Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is wrongly advising this administration by downplaying the role tariffs will have on overall inflation. Bessent told reporters not to be concerned over tariffs as they will simply be a “one-time price adjustment” when that is far from reality. These tariffs come with massive side effects that will ripple across the global economy.
“Look, can tariffs be a one-time price adjustment? Yes… I would hope that the failed team transitory could get back together and think that nothing is more transitory than tariffs if it’s a one-time price adjustment,” Bessent said in reference to Biden administration officials saying that the historic inflation of several years ago was “transitory.” He later added, “The economic program is a whole of government, holistic program, and I think that we could get a one-time price adjustment,” Bessent said, adding that “across the continuum, I’m not worried about inflation.”
Bessent and others who buy into the tariff myths argue that when a tariff is imposed, prices simply adjust once, and the market stabilizes. Instead, the artificially raised cost snowballs. The first hit is the tax on direct goods, the second hit comes when that cost is passed down to businesses who pass it down to consumers.
Take steel tariffs, for example. When tariffs are imposed on imported steel, domestic manufacturers don’t just absorb the cost; rather, they pass it on to maintain a profit. That means everything that uses steel, from cars, appliances, construction materials, etc., becomes more expensive. That price increase does not stop at the initial tariff application. It continues to cascade as higher input costs force further adjustments throughout the supply chain.
When tariffs raise prices, workers naturally demand higher wages to keep up with the rising cost of living. This leads to what economists call a wage-price spiral—higher wages push costs up even further, which forces businesses to raise prices again.
Reduced supply and higher prices can lead to stagnation, which is what we have been experiencing for the past few years. These tariffs will do more harm than good for the people who will be forced to cover the costs.
Ukranian President and EU spokesperson Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces on his X-account that U.K officials traveled to Kiev for a proactive strategy session in advance of Tuesday’s talks in Saudi Arabia.
The UK (Starmer), France (Macron) and EU Commission (von der Leyden) are focused on ways to continue warfighting operations in Ukraine. Any cessation of hostilities runs counter to their collective financial and geopolitical interests.
(L-R) Zelenskyy, Starmer and Macron
The European NATO coalition continues to demand blood to oil the machinery of war and opposing any peace efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump is now paramount. Unfortunately for Starmer and Macron, Ursula von der Leyden cannot guarantee or secure the long-term financing they need to replace funds from the USA stopped by President Trump.
If the pattern holds, there is likely to be a U.K/France supported Ukrainian drone or missile attack into Russia on Tuesday morning GMT. The U.S delegation of Secretary Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and President Trump’s emissary Steve Witkoff will all be in attendance.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered the following remarks:
“Today, a highly productive meeting took place in Kyiv between the diplomatic teams of Ukraine and the UK.
We discussed our joint steps that could bring us closer to peace and accelerate diplomatic efforts. I’m grateful for the support. Ukraine is determined to do everything to end this war with a just and lasting peace as soon as possible.
Next week, I will begin with a visit to Saudi Arabia. After my meeting on Monday with the Crown Prince, Ukrainian diplomatic and military representatives will stay for a meeting on Tuesday with the American team. The Ukrainian team will include Andriy Yermak, Andriy Sybiha, Rustem Umerov, and Pavlo Palisa.
On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps.
Ukraine has been seeking peace from the very first second of this war. Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.” ~ Zelensky, EU Representative for War
There is some indication President Trump has moved beyond the ‘minerals deal’ distraction talking point and remains entirely focused on getting Ukraine and the EU to commit to peace. However, Ukraine needs to push the minerals deal as part of their “security guarantee” proposal that is intended to put U.S. troops in their fight.
The people who truly want peace are not afraid of concessions to guarantee it. The people who want war reject concessions and want the security guarantees, so they have a tool to deconstruct peace.
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) – U.S. officials are planning to use Tuesday’s meeting with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia in part to determine whether Ukraine is willing to make material concessions to Russia to end the war, according to two U.S. officials.
The U.S. delegation will also be watching for signs that the Ukrainians are serious about improving ties with the Trump administration after a meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy devolved into an argument last month, said one of the officials, who requested anonymity to preview the closed-door talks.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will fly to Jeddah on Sunday for the bilateral talks with Ukrainian officials, who will be led by Andriy Yermak, a top Zelenskiy aide. Rubio is expected to be joined by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
“You can’t say ‘I want peace,’ and, ‘I refuse to compromise on anything,’” one of the U.S. officials said of the upcoming talks.
