing to live well with the bees,” she said.

A 2023 study investigated the effect of royal jelly on liver enzymes and glycemic indices. The researchers found that royal jelly did not significantly affect adults’ glycemic profile or liver function. However, in trials with a longer duration of 8 or more weeks, and those conducted in “non-healthy” populations, there was a significant reduction in serum fasting blood glucose —a measurement of glucose in the blood after fasting. Higher fasting blood glucose levels are a characteristic sign of both prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes.

Why Bees Are Dying

We have all heard about the alarming decline in bee numbers in recent years.

Pettis says the reasons that bees are dying is such huge numbers are multifaceted and complex.

The first, he says, is that bees are losing their natural habitat. A significant reason for this is the rise of monoculture—when farmers plant only one kind of crop in their fields. This lack of diversity limits the flowers available for bees, making it harder for them to get all the nutrients they need to stay healthy and thrive.

“Roundup Ready crops, like corn, soybeans, all these—they create very sterile fields so there are no weeds—and a lot of those weeds are really good for bees,” he said.

Pettis says the second reason is pesticide exposure and the third is pests and diseases affecting bees. He says they all combine in different ways to affect bees and reduce their numbers, making beekeeping more challenging.

“We’ve had a number of exotic things come into the U.S.—two parasitic mites, and then the beetle from Africa, and now we have some invasive hornets coming in from Asia. It’s just one thing after another,” he said.

“It’s really hard to survive when you have all these stressors lining up, one right behind the other.”

Some readers may be wondering about colony collapse disorder.

“I was actually very involved in colony collapse disorder, which is now 20 years old, and we never came up with a single definitive thing. It was just a combination of things that were killing managed honeybees,” Pettis said.

Mites, particularly the varroa mite—which is aptly named Varroa destructor—have become an enormous challenge for beekeepers.

“The varroa mite—Varroa destructor—is the main killer of honey bees because they feed on the bee as it’s growing,” Burris said.

These tiny parasitic mites feed on bee fat and blood, which bees need for energy and a healthy immune system. They also spread viruses, particularly the deformed wing virus, which causes bees to be born with shriveled wings that will never fly.

Burris adds that federal and state regulators do not want honeybees on public lands as they fear they may hurt native pollinators, though he notes they don’t have evidence to support those concerns.

He says they’re arguing about food supply and demand problems without considering that native pollinators and honey bees have different feeding habits.

“They’re not taking into account the size of the honeybee, the size of a native pollinator, the size of their tongues, and how they extract nectar—how they obtain pollen,” he said.

Pesticides, which include insecticides and herbicides, are also detrimental to bees.

“Roundup and other weed killers that contain glyphosate are incredibly harmful to our bodies, but also the bees,” Schmidt said.

A relatively recent class of insecticides called neonicotinoids, or neonics, are the world’s most widely used insecticides and possibly one of the most deadly. They work by making every part of the treated plant toxic while poisoning the soil, surrounding water, and wildlife. They affect the bees’ nervous system, interfering with their ability to learn, remember, and navigate, meaning many exposed bees can’t find their way back to the hive and eventually die.

Since their introduction in the last two decades, neonicotinoids’ widespread use has made U.S. agriculture increasingly destructive to insect life. Neonicotinoids are responsible for 92 percent of this increase in danger to insects.

These deadly insecticides don’t just kill bees. Neonics are linked to losses of birds and fish and birth defects in white-tailed deer. Increasing evidence has also shown that neonics affect human health, especially children. One study found neonics in the urine of half of children 3 to 5 years old, and a 2020 Swiss study found neonics in every sample of plasma and spinal fluid of children receiving treatment for leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

How We Can Help Bees

Thankfully, there are things we can all do to help bees and support these essential pollinators.

• Plant native flowers and trees, especially ones that bloom through summer, as bees need food from spring through fall.
• Buy local honey, and honey made 100 percent in the United States to support U.S. beekeepers.
• Avoid using insecticides or pesticides around your yard and use natural methods instead. Schmidt says using vinegar and water with a bit of salt kills weeds without harming anything else.
• Allow an area of your yard or garden to be overgrown or less cut back to provide food and nesting habitats for bees.
• Plant a bee garden with native flowers to attract bees and other pollinators.
• Create a bee watering station with filtered water using a deep plate with pebbles or marbles near flowering plants to give bees a safe place to drink.
• Create a bee house you can hang in your yard to give bees a place to live.
• Keep hives away from sources of wifi radiation and EMFs, which adversely affect bees.
• If you notice a swarm of bees on your property, contact a local beekeeping association, university agriculture department, or local beekeeper to collect them, not an exterminator.
• Encourage state legislators to support laws that support and protect bees.
• Spread awareness about bees and how we can support them.

Schmidt reveres the tiny pollinators that provide us with so much.

“You know, we use the term beekeeping, but I really feel like they keep us—like they know what to do, we just need to provide a nice habitat for them, and they do all the work—they just give and give.”

The White House has denied a report that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is backing a proposal for a reality TV series that pits immigrants against each other for the grand prize: a fast-track to U.S. citizenship.

According to a 35-page pitch obtained by DailyMail.com, the Department of Homeland Security has been in contact with reality TV producer Rob Worsoff - known for Duck Dynasty and Millionaire Matchmaker - on a show called The American. The show would take a dozen pre-vetted immigrants on a cross-country journey aboard a train, competing in “cultural” challenges like assembling a Model T Ford in Detroit, rolling logs in Wisconsin, and digging clams in Maine.

Contestants would be greeted in New York City at Ellis Island by “a famous, naturalized American who was also born in another country,” the pitch reads, with names like Sofia Vergara, Ryan Reynolds, and Mila Kunis floated as possible hosts. Each contestant would receive a personalized baseball glove before hitting the rails aboard “The Citizen Ship.”

"Along the way, we will be reminded what it means to be American – through the eyes of the people who want it most," Worsoff’s pitch says.

There’d be elimination rounds, dramatic town halls, and viewer voting tallied by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staff - yes, actual DHS employees, according to the proposal. The live finale would see the train stop in Washington, D.C., with the winner sworn in on Capitol Hill as Thunderbird jets roar overhead. "There won't be a dry eye within 10 miles!" the pitch promises.

Game show prizes? Think red-white-and-blue Americana: 1 million American Airlines points, a $10,000 Starbucks gift card, or a lifetime supply of 76 gasoline.

Tricia McLaughlin, DHS’s top spokesperson, confirmed the department had a call with Worsoff last week. "I think it's a good idea," she said. Though she claimed Noem “is yet to be briefed,” DailyMail.com reports Noem supports the show and wants to move forward.

DHS Distances

That said, DHS on Friday confirmed that it had received the pitch - but a spokesperson denied the Mail's report that Noem was involved. In a statement to the Epoch Times, DHS Assistan Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the Mail's reporting "completely false," and denied claims that Noem had either "backed" or "reviewed" the plan.

"The Department of Homeland Security receives hundreds of television show pitches a year, ranging from documentaries surrounding ICE and CBP border operation to white collar investigations by HSI," she said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and Homeland Security Investigations.

TV show proposals undergo “a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval,” McLaughlin said, adding that the reality TV “show in question is in the very beginning stages of that vetting process and has not received approval or denial by staff.”

Separately, McLaughlin told news outlets that she had spoken with the producer of the proposed reality show. -Epoch Times

Worsoff, a Canadian-born producer, said, “I’m not affiliated with any political ideology. As an immigrant myself, I am merely trying to make a show that celebrates the immigration process.”

The proposal also includes themed challenges like mining for gold in San Francisco, launching rockets in Cape Canaveral, and rafting down the Arkansas River. “We'll join in the laughter, tears, frustration, and joy – hearing their backstories – as we are reminded how amazing it is to be American,” the pitch reads.

Even the losers would have “a leg-up” in the naturalization process, the proposal notes.