“We want to see if the Ukrainians are interested not just in peace, but in a realistic peace,” said the other official. “If they are only interested in 2014 or 2022 borders, that tells you something.” (read more)
Remarkably, Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues to shine in his role as chief diplomat for President Trump.
Flying back to Washington, DC from the Southern White House, President Trump holds an impromptu press conference from Air Force One.
EU Spokesperson Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continually stated, non-American elements of NATO and the EU are committed to continued fighting in Ukraine despite President Trump’s pesky peace efforts. France, the U.K, Germany and the EU Commission are urgently working through strategic planning options to retain the bloodshed, while President Trump and President Putin await a change in direction.
Beginning with a notation about the Saudi Arabia meeting this week between Ukraine leadership and the U.S delegation (Rubio, Waltz, Witkoff), President Trump sounds optimistic the dynamic could change. Obviously, something substantive needs to change if the Trump/Putin effort to gain a ceasefire is going to come to fruition.
Just as the EU/NATO/CIA organized a drone attack in Russia at the beginning of the first U.S-Russia meeting in Saudi Arabia, so too is another disruptive attack anticipated to create problems for a similar U.S-Ukraine meeting.
The EU and Zelenskyy continue pretending they do not want war, while the EU and Zelenskyy continue operating toward enlarged warfighting efforts. At this point it is becoming obvious.
Appearing on NBC, the CIA’s congressional embed for the left-wing of the UniParty says it’s time for the IC to select the new leadership for the Democrat party.
CIA Agent/Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), after emphasizing her role in delivering the Democratic response to President Trump’s joint address, Slotkin notes the Intelligence Community has been trying to reestablish their footing ever since President Trump won the 2024 election. WATCH:
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, another deliberate and happy warrior, appears on Face the Nation to deconstruct the narratives presented by NBC and Kirsten Welker.
Starting with the Mexico and Canada tariff issues, Welker incorrectly frames the current issue around economics. Secretary Lutnick presents the issue of the current Mex/Can confrontation for what President Trump has prioritized, the issue of illegal fentanyl smuggling across the border.
100,000+ Americans are killed each year with the intentional and purposeful transportation of Chinese drugs through the U.S. southern border of Mexico and the U.S northern border with Canada. Both nations could, if they wanted, crack down on the illegal and dangerous drug trade; neither has prioritized the problem. Again, 100,000+ Americans are killed each year. Think about it. WATCH:
“This is the way you run the country,” Lutnick said on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” with Kristen Welker. “You shut the border. You get our neighbors to do their job. It’s not only us who has to do their job. Why are our neighbors, who live and breathe off our economy, not taking care of America?”
“You have to remember this is a drug-related issue,” Lutnick said. “You’ve got fentanyl pouring into this country, killing 75,000 Americans, autopsied. And the president, you know, thinks it’s many, many more, multiples more.”
As DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has been one of the cabinet officials who has surprised many people with her approach, effectiveness and actionable determination to support President Trump’s vision for the Dept of Homeland Security.
In this interview with Margaret Brennan, Secretary Noem takes apart all of the attempted narratives with almost no effort. Noem does a great job outlining the non-pretending reality of several domestic security issues, including the fentanyl issue that President Trump is confronting with Canada and Mexico. WATCH:
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We begin this morning with the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Madam Secretary, good to have you in person. Thank you for joining us.
SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY KRISTI NOEM: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to dive right into this trade war. The justification President Trump invoked these tariffs under had to do with fentanyl. Mexico’s president said Thursday that Customs and Border Protection figures show seizures of fentanyl on the southern border have dropped over the past year. She claimed they plummeted 75% in the past six months. Doesn’t that show the existing system is working?
SECRETARY NOEM: We’ve seen incredible progress as far as what we’ve been able to stop at the southern border since President Trump has taken office. And I think that progress can be built on. These partnerships that we have in going after traffickers, cartels, the drug trade, and also human trafficking, can be even stronger and built on in the future. That’s one of the things we’ve been asking for, in specific to the Mexican government, is how can we work better together to make sure we not only have the enforcement mission at the border, but south of the border and make sure we’re going after these cartels. You’ve seen the President name them as terrorist organizations. And Canada, just recently, is starting to allow us to access some of their criminal background histories that we need in order to know who’s coming across our border and what they’re bringing. So, because of his strong stance on tariffs, we’re seeing them wanting to be better partners with us to keep our people safe.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So Canada’s Prime Minister said it’s totally false to claim Canada is unwilling to fight fentanyl. You just indicated they’re willing to do more here. He pointed to CBP data that showed a 97% drop in fentanyl seizures from January compared to December, a near zero low, he said.