For a secretary already accused of turning immigration enforcement into a branding exercise, The American is on-brand. Whether the public buys into her vision — or sees it as one more cringe photo op — remains to be seen.

Side note - the book 'Running Man' takes place in 2025...

Earlier this week, we noted that short-dated USA sovereign CDS were trading wider than China and Greece as trade policy uncertainty and the debt ceiling 'X-date' loomed...

...well, it appears Moody's Rating Agency noted it too... because they just downgraded the Government of United States of America's (US) long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to Aa1 from Aaa and changed the outlook to stable from negative.

The one-notch cut comes more than a year after Moody’s changed its outlook on the US rating to negative, with Moody's joining Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings in grading the world’s biggest economy below the top, triple-A position.

This one-notch downgrade on our 21-notch rating scale reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.

Successive US administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs. 

We do not believe that material multi-year reductions in mandatory spending and deficits will result from current fiscal proposals under consideration. 

Over the next decade, we expect larger deficits as entitlement spending rises while government revenue remains broadly flat. 

In turn, persistent, large fiscal deficits will drive the government's debt and interest burden higher. 

The US' fiscal performance is likely to deteriorate relative to its own past and compared to other highly-rated sovereigns.

The stable outlook reflects balanced risks at Aa1. 

The US retains exceptional credit strengths such as the size, resilience and dynamism of its economy and the role of the US dollar as global reserve currency. In addition, while recent months have been characterized by a degree of policy uncertainty, we expect that the US will continue its long history of very effective monetary policy led by an independent Federal Reserve. 

The stable outlook also takes into account institutional features, including the constitutional separation of powers among the three branches of government that contributes to policy effectiveness over time and is relatively insensitive to events over a short period. 

While these institutional arrangements can be tested at times, we expect them to remain strong and resilient.

The US' long-term local- and foreign-currency country ceilings remain at Aaa. 

The Aaa local-currency ceiling reflects a small government footprint in the economy and extremely low risk of currency and balance of payment crises. 

The foreign-currency ceiling at Aaa reflects the country's strong policy effectiveness and an open capital account, reducing transfer and convertibility risks.

RATIONALE FOR THE RATINGS DOWNGRADE TO Aa1

Over more than a decade, US federal debt has risen sharply due to continuous fiscal deficits. 

During that time, federal spending has increased while tax cuts have reduced government revenues. 

As deficits and debt have grown, and interest rates have risen, interest payments on government debt have increased markedly.

Without adjustments to taxation and spending, we expect budget flexibility to remain limited, with mandatory spending, including interest expense, projected to rise to around 78% of total spending by 2035 from about 73% in 2024.

If the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is extended, which is our base case, it will add around $4 trillion to the federal fiscal primary (excluding interest payments) deficit over the next decade.

As a result, we expect federal deficits to widen, reaching nearly 9% of GDP by 2035, up from 6.4% in 2024, driven mainly by increased interest payments on debt, rising entitlement spending, and relatively low revenue generation. 

We anticipate that the federal debt burden will rise to about 134% of GDP by 2035, compared to 98% in 2024.

Despite high demand for US Treasury assets, higher Treasury yields since 2021 have contributed to a decline in debt affordability. 

Federal interest payments are likely to absorb around 30% of revenue by 2035, up from about 18% in 2024 and 9% in 2021. The US general government interest burden, which takes into account federal, state and local debt, absorbed 12% of revenue in 2024, compared to 1.6% for Aaa-rated sovereigns.

While we recognize the US' significant economic and financial strengths, we believe these no longer fully counterbalance the decline in fiscal metrics.

Moody's couldn't help but take a shot at Trump's tariffs:

The US economy is unique among the sovereigns we rate.

It combines very large scale, high average incomes, strong growth potential and a track-record of innovation that supports productivity and GDP growth. 

While GDP growth is likely to slow in the short term as the economy adjusts to higher tariffs, we do not expect that the US' long-term growth will be significantly affected.

But they did say something positive...

Despite reserve diversification by central banks globally over the past twenty years, we expect the US dollar to remain the dominant global reserve currency for the foreseeable future.

...

Moreover, the resilience of the US sovereign rating to shocks is supported by strong monetary and macroeconomic policy institutions.

Although policy has been less predictable in recent months, relative to what has typically been the case in the US and other highly-rated sovereigns, we expect that monetary and macroeconomic policy effectiveness will remain very strong, preserving macroeconomic and financial stability through business cycles.

The timing is exceptional, as Republicans try to get Trump's 'big beautiful bill' out of committee... and as everyone knows, there's no such thing as a coincidence in Washington.

US equity markets are trading down after hours on the news:

Trump's gonna be pissed!!

Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times,

Inappropriate attire, excessive use of cell phones, poor quality of work, and foul language are just a few of the reasons 65 percent of U.S. hiring managers gave for firing college graduates who had recently started their first job.

A Pollfish survey of 1,000 managers across America, reported by Resume.com, revealed the reasons that eight in 10 managers said newly hired college graduates did not work out during their first year on the job.

Excessive use of cell phones ranked as the top pet peeve of managers, at 78 percent. Some 61 percent of managers found their new hires were entitled or easily offended, while 57 percent noted these new employees were unprepared for the workplace. Lack of a work ethic scored 54 percent, followed by poor communication skills at 48 percent and lack of technical skills at 27 percent.

Other concerns managers had about the graduates included lateness, failure to turn in assignments on time, unprofessional behavior, and inappropriate dress and language. Seventy percent of companies surveyed noted that some hires had to be placed on performance improvement plans.

“Colleges don’t teach students how to behave in the workplace, and there is a lack of transitional support from both universities and employers,” Resume.org’s career coach Irina Pichura stated in the report.

“Most students graduate with little exposure to professional environments, so when they arrive at their first job, they’re often learning basic workplace norms for the first time. Colleges should have a workplace training program to support graduates’ transition to the workplace.”

Clark Lowe, CEO of O'Connor Company, a leading national commercial construction firm, agrees.

“Colleges do a disservice to students in not preparing them for work,” he told The Epoch Times. “Parenting has also been pushed off to the schools, and building of character has been pushed off to the workplace. That’s very frustrating!”

Lowe served as an adjunct professor for Mercy University in Dobbs Ferry, New York, for many years, teaching graduate business courses.

“A lot of professors have no work experience beyond teaching,” he said.

“They grow up in academia and stay there, but all of those degrees and certificates are not going to replace work experience.”

Based in Pinehurst, North Carolina, the O’Connor Company is a remote company with about 60 employees, including skilled construction workers, project managers, and staff in accounting, marketing, and administration. It develops nonresidential structures such as public and educational buildings.

Last year, the company hired 30 new employees and plans to add 10 more this year.

“The latest generation seems to be getting more and more entitled,” Lowe said.

He and his team have also had some problems with recent college graduates, especially those who had never held any type of job.

“In our experience, those people tend to be difficult to work with since the work ethic is not there and they have never learned what it’s like to earn their own paycheck,” he said.

Previous Work Experience Is a Must

Lowe looks for individuals who show initiative and drive and are excited about coming to work. Previous work experience is a must for his firm.

“We don’t care what type of work they did, whether it was in a gas station or retail store,” he said. “What’s important is that jobs teach them responsibility, time management, and a work ethic.”

Only 58 percent of companies responding to the Pollfish survey indicated they plan to hire from the class of 2025, and one in six hiring managers admit they’re hesitant to hire recent graduates at all. Of those managers who are open to hiring new Generation Z graduates, more than 50 percent are seeking qualities such as initiative, a positive attitude, a strong work ethic, adaptability, and openness to feedback.

Pichura also shared advice for recent graduates on how to demonstrate initiative during and after the hiring process.

“During the interview, candidates should come prepared with research and ideas,” she said.

She recommends using real examples, such as stories where the individual stepped up without being asked to solve a problem. She refers to the “Situation, Task, Action, Result” method as the “STAR” method.

Once hired, Pichura noted, a new employee should look for ways to take ownership of tasks, ask for feedback, and go beyond their role.

“Even in an entry-level role, new hires can stand out by looking for small ways to own tasks, solve problems, and offer solutions before being asked,” she said.

“Being reliable, meeting deadlines, and treating every task with care and intention builds trust and credibility early on.”

New Jersey was hit by its first statewide transit strike in over 40 years early Friday morning, as 450 unionized locomotive engineers walked off the job amid a contract dispute about pay. The strike brought NJ Transit's rail network to a halt and disrupted service for 350,000 commuters.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced the strike late Thursday night on X, sharing a post that included a link detailing the breakdown in contract negotiations between its negotiators and NJ Transit negotiators over terms of the new contract for locomotive engineers. 

BLET locomotive engineers on strike at NJ Transit. Read more here: https://t.co/DdRhKTf8bh pic.twitter.com/4SR1PqUDIO

— Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (@BLET) May 16, 2025

"After 15-hours of non-stop contract talks today, no agreement on a wage increase was reached this evening between BLET and NJ Transit managers," the union wrote in a press release, adding, "NJ Transit managers walked out of the talks shortly before 10 p.m. and through their actions have forced a strike despite the transit agency having the funds for a raise." 

Rail Teamsters from the @BLET are on strike at New Jersey Transit and picketing major terminals in Newark, New York Penn Station, and Atlantic City.

If NJT can spend half-a-billion dollars on lavish penthouse offices, they can come back to the table with a fair deal for their… pic.twitter.com/HXvPC4BHcC

— Teamsters (@Teamsters) May 16, 2025

BLET members have been in talks with NJ Transit since 2019 about a new labor contract, but have failed to reach a deal every time. 

"In August 2023, the members of the local union voted unanimously to grant the BLET National President the authority to call a strike when it became lawful to do so and if a deal had not been reached," the union said. 

BLET National President Mark Wallace blasted NJ Transit: 

"NJ Transit has a half-billion dollars for a swanky new headquarters and $53 million for decorating the interior of that unnecessary building. They gave away $20 million in revenue during a fare holiday last year. They have money for penthouse views and pet projects, just not for their front-line workers. Enough is enough. We will stay out until our members receive the fair pay that they deserve."

Wallace was quoted by the local media outlet NBC 4 New York as saying that engineers are committed to the strike until a fair deal is reached. 

NBC 4 New York provided a breakdown of key points of the contract dispute:

• The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Friday, leaving some 350K NJ Transit riders impacted

• The nation's third-largest transit system, NJ Transit, provides nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. More NJ Transit buses are being added, but supplemental service can only accommodate about 20% of the people who could be accommodated if the trains were running

• The MTA and other transit agencies are also adding service to help mitigate impacts

• Wages have been the main sticking point. The union claims its members earn an average of $113,000 a year and says an agreement could be reached if that went to $170,000. NJ Transit leadership disputes the union's data, saying engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually

• The last time there was a transit strike was in 1983. That one lasted about a month

A BLET spokesman said the union "is ready to bargain" and "returns to the table now." Talks are now scheduled for Sunday and will include federal mediators.

Earlier, NJ Gov. Phil Murphy apologized to commuters whose daily commutes to work were abruptly disrupted and called the labor action a "slap in the face of every commuter." 

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said, “the contract being negotiated at this moment is about the long-term future of NJ Transit,” but the state will not “cave” in order to end the first railroad strike in more than 40 years for the agency https://t.co/RoqnQYu4jk pic.twitter.com/gp0a7hp0hk

— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) May 16, 2025

The New York Times noted: "The abrupt suspension of all of New Jersey Transit's train service on Friday will make it harder for Gov. Philip D. Murphy to claim that he rescued the troubled transit agency."

Authored by Sam Dorman and Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

The Supreme Court on May 15 heard oral arguments in relation to the Trump administration’s request to lift nationwide injunctions placed on the president’s birthright citizenship order.

The decision could determine how judges can address presidential actions.

During the argument, the justices posed questions about how far lower court judges could go in issuing relief from particular policies.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court that nationwide injunctions exceed judges’ authority under Article 3 of the Constitution.

While members of the Supreme Court have criticized nationwide injunctions in the past, they seemed skeptical that it was appropriate to remove the injunctions in this case.

President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14160, signed on Jan. 20, states that “the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.”

The executive order has prompted debate over the meaning of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause, which states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Here are some takeaways from the arguments, as well as considerations surrounding the Supreme Court’s ruling.

1. No Final Ruling Expected on Constitutionality

The argument stemmed from an emergency request made by the Trump administration to limit three separate nationwide injunctions blocking the president’s birthright citizenship order.

At such an early stage in the litigation, the justices wrestled more with procedural considerations such as the scope of relief rather than the constitutionality of birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants.

However, judges can still consider the likelihood that each side will succeed with its arguments about the more substantive issues. The issue could also reach the Supreme Court again after further deliberation in lower courts, teeing up an opportunity for the justices to make a more definitive ruling on birthright citizenship.

Sauer could have asked the Supreme Court to delve deeper into the constitutional issues, but he did not. Justice Amy Coney Barrett pressed him on this point and asked why he wanted there to be more consideration by lower courts before the justices took on the issue.

“So this one isn’t clear-cut on the merits?” she asked.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that if Trump’s order is legally wrong, allowing the administration to continue implementing it would be inconsistent with the rule of law.

“It seems to me that your argument says we get to keep on doing it until everyone who is potentially harmed by it figures out how to file a lawsuit, hire a lawyer, etc.,” she said. “And I don’t understand how that is remotely consistent with the rule of law.”

Solicitor General nominee, D. John Sauer, prepares to testify during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Feb. 26, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

2. Several Judges Critical of Trump’s Order

During the May 15 arguments, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan seemed to think that the administration had misinterpreted the 14th Amendment when it ordered a halt to illegal immigrants’ children receiving birthright citizenship.

“As far as I see it, this order violates four Supreme Court precedents,” Sotomayor told Sauer.

Later, Kagan suggested to Sauer that the administration would continue to lose in defending its policy before lower courts. She was asking what incentive the government would have to appeal the case to the Supreme Court if another judge had not issued a nationwide injunction.

“If I were in your shoes, there is no way I'd approach the Supreme Court with this case, so you just keep on losing in the lower courts, and what’s supposed to happen to prevent that?” she asked.

3. Dispute Over Courts’ Historical Authority

Justice Clarence Thomas seemed the most sympathetic to Sauer’s position and suggested that nationwide injunctions do not have a solid historical basis.

Sauer had argued that the first nationwide injunction was issued in 1963 and that the court had consistently said relief should be limited to plaintiffs.

“So we survived until the 1960s without universal injunctions?” Thomas asked.

Sotomayor, meanwhile, asked New Jersey Solicitor General Jeremy Feigenbaum, “We’ve had universal injunctions in some form—correct?—since the founding.”

Both justices asked about the history of courts issuing orders known as “bills of peace,” which resolve a dispute for multiple parties. Sauer described the practice as similar to a modern class action and different from a nationwide injunction. Sotomayor disagreed with that comparison.

4. Alternatives to Nationwide Injunctions?

Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested that class actions, or lawsuits in which multiple plaintiffs sue on behalf of a larger group of plaintiffs, could take the place of nationwide injunctions.

If nationwide injunctions were not available in this case, people could file class actions, which could “solve a large part of the problem in a way that complies with the rules,” the justice said.

Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Chief Justice John Roberts attend inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Kelsi Corkran, an attorney for immigration advocacy groups, disagreed, saying such an approach is “just channeling the problems through a different mechanism.”