SECRETARY NOEM: Yeah we’re–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –is the data accurate?
SECRETARY NOEM: The data is getting better. And I would say in the conversations that I’ve had this week with Canadian officials, they were hoping to avoid the tariffs, and had a lot of conversations, but not a lot of action. So this is the hope, is that the fact that President Trump has said something and now has enforced consequences, we really are hoping for even better partnerships. We need access to their criminal background system so that we know when someone crosses that northern border who they are, why they’re in our country, and who they may be partnering with. We also need them to work with us on identifying packages, technology investments. Canada has said they will do that. We just want to see them actually do it. In the past, promises have been made by both Mexico and Canada that they didn’t follow through on. Their naming of a fentanyl czar in Canada is important. That’s great. Now let’s see really what happens. President Trump has been strong, and I think that’s why you’ve seen the data going our direction, but boy, every day people in this country are dying of overdoses, and I don’t want any more families to have to deal with that tragedy if we can be- if it can be avoided and we can have a stronger relationship.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you just gave specific examples of what Canada and Mexico can do, presumably, to avoid the tariffs that are now being pushed off until April 2. The Commerce Secretary said on another network, if fentanyl ends, I think these will come off, but if fentanyl does not end, or he’s uncertain about it, meaning the president, they will stay on until he’s comfortable. Is it that general or are these very specific things that you can kind of go through and check to avoid these tariffs.
SECRETARY NOEM: I’ve had very specific conversations with Canadian officials and Mexican officials on what they can do so they know what they can do to help avoid tariffs in the future, and what we’re expecting of them. If they do it, we shall see. We all recognize that each one of these leaders has political environments in their home countries as well, but President Trump means business, and he meant it when he ran to be President of the United States again, and since he’s taken office, that he will put America first. And every day in this country, we have seen over the last several years, violence and unsafe streets and cities and people lose their children and grandchildren, and he’s taking action to make sure that we’re cleaning up the mess that Joe Biden left behind, and that we have a much safer country and where Americans can look forward to the future.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So this is not just leverage to get a better free trade deal. This is not just because President Trump truly believes that tariffs are the heart of his economic policy?
SECRETARY NOEM: Right.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re saying this really is about fentanyl?
SECRETARY NOEM: It really is about fentanyl. It really is. And I think the President obviously wants a strong economy, obviously wants better trade deals as well. But this is about fentanyl and what we can do to stop the cartels from partnering with Chinese officials, laundering money and bringing a poison into our country that is specifically designed to kill the next generation. I think a lot of people don’t understand the strategy of these enemies of the United States and what they’re utilizing. They are bringing this in, not just to make money, they’re bringing it in here to kill Americans. And it’s time that we stand up for the people that live here and make sure that we’re stopping this war against our children.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, border crossings, they’re at a 25 year low.
SECRETARY NOEM: They are. It’s fantastic.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There are 6,000 US military personnel working at the border now, that number could go up to 9,000 by the end of the month. How long do you have to keep them there if the numbers are already dropping like this?
SECRETARY NOEM: You know, we’ll continue the partnership with the Department of Defense, but also we’ve got partnerships with Commerce, with the Attorney General’s office, you know, we’re working every day with the Secretary of State. We’ll keep them there until that border is completely secure, and we see all time record lows of encounters. Our border patrol is doing fantastic work, but we’re going to keep them there until the whole world gets the message that this isn’t Joe Biden’s world anymore. This is President Donald Trump’s country where we have a border, where we have laws and it applies equally to everybody. I think that is what is so refreshing, is that we’re not picking and choosing winners and losers anymore. Americans have to live by the law, so do those who come to this country. You have to come here legally, or there will be consequences.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you about what’s happening internally when it comes to, excuse me, migration. The administration has revived this policy of detaining migrant families, parents with children in ICE detention centers. Bush did it, Obama did it, Biden did not. Have you seen these Texas facilities where children are being held with their parents? Are you comfortable with it personally?
SECRETARY NOEM: We’ve got detention facilities across the country, and there’s specific ones that are built specifically for families if they are detained. But remember, everybody has an option. They have an option to be here legally or illegally, and they can self-deport as well. We’ve set up a system and a website where people who are here illegally right now can register, and they can choose to go home on their own and keep their families united.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The kids don’t really have a choice in this–
SECRETARY NOEM: Well, the kids do have a choice. If they have parents, they make a choice to keep their families together, if they want to or not. They- if parents make a decision to leave their children behind, then that’s a choice that they made as a family. And we need to remember that when Americans break the law and they have consequences or face a situation, they’re separated from their families, too. I don’t believe we should prioritize people from other countries above Americans.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But when it comes to reviving the policy of separating families from their children at the border–
SECRETARY NOEM: I don’t know that we’re actually reviving it–
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s what I want to ask you–
SECRETARY NOEM: –President Biden didn’t follow the law.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You won’t?