Kagan said the state of New Jersey, a litigant in the case, is arguing that without the availability of nationwide injunctions, it could face “administrative costs and ... workability problems” as a result of possibly inconsistent court rulings being issued in different states on the citizenship question.

This could also lead to a “magnet problem” as “everybody moves to the state where the more favorable rule exists,” Kagan said.

5. Difficulties Involved in Suing Over Birthright Citizenship

Jackson said the government’s proposal to curtail nationwide injunctions would make it more difficult for people to sue to vindicate their rights.

“Your argument seems to turn our justice system ... into a ‘catch me if you can’ kind of regime ... where everybody has to have a lawyer and file a lawsuit in order for the government to stop violating people’s rights,” she said.

Sauer disagreed, saying that given the status quo, “the ‘catch me if you can’ problem operates in the opposite direction where we have the government racing from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, having to sort of clear the table in order to implement a new policy.”

“Many of us have expressed frustration at the way district courts are doing their business,” Kagan said.

The current system encourages forum-shopping, she said, referring to plaintiffs choosing to file a case in a jurisdiction where they think that the judge will be sympathetic to their case.

During the first Trump administration, litigants sought favorable rulings by filing in courts perceived to be friendly in San Francisco, but in the succeeding Biden administration, litigants filed in Texas, Kagan said.

“There is a big problem that is created by that mechanism,” she said.

US stock futures are set for a fifth straight session in the green, as US equity funds benefited from their first inflows since the Liberation Day shock, and with 6000 in the S&P now less than a 100 points away. As of 8:00am, S&P 500 futures were up 0.3% after the index closed up 4.5% for the week on Thursday as the latest economic data spurred speculation the Fed will cut interest rates twice this year. Nasdaq futures gained 0.4% with Mag 7 leading (TSLA (+1.1%), GOOGL (+0.9%), and NVDA (+0.7%) are outperforming). The powerful rally this week has pushed the tech-heavy equity benchmark into overbought territory, while the S&P closed Thursday at the highest level since February. Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 gauge also gained, heading for a fifth weekly advance. The dollar weakened for a second session against major peers, while the yen and Swiss franc gained, and the 10-year Treasury yield was lower after declining 10 basis points Thursday as traders priced in more Fed cuts: bond yields are lower, with 2-, 5-, 10-, and 30-year yields down by 3.09bp, 3.7bp, 3.5bp, and 2.6bp respectively. Commodities are mostly lower, led by gold while oil reversed earlier losses. Overnight headlines were largely quiet. Today, we will receive University of Michigan Sentiment survey data, where consensus expects a modest bounce (to 53.5 vs. 52.2 prior).

In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are mostly higher with the exception of Meta after an equal-weighted gauge of the group fell over 1% on Thursday (Alphabet +1.5%, Tesla +1.1%, Nvidia +0.9%, Amazon +0.4%, Microsoft little changed, Apple +0.1%, Meta Platforms -0.1%). Charter Communications (CHTR) gains 9.4% after agreeing to merge with Cox Communications in a deal that values Cox at an enterprise value of about $34.5 billion. Vistra (VST) is up 5.1% after it said it executed a definitive agreement to acquire seven modern natural gas generation facilities from Lotus Infrastructure Partners for $1.9 billion. Here are some other notable premarket movers:

• Archer Aviation (ACHR) shares rise 5.7%, adding to gains from Thursday following its announcement that the electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft company had been selected as the ‘Official Air Taxi Provider’ for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• Doximity (DOCS) drops 18% after the healthcare-software company’s full-year forecast disappointed, with analysts pointing to a cautious tone from the management team on the call regarding the outlook for market growth.
• Globant (GLOB) shares sink 28% after the technology services provider cut full-year revenue guidance for 2025 to a level that undershot analysts’ expectations.
• Pentair (PNR) shares rise 2.2% after JPMorgan upgrades the water-treatment company to overweight from neutral on expectations of potential guidance upside.
• Quantum Computing (QUBT) shares are up 9.7% after the quantum optics technology company reported its first-quarter results.
• Rocket Cos. (RKT) gains 4.4% after ValueAct Capital Management LLC reported a 9.9% holding in the mortgage finance company, according to a new 13D filing with the US Securities & Exchange Commission.
• Take-Two (TTWO) falls 2% as the video-game publisher’s full-year forecast for revenue came up short.
• Travere Therapeutics (TVTX) shares drop 17% after the biotech’s application for its kidney disease treatment Filspari (sparsentan) failed to get priority review status from the US FDA and is set to face an advisory panel.

One month after the nevertrump media hyperventilated about the "US exceptionalism" trade dying, US equities are back in favor following the de-escalation of trade tensions between the US and China. Stocks are now trading like last month’s rout never happened, even though uncertainty remains about the effect of tariffs on the US economy and the direction that the global trade war will take in the coming months. Bank of America's Michael Hartnett said weekly US equity inflows resumed at $19.8 billion for the first time since Liberation Day. Meanwhile, stocks haven’t been getting rewarded for earnings beats: firms that topped expectations in the first quarter reports saw their share prices rise by less than usual, according to JPMorgan strategists. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said he expects the US economy to slow this year but not fall into recession.

“For now, we believe that the path of least resistance is still higher for risky assets,” said Mohit Kumar, chief economist and strategist at Jefferies International. “We would start turning a bit more cautious around June/July when we expect the hard data start weakening.”

Thursday afternoon brought a deluge of 13F filings, which showed hedge funds adding healthcare exposure and cutting tech over the first three months of the year. Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management liquidated almost its entire listed equity portfolio in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its holdings of financials stocks. 

Traders are also watching negotiations around the US budget with its promise of large tax cuts and the potential impact that will have on the fiscal deficit.  

Elsewhere, Japan’s economy shrank for the first time in a year as the surging yen crushed exports, illustrating its vulnerability even before sustaining the impact of Trump’s tariff measures. Paradoxically, the yen gained 0.2% on Friday to trade around 145 per dollar even as Bank of Japan official Toyoaki Nakamura, the most dovish board member, warned against hurrying to raise the benchmark interest rate.

Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 gauge also gained, heading for a fifth weekly advance as cooling global trade tensions improve investor sentiment and corporate earnings season comes in better than expected. Health care and food and beverage sectors outperform. Among single stocks Richemont rises after reporting a rise in full year sales. Here are the most notable European movers:

• Richemont shares rise as much as 5.5% after the Swiss firm’s jewelry division saw strong growth thanks to demand for its high-end Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels brands.
• Orsted shares rise as much as 2.1%, snapping three days of declines, after UBS analysts say the stock is pricing in a “close to worst case” scenario when it comes to a potential halt order on the Danish company’s two US offshore projects.
• 1&1 shares soar after its parent United Internet submitted a partial offer to acquire as much as 9.19% of 1&1 shares, for a cash consideration of €18.5 apiece.
• Tate & Lyle shares gain as much as 3.1%, among the best performers in the Stoxx 600’s food, beverage and tobacco subgroup, after Citi upgrades the stock to buy from neutral, saying the risk/reward “looks attractive.”
• CVC Capital shares climb as much as 5.4%, to the highest in six weeks, after Morgan Stanley upgrades its recommendation on the alternative investment manager to overweight, seeing scope for recovery after recent underperformance.
• Nibe falls as much as 4.1% after Handelsbanken cut its recommendation on the Swedish heat-pump manufacturer to sell from hold, quoting recent strong share performance.
• Eutelsat shares drop as much as 11% after the satellite operator said on earnings call that it’s “far too early” to discuss the European Union’s revenue commitment to its next-generation low-earth orbit satellites, dampening hope of enhanced government support in the near term.
• Rubis shares fall as much as 3.7% after the French energy solutions firm said Nils Christian Bergene will step down as chairman and a member of the supervisory board, a departure that CIC analysts called a surprise.
• Workspace Group shares fall as much as 11% after the landlord to mostly small- and medium-sized London businesses warned rising vacancies in its portfolio will dent profits.
• Future shares decline as much as 9.2% after the UK specialist publisher said its FY25 organic revenue will face a low-single-digit decline, below estimates.
• Tokmanni falls as much as 14%, the most since last July, after the Finnish retail group missed expectations in its first-quarter report.
• Dino Polska drops as much as 7.5%, most since August, as Poland’s food retailer reported slowing like-for-like sales in 1Q, raising concerns about its business model and triggering profit taking after 42% rally YTD.

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks traded in a narrow range as the rally sparked by US-China trade talks continued to cool and earnings from Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba underwhelmed. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index swung between a gain of as much as 0.3% and loss of 0.2%. NetEase was the biggest contributor to the gains, after the China-based video-game company reported first-quarter results that beat expectations. Meanwhile, Alibaba was among the major drags, after its quarterly revenue missed estimates and cloud business disappointed. Key indexes dropped in mainland China, Hong Kong and India, while benchmarks rose in Australia and Taiwan. Goldman Sachs strategists raised their 3-month and 12-month targets for the MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index to 610 and 660, respectively, from 570 and 620, expecting “moderately higher” returns for the region thanks to improved earnings growth amid a better-than-expected outcome to US-China trade talks.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell as much as 0.2%, declining for the second straight day; it is on track to end the week 0.1% higher; the yen and Swiss franc among the beneficiaries.  

In rates, the 10-year Treasury yield was lower after declining 10 basis points Thursday as traders added bets on Fed rate cuts; treasuries are richer across the curve with futures adding to Thursday’s gains and 10-year yields dropping back to 4.405% and near 100-DMA. US yields richer by 2bp to 3bp across the curve with spreads broadly within a basis point of Thursday close; in the 10-year sector bunds and gilts outperform Treasuries by 2.5bp and 1.5bp so far on the day.

In commodities, gold fell to extend its weekly loss as demand for haven assets waned. Oil prices declined after Iran’s foreign minister cast doubts on the status of US-Iran nuclear talks.

Looking at today's US data calendar, key events includes April housing starts/building permits, import/export price index, May New York services business activity (8:30am), University of Michigan sentiment (10am) and March TIC flows (4pm). Fed speaker slate includes Daly at 9:40pm

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 mini +0.3%
• Nasdaq 100 mini +0.3%
• Russell 2000 mini +0.4%
• Stoxx Europe 600 +0.6%
• DAX +0.7%, CAC 40 +0.6%
• 10-year Treasury yield -3 basis points at 4.4%
• VIX -0.2 points at 17.66
• Bloomberg Dollar Index -0.1% at 1228.52
• euro +0.2% at $1.1208
• WTI crude -0.3% at $61.45/barrel

Top Overnight News

• Donald Trump said he’d set tariff rates for US trading partners “over the next two to three weeks.” BBG
• US Deputy Treasury Secretary Faulkender said he is not concerned about persistent increases in prices, while he added that inflation will return to target levels and they are setting the foundation for the US economy to take off in H2.
• The Trump administration plans to put a number of Chinese chipmaking companies (including memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory) on an export blacklist, but some officials want to delay the move to avoid hurting efforts to strike a long-term trade agreement with China. FT
• Hopes faded for Russia-Ukraine talks set to take place today in Istanbul. The focus now shifts to when Trump may meet Vladimir Putin.
• US President Trump says deals from his trip are worth USD 12-13tln, includes deals already announced and some that will be outlined "very shortly". Will be sending out letters to nations for trade deals soon.
• China approves 10 nuclear reactors, putting the country on pace to surpass the US in nuclear power capacity by 2030. Nikkei
• NVDA is seeing to build a research and development center in Shanghai that would help the world’s leading maker of AI processors stay competitive in China, where its sales have slumped due to tightening US export controls. FT
• Japan’s Q1 GDP falls short of expectations, dropping 0.7% on an annualized basis vs. the consensus forecast of -0.3%, with the shortfall driven by weak consumption and higher imports. Nikkei
• Japan has signaled it is prepared to hold out for a better deal with the US over trade tariffs, pushing for full removal of his 25% duty on imports of Japanese cars rather than risk a domestic political backlash. FT
• The Fed’s Raphael Bostic said in a May 14 interview that he expects the US economy to slow this year but not fall into recession, and reiterated that he sees one rate cut in 2025. BBG
• The cost to ship a container of Chinese-made goods to the U.S. is jumping as importers race to pull cargo across the Pacific during a 3 month trade war truce. Freight rates from China to the US west coast have risen about 8% this week as bookings have boomed. Importers rushing to ship Chinese goods to the US during a short reprieve from higher tariffs may boost freighters. The surprise truce is seen causing a surge in transpacific shipping, Bloomberg Intelligence said. BBG, WSJ
• BofA card spending, week to May 10th: -1.3% (1.0% April average), spending has seen a recovery from the Easter slowdown.

Tariffs/Trade

• US President Trump's administration is reportedly split on adding Chinese chip makers to export blacklists as some US officials fear the move could jeopardise trade talks with Beijing, while the Commerce Department has compiled a list of Chinese companies including memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory to add to the 'entity list' although the timing of the move has been complicated by the recent agreement by China and the US to cut tariffs, according to sources cited by the FT.
• US told Vietnam its trade deficit is unsustainable and a major concern amid tariff talks, according to Vietnam state media.
• Mexican President Sheinbaum spoke with Canadian PM Carney regarding the importance of USMCA in strengthening the competitiveness of the three North American countries, while they also discussed the continuity and strengthening of the seasonal agricultural worker program.
• Greenland's Foreign Minister has suggested that she wants to deepen bilateral ties with the EU, highlighting Greenland's mineral resources as an area for collaboration, via Politico.
• Japan has reportedly indicated that it is prepared to hold out for a better deal with the US, pushing for the full removal of the 25% duty on car imports, via FT.

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mixed after the recent soft US data releases spurred Fed rate cut bets, while participants also digested weak data from Japan and earnings reports. ASX 200 was led by strength in miners and outperformance of gold producers after the recent rally in the precious metal. Nikkei 225 initially retreated amid recent currency strength and after GDP data for Q1 showed a steeper-than-expected contraction in Japan's economy, although the index gradually recovered and returned to flat territory as USD/JPY regained some composure and with the weak data effectively narrowing the scope for the BoJ to resume normalisation. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp declined with sentiment dampened by earnings releases after Alibaba's results underwhelmed which pressured its Chinese blue-chip tech and ecommerce peers such as Tencent, Meituan and JD.com.

Top Asian News

• BoJ Board Member Nakamura said Japan's economy has recovered moderately, but some weakness has been seen, while he added the economy is facing mounting downward pressure due to the implementation of US tariff policies. Nakamura said the momentum for wage hikes has accelerated but could weaken depending on impact of US tariff policies and noted that it is appropriate to keep monetary policy steady for the time being. Furthermore, he said uncertainty over the economic outlook is heightening, so a cautious monetary policy approach is necessary and hiking rates prematurely when growth is slowing could curb consumption and capex.
• Japan's Economy Minister Akazawa said improvements in job and income conditions are likely to underpin moderate economic recovery, while he added must be mindful downside risk to the economy from US trade policy and the hit to consumption and household sentiment from sustained price rises also becoming a downside risk to Japan's economy.

European bourses (STOXX 600 +0.6%) opened modestly firmer across the board, and have traded with an upward bias this morning. European sectors hold a strong positive bias, with only a handful of industries in negative territory. Healthcare takes the top spot, with gains in the sector seemingly broad based. In terms of stock specific stories, Sanofi (+2.2%) gains after it received FDA orphan designation for treating sickle cell disease. Bayer (+3.5%) benefits from an FT report which suggested it is seeking a Roundup settlement.