SECRETARY NOEM: He didn’t follow the law in the fact that it’s always been equally applied until his administration, and then he made decisions to ignore federal law in how he handled immigration and enforcement within our borders. And so today, we’re- we’re expanding our team at ICE, and we’re going to have an acting director in Todd Lyons, who has a long history with Tom Homan, they have worked together to build on these enforcement operations. We’re also naming a deputy secretary in Madison Sheahan, that was going to be another expansion of this team. They have done incredible work cleaning up our communities and making them safer. Adding more people to the team, with Todd and with Madison, is going to allow us to partner with local law enforcement officials to make sure that we truly are following through on enforcing the law, and if you break our law, then there’s going to be consequences.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You want the number of deportations to tick up?
SECRETARY NOEM: I do. Absolutely.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So–
SECRETARY NOEM: People- remember, they have an option to go home on their own. We are giving them that opportunity to do that, and we will help facilitate that. And if they don’t, and they end up coming into our enforcement opportunities that we have in front of us, you know, they may never get the chance to come back. So people need to remember, if they self-deport, they will have an opportunity to come back to this country legally.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But you have a capacity issue right now in terms of just beds to put people in when you detain them. Are you going to open up military facilities like Fort Bliss?
SECRETARY NOEM: There is, yes, a plan to use the facilities at Fort Bliss for detention facilities. But also we need to remember to ask- Congress needs to continue through with funding that this administration has asked for. You know, we clearly have a CR discussion in front of us this week. We have a reconciliation discussion. That reconciliation bill needs to happen. We have just weeks before we are out of the funds to continue the operations that- that we have. And even- everywhere I’ve been in this country, out there, looking at what President Trump has done on immigration and border enforcement, the people that I meet are saying thank you. Thank you for getting these terrorists out of the country. He has deported
MARGARET BRENNAN: Terrorists?
SECRETARY NOEM: in just one month.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Have you deported terrorists?
SECRETARY NOEM: 22 known and terrorists on the terrorist watch list are out of this country now we have almost 700 gang members that have been deported out of the country in just a month, and–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Which have been redefined as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration.
SECRETARY NOEM: Well, 281 specific TDA members, which we know are the worst of the worst, have been taken out of this country. So everyone that has a story like Laken Riley’s family or Jocelyn’s family, they’re extremely grateful that that won’t be perpetuated amongst other families in other states.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, you said that you have found leakers within DHS and you’re going to prosecute them. Back on February 9, you tweeted, the FBI is so corrupt, we will work with any and every agency to stop leaks. Were you wrong then to blame the FBI if the leaks were from within DHS?
SECRETARY NOEM: No, I think there’s leakers all over- throughout this government. I think that everybody needs to be–
MARGARET BRENNAN: What did they leak?
SECRETARY NOEM: –I think these, in DHS, specifically, these two were leaking our enforcement operations that we had planned and were going to conduct in several cities and expose law enforcement to vulnerabilities, to those ops being jeopardized, to where their lives would be in danger. So they will be prosecuted, and they could face up to 10 years in federal prison because they did that. Anyone who is leaking information outside of- of how something is planned for the safety of those law enforcement officers needs to be held accountable for that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: and you’re going to continue these polygraphing
SECRETARY NOEM: Absolutely
MARGARET BRENNAN: of employees.
SECRETARY NOEM: The authorities that I have under the Department of Homeland Security are broad and extensive, and I plan to use every single one of them to make sure that we’re following the law, that we are following the procedures in place to keep people safe, and that we’re making sure we’re following through on what President Trump has promised, that he’s going to make America safe again.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Madam Secretary, thank you for your time today.
SECRETARY NOEM: Thank you for having me.
President Donald Trump sat down in the White House for an interview with Maria Bartiromo last week; the interview aired today on Fox News.
The first segment focuses on domestic policy issues and President Trump’s larger goals and objectives for the USA. When discussing Democrats, President Trump says, “there’s something wrong with them.” WATCH:
The second segment below focuses on the various geopolitical challenges President Trump is facing, starting with Ukraine and the EU mess.
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