Top European News

• ECB's Villeroy says "we are not currently in a currency wars situation but rather a trade war situation".
• ECB's Kazaks says a meeting by meeting approach at the ECB is right and notes a lot of uncertainty around trade measures, according to CNBC.

FX

• Dollar is on the backfoot, continuing the pressure seen following Thursday’s disappointing Retail Sales and softer-than-expected PPI data. As a reminder, this led money markets to fully price in two Fed cuts by year-end; currently pricing in roughly 57bps. DXY currently sits in a 100.52-78 range. Further downside for the index will see a potential test of the week’s trough at 100.27 – should that be taken out, 100.00 will be next in focus. Ahead, US Import Prices, UoM Survey and commentary from Fed's Barkin.
• EUR is modestly firmer vs the Dollar, with specific for the Bloc very light today – Final Italian inflation metrics were revised marginally lower but ultimately had little impact on the Single-Currency. Commentary via ECB’s Kazaks and Villeroy this morning has not added too much to the agenda; the former reiterated the need for a meeting-by-meeting approach and highlighted the uncertainty around trade. This morning EUR has climbed back above the 1.12 mark and has traded in a busy 1.1182-1.1219 range.
• JPY is slightly firmer vs the Dollar after choppy price action overnight, which saw USD/JPY initially trickle lower amid initial haven flows into the yen and recent declines in US yields, but later bounced off support at the 145.00 level. USD/JPY was little moved following weaker-than-expected GDP data. USD/JPY currently trading around 145.30 in a 144.93-145.68 range
• GBP is flat/incrementally firmer vs the Dollar and holds just above the 1.33 mark, in a very thin 1.3300-1.3320 range. UK-specific updates have been lacking today. Some focus has been on an FT article which suggested that EU leaders are urging UK PM Starmer to improve the region’s mobility deal – particularly for EU students.
• Antipodeans are the best performers vs the Dollar, nursing some of the losses seen in the prior session. The Kiwi is the best G10 performer today; overnight, New Zealand 1yr and 2yr inflation expectations are both seen higher, which may explain some of the outperformance in today’s session. Do note that the NZD is outmuscling the AUD in the AUD/NZD cross; some traders may be focused on next week’s RBA meeting, where markets widely expect the Bank to deliver a 25bps cut.
• PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1938 vs exp. 7.2085 (Prev. 7.1963).

Fixed Income

• Firmer start to the day as USTs continue the data-induced upside from Thursday with newsflow since a little light and markets largely awaiting updates on numerous geopolitical situations. At the top-end of a 110-10 to 110-20 band. As it stands, on track to end the week almost flat, opened the week at 110-18, despite the marked pressure seen in the first half on US-China progress. Trade developments that sparked notable hawkish action Monday through Wednesday, before being offset by Thursday’s data deluge. Ahead, the docket is comparably light but does feature Building Permits/Housing Starts, Import Prices (factor into PCE) and the prelim. Uni. of Michigan series for May.
• Bunds are in-fitting with USTs, but with action slightly more pronounced as EGBs experienced a marginal rally early doors as European players entered the fray and reacted to the bullish bias of APAC trade. Specifics light. A few ECB officials on the wire but nothing that has fundamentally shifted the narrative. Bunds just off highs in a 130.11-50 confine and, as with USTs, near-enough on track to end the week flat despite a WTD range in excess of 135 ticks.
• Gilts are outperforming slightly, likely on account of the marginal underperformance vs Bunds seen at points this week and as such, the UK is catching up on the final session of the week. As above, Gilts are also set to end the week essentially unchanged, currently just off highs in a 91.84-92.00 band. Resistance at 92.59 from mid-April and thereafter 93.00 before highs from the last few weeks, beginning at 93.59.

Commodities

• A hesitant start for WTI and Brent as geopolitics dominates ahead of the weekend. WTI and Brent traded largely flat through the morning but are currently down by around USD 0.10/bbl, nearing overnight lows.
• In terms of Iran-related headlines, crude prices whipsawed on conflicting media reports yesterday and mixed signals from US and Iranian officials. This morning, Iran's Foreign Minister stated that negotiations will continue as long as the other party remains engaged, maintaining that no formal proposal from the US has been received.
• On Russia-Ukraine, talks are underway in Istanbul, with the Trilateral meeting between Turkey-US-Ukraine supposedly concluded. We are yet to hear the readout from it. Ahead, there will be another trilateral meeting, this time with Russia taking the place of the US.
• Spot gold is continuing losses, pulling back from yesterday’s gains after soft data, lower yields and Fed rate cut bets aided the yellow metal. At the time of writing, the yellow metal trades towards the upper end of a USD 3,205.49-3,252.17/oz range.
• Base metals are softer after the subdued mood in its largest buyer, China, overshadows the positive sentiment in Europe this morning. 3M LME Copper currently rests within, but at the lower-end of, a USD 9,474.9-9,591.42/t range.
• Shanghai Copper warehouse stocks +27.44k/T (prev. -8.60k/T), Aluminium stocks -13.59k/T (prev. -6.19k/T)
• ADNOC Chief says the UAE and the US plan investment of USD 440bln in the energy sector through 2035.

Geopolitics

• US President Trump says he is willing to meet with Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian President Putin as soon as arrangements can be made; going to take care of Gaza; will make good progress on geopolitical situations in the next two or three weeks In one way or another, will take care of Iran.
• Iranian Foreign Minister says the nation's position is clear and we are ready to build confidence and adopt transparency in our Nuclear Programme in exchange for the lift of sanctions. Not received any agreement proposal from the US; is possible will be informed via a meditator
• Hamas is reportedly holding direct negotiations with the US Administration, according to a senior Hamas official cited by Al Arabiya.

US Event Calendar

• 8:30 am: Apr Housing Starts, est. 1363.5k, prior 1324k
• 8:30 am: Apr P Building Permits, est. 1450k, prior 1467k
• 8:30 am: Apr Import Price Index MoM, est. -0.3%, prior -0.1%
• 10:00 am: May P U. of Mich. Sentiment, est. 53.5, prior 52.2
• 4:00 pm: Mar Net Long-term TIC Flows, prior 112b
• 4:00 pm: Mar Total Net TIC Flows, prior 284.7b

Central Banks

• May 16: Fed’s Barkin Gives Commencement Speech
• May 17: Fed’s Daly Gives Commencement Address

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Markets continued to advance over the last 24 hours, as weak US inflation data and lower oil prices raised expectations that the Fed would still cut rates this year. By the close, that meant the S&P 500 (+0.41%) had posted a 4th consecutive gain, which now brings its advance since the April low to +18.75%. In fact, the index isn’t far away from a +20% gain that would mark the technical definition of a bull market, and futures this morning are pointing to another modest gain. So it’s been an astonishing turnaround from where we were just over a month ago at the height of the tariff uncertainty.

There were several factors driving the rally, but a critically important one was the US PPI data for April. It showed inflation pressures were much softer than expected, with headline PPI down -0.5% on the month (vs. +0.2% expected). So that marked the biggest monthly decline in producer prices since April 2020 and the Covid lockdowns, and it pushed the year-on-year reading down to +2.4% (vs. +2.5% expected). Core PPI was also softer than expected, with the measure excluding food energy and trade down -0.1% on the month (vs. +0.3% expected), which was the first negative print since April 2020. It also helped broader inflation expectations to move lower, and the US 10yr inflation swap fell -4.7bps on the day to 2.50%, marking its biggest decline in over a month.

With investors feeling less concerned about inflation, they then dialled up their expectations for Fed rate cuts in response. For instance, the amount priced in by December up +7.1bps on the day to 56bps. And in turn, that contributed to a large rally in Treasury yields across the curve, with the 2yr yield (-9.0bps) falling back to 3.96%, whilst the 10yr yield (-10.5bps) fell to 4.43%.

Those moves got further momentum from the latest decline in oil prices, which added to the sense that inflationary pressures were easing. The move followed comments from President Trump, who said “I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal” with Iran. Moreover, Trump posted an NBC news story citing a top Iranian official that Iran would sign a nuclear deal in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. So the newsflow led to growing expectations that oil supply could rise, and Brent crude fell another -2.36% on the day to $64.53/bbl.

The fall in yields came despite comments from Fed Chair Powell yesterday, who indicated that the Fed were reconsidering the language on average inflation targeting in their latest review. For reference, in 2020 they changed their approach to permit a period of inflation above the 2% target, if it followed a period of inflation running beneath target, so that was a significant shift. However, the potential to move back off that again was seen in a hawkish light, as it implied less tolerance for higher inflation in the future, and Treasury yields briefly spiked as the headlines came through.

Nevertheless, the Powell comments weren’t enough to counteract the broader rally, and there was also relief yesterday that the US data continued to point away from a recession. For instance, the weekly initial jobless claims remained at 229k over the week ending May 10 (vs. 228k expected), so still in their recent range and not signalling a sharper deterioration. In the meantime, the retail sales data showed modest growth of +0.1% in April (vs. unch expected), which was a slowdown from March, but still not the contractionary territory that might be expected in an outright recession. And with the latest data in hand, the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate for Q2 moved up to an annualised +2.5% pace.

That environment proved to be a strong one for equities on both sides of the Atlantic, with the S&P 500 up +0.41% on the day. The advance was reasonably broad-based, with 75% of the index moving higher. Defensive sectors outperformed, with utilities (+2.12%) and consumer staples (+2.00%) leading the gains for the S&P 500. By contrast, the Magnificent 7 (-1.09%) ended a run of 5 consecutive gains. Within the Mag-7, Meta fell -2.35% following a WSJ report that it was delaying the rollout of a flagship AI model. In terms of other individual moves, Walmart (-0.50%) lost ground after their earnings, and they warned that prices would go up as a result of the tariffs. And Cisco Systems gained +4.85% following their own earnings after the previous day’s close.

Earlier in Europe, bond markets had also rallied on hopes for weaker inflation, and yields on 10yr bunds (-7.7bps), OATs (-8.5bps) and gilts (-5.2bps) all moved lower. There were similar gains for equities, with the STOXX 600 (+0.56%) closing at a 7-week high, alongside a fresh record for the DAX (+0.72%). That positivity was reinforced by strong UK GDP numbers, with Q1 growth running at a quarterly +0.7% pace (vs. +0.6% expected), and the FTSE 100 (+0.57%) closed above its Liberation Day level for the first time.

Overnight in Asia however, the tone has generally been more negative, with several of the major indices losing ground. Sentiment hasn’t been helped by Japan’s Q1 GDP reading, which showed a larger-than-expected contraction, with the economy shrinking at an annualised -0.7% pace in Q1 (vs. -0.3% expected). So that raised fears about how resilient the economy was, particularly given those numbers were before the Liberation Day announcement in April. Against that backdrop, Japan’s Nikkei fell -0.28%, and elsewhere there’ve been losses for the Hang Seng (-0.76%), the CSI 300 (-0.57%) and the Shanghai Comp (-0.52%). That said, there have been some gains, including South Korea’s KOSPI (+0.19%), and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (+0.57%).

Looking forward, the planned US budget reconciliation bill will remain in focus today. Politico reported yesterday evening that today’s planned procedural vote in the House Budget Committee may be in peril due to opposition from fiscally hawkish Republicans to the CBO’s scoring of the bill, and proposed delays to Medicaid cuts. Yesterday our US economists published a report (see here) analysing the details of the tax bill released this week, which they see putting the US on course for a 6.5% of GDP fiscal deficit in the coming years.

In geopolitics, it’s also worth keeping an eye on today’s talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul. These mark the first direct talks since spring 2022, but with Moscow sending a relatively low-level delegation, no immediate progress is expected. Trump claimed yesterday that “nothing’s going to happen” in terms of resolving the war in Ukraine until he and Putin meet.

To the rest of the day ahead, data releases include the University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for May, along with April’s building permits, housing starts, and the import and export price indices. In the Euro Area, we’ll get the March trade balance. And from central banks, speakers include the Fed’s Barkin, the ECB’s Lane, and the BOE’s Lombardelli.

Camp Century, part of a secret Pentagon plan called Project Iceworm, was designed in the late 1950s as a hidden network of nuclear missile launch sites beneath Greenland’s ice. Built in 1959 and abandoned by 1967 due to unstable ice, the facility was meant to store 600 medium-range ballistic missiles.

Today, it lies buried under at least 100 feet of ice, according to the Wall Street Journal, who wrote a lengthy piece on the sites this week.

Photos: WSJ

Although presented as a research station, its real military purpose remained classified until 1996. Nina Erofeeva explained: "The first [licenses] have been received for the creation of oil storage facilities, in the Krasnoyarsk territory. This was also an unusual case. Russia has never had oil storage facilities. Oil has always been pumped through pipelines. Given recent events and the lack of infrastructure in the Arctic zone, oil storage facilities are needed in several regions. Accordingly, oil will be placed in these oil storage facilities so as not to burn it during pilot development."

With 21 tunnels stretching nearly two miles under the ice, the base housed around 200 personnel and operated on nuclear power. Robert Weiss, a physician stationed there in the early 1960s, recalled: “We did realize that it was important; that the Russians could come over the top of the Pole.”

Life at Camp Century was harsh but bearable. “When I got there, it was blowing snow and minus 50 degrees,” Weiss said, remembering how he spent weeks underground. “It wasn’t very hard living from that standpoint.” Joking about the isolation, he added: “We used to say that there was a pretty girl behind every tree. Of course, there was one problem: There were no trees.”

Photos: WSJ

The Journal writes that the base’s full scale wasn’t revealed until April last year, when NASA’s cryospheric scientist, Greene, captured the first complete images using advanced ice-penetrating radar. “You see how the buildings and tunnels were connected, how people had to move about in their day-to-day life, and think what a wild experience it must have been to be stationed there,” Greene said.

The U.S. presence in Greenland has long been controversial. During the Cold War, the U.S. operated 17 bases there and stationed about 10,000 troops. Today, fewer than 200 remain at Pituffik Space Base.

Tensions rose again when President Trump openly criticized Denmark for not securing Greenland and even suggested taking the island by force for U.S. security. Denmark reminded Washington of the 1951 treaty that already allows U.S. bases there but firmly rejected any takeover.

Photos: WSJ

Denmark’s uneasy compromise with U.S. military interests goes back to World War II. In 1941, a Danish envoy in Washington handed control of Greenland’s defense to the U.S. without Copenhagen’s consent. After the war, the U.S. offered to buy Greenland for $100 million, but Denmark refused.

“In the 1940s Denmark learned that if you say no to the U.S., the U.S. will go ahead anyway,” said Ulrik Pram Gad of the Danish Institute for International Studies. “Denmark has been allowed to maintain sovereignty over Greenland by outsourcing some of it—security—to the U.S.”

The U.S.’s undisclosed storage of nuclear weapons in Greenland and a 1968 crash of a nuclear-armed B-52 near Thule Air Base caused long-lasting tensions. More recently, reports of increased U.S. espionage and Trump’s interest in buying Greenland have pushed Greenlanders closer to Denmark.

The global population is undergoing a major demographic shift.

As fertility rates fall and life expectancy rises, average ages are climbing in nearly every country, while population growth is steadily tapering off.

This infographic, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte, visualizes global population growth and average age from 1980 to 2100, based on data from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, April 2025 edition.

How the World Will Age as Population Growth Falls

As of 2025, the average person is 33.6 years old, up from 26.5 years in 1980. Over that same period, global population growth has slowed from 1.8% to 0.9% in 2025.

This trend is expected to continue through the end of the century, as shown in the table below, which breaks down the projected average age and population growth rate from 1980 to 2100:

Year Average population growth (%) Average population age (years) Lower range of expected population growth (%) Upper range of expected population growth (%) 1980 1.8% 26.5 0.9% 2.9% 1985 1.8% 26.9 0.8% 2.9% 1990 1.8% 27.3 0.8% 2.8% 1995 1.5% 28.0 0.5% 2.6% 2000 1.4% 28.9 0.6% 2.4% 2005 1.3% 29.8 0.5% 2.4% 2010 1.3% 30.7 0.4% 2.4% 2015 1.2% 31.6 0.3% 2.4% 2020 1.0% 32.5 0.2% 2.0% 2025 0.9% 33.6 0.1% 1.9% 2030 0.8% 34.7 0.0% 1.7% 2035 0.7% 35.7 -0.1% 1.6% 2040 0.6% 36.6 -0.2% 1.4% 2045 0.5% 37.4 -0.2% 1.3% 2050 0.4% 38.1 -0.3% 1.1% 2055 0.3% 38.8 -0.4% 1.0% 2060 0.3% 39.5 -0.4% 0.9% 2065 0.2% 40.1 -0.5% 0.8% 2070 0.2% 40.7 -0.5% 0.7% 2075 0.1% 41.2 -0.6% 0.6% 2080 0.0% 41.6 -0.6% 0.5% 2085 0.0% 42.0 -0.6% 0.4% 2090 -0.1% 42.5 -0.6% 0.3% 2095 -0.1% 42.9 -0.6% 0.2% 2100 -0.1% 43.2 -0.7% 0.2%

The global population is projected to begin declining in 2085, as the average age rises to 42 years. By the year 2100, the average person is expected to be 43 years old, with population growth at -0.1%.

However, the trend is divided across countries. Advanced economies like Japan, Germany, and Italy are aging rapidly and seeing population declines. Meanwhile, emerging economies like India still have growing populations, but the growth is slowing down.

The gradual decline is largely due to falling fertility rates globally, along with improvements in healthcare and life expectancy resulting in larger senior populations.

The Impacts of an Aging Population

Many economies are reaching their demographic turning points—when the share of the working-age population in their total population begins declining.

European countries like Germany, France, and Italy crossed this mark pre-2000, and are now among the world’s “super-aged societies”. The United States, the U.K., and China have followed in the last two decades.

But what does this mean for economic growth and the global economy?

Population aging carries several economic challenges. These include shrinking labor forces, slower productivity growth, and increased fiscal pressure on pension and healthcare systems.

However, there is a silver lining: the IMF notes that while people are living longer, they’re also aging more healthfully. This could result in longer working lives and enhance productivity among older workers, potentially easing the economic impacts of an aging population.

If you enjoyed this infographic, check out A Visual Breakdown of Where Economic Power Lies in 2025, on the Voronoi app.

High-powered lidar systems—commonly used in autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles—emit infrared laser beams to map their environments. While invisible to the human eye, these beams can damage smartphone camera sensors, as one Reddit user recently discovered the hard way. 

Reddit user Jeguetelli recently shared a video on the r/Volvo subreddit showing a smartphone camera's image sensor being fried after filming the front-mounted lidar sensor on the Volvo EX90—a fully electric, seven-seat luxury SUV that serves as Volvo's flagship entry into the electric vehicle market.

"Never film the new Ex90 because you will break your cell camera.Lidar lasers burn your camera," Jeguetelli wrote. 

Auto blog The Drive pointed out, "It should be said that the risk here is inherent to lidar technology, and has nothing to do with Volvo's specific implementation on the EX90. In fact, earlier this year, the automaker even issued a warning against directing external cameras at the vehicle's lidar pod for the very reasons discussed."

Filming this car's lidar system breaks the phone camerapic.twitter.com/99rfffYS1l

— Interesting things (@awkwardgoogle) May 14, 2025

Volvo's website states:

Lidar light waves can damage external cameras: Do not point a camera directly at the lidar. The lidar, being a laser based system, uses infrared light waves that may cause damage to certain camera devices. This can include smartphones or phones equipped with a camera.

"Would this damage your car's backup camera, if a LIDAR equipped car tailgates you?" one Redditor asked. 

Another person said, "Thank god for Apple Care." 

The ongoing debate in the tech world centers on LiDAR vs. cameras—a big divide in the race toward fully autonomous vehicles, especially when comparing Tesla's camera-only approach to rivals embracing LiDAR.

Elon Musk famously called LiDAR a "crutch," arguing that camera vision powered by advanced AI is sufficient for FSD.

"In my view, it's a crutch that will drive companies to a local maximum that they will find very hard to get out of." Musk said several years ago, adding, "Perhaps I am wrong, and I will look like a fool. But I am quite certain that I am not."

The Counterargument: Tesla's competitors argue that LiDAR provides critical redundancy and reliability, especially for safety-critical applications like robotaxis.

The proliferation of LiDAR sensors on vehicles should come with a public service warning: avoid pointing smartphone cameras at these devices emitting infrared laser beams—they can permanently damage image sensors.

Also, will LiDAR risk burning camera sensors on Tesla vehicles? 

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Department of Justice urged the Supreme Court on May 13 to let the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have access to Social Security data after lower courts blocked that access.

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on April 3, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14158 on Jan. 20, implementing DOGE, an advisory body that recommends cost-cutting measures. The order directed the entity to “implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”

Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in the new filing that the lower courts have overreached and are attempting to turn themselves into “the human resources department for the Executive Branch.”

The filing came after Ellen Lipton Hollander, a Maryland-based federal district court judge, issued an order on March 20 preventing DOGE from viewing Social Security Administration (SSA) records because such access “violates” the federal Privacy Act.

The lawsuit was brought in February by labor unions and retirees represented by the Democracy Forward Foundation.

“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion. It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack,” the judge wrote in granting a temporary restraining order against the federal government.

DOGE’s team at the Social Security Administration has had “unbridled access to the personal and private data of millions of Americans, including but not limited to Social Security numbers, medical records, mental health records, hospitalization records, drivers’ license numbers, bank and credit card information, tax information, income history, work history, birth and marriage certificates, and home and work addresses,” Hollander wrote.

Hollander directed DOGE to delete any personally identifiable data in its possession. On April 17, Hollander upgraded the temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction.

On April 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit voted 9–6 to maintain Hollander’s order while the appeal process continues.

On May 2, the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court, asking the justices to pause the preliminary injunction.

In the May 13 filing, Sauer argued that the district court erred in preventing “the 11 members of the Social Security Administration (SSA) DOGE team—from accessing data ... for purposes that are unquestionably lawful.”

The district court “dictated to the Executive Branch which government employees can access which data and even prescribed necessary training, background checks, and paperwork for data access,” Sauer wrote.

“When district courts attempt to transform themselves into the human resources department for the Executive Branch, the irreparable harm to the government is clear,” he wrote.

When the courts “stymie the government’s initiatives to modernize badly outdated systems and combat rampant fraud—leaving those initiatives on a litigation track that may halt them for months or years—the irreparable harm is even clearer.”

Reviewing Social Security Administration data is important because the agency has “one of the largest documented histories of improper payments,” Sauer stated.

In a brief in opposition filed on May 12, the lead respondent, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, said that after years of honoring “its data security obligations,” the Social Security Administration “now seeks to throw open its data systems to unauthorized (and often unvetted) personnel who have no demonstrated need for the personally identifiable information ... they seek.”

The April 17 preliminary injunction should be left in place because it is “narrow and, contrary to the government’s assertions, permits SSA to disclose both anonymized and non-anonymized data to DOGE Team members,” the brief said.

The Supreme Court could rule on the government’s emergency application at any time.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.