Stock futures fall after Moody’s strips U.S. of its top credit rating

Last of major ratings firms strips top rating more than 13 years after S&P was first to downgrade U.S. from triple-A

Just when the stock market had clawed back all the losses sparked by the panic over President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, investors face another round of debt-related angst as markets slid Sunday after Moody’s Ratings stripped the U.S. government of its last triple-A credit rating.

Strategists warned the move, announced after the market close on Friday, could spark some near-term selling in stocks and Treasurys.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell more than 250 points, or 0.6%, by Sunday evening. S&P 500 futures also dropped 0.6% while Nasdaq-100 futures sank 0.7%. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the dollar’s value relative to major rivals like the euro, was down 0.4%.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/investors-brace-for-reaction-after-moodys-strips-u-s-of-its-top-credit-rating-2bbe0b5d

Western Journal: Ruling South African Party Furious After White Refugees Escape to US; Want ‘Accountability for Historic Privilege’

The Episcopal Church rejected the Trump administration’s request for assistance, saying it would not help the 59 South African refugees that arrived in the U.S. on Monday.

The church’s presiding bishop, Sean Rowe, took it a step further and said the Episcopal Migration Ministries would be terminating its 40-year-old partnership with the U.S. government, according to a statement from the church published Monday.

“In light of our church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step,” Rowe’s statement read.

“Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government,” Rowe said.

In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order largely suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, a program the church participated in, to control the immigration crisis created by the Biden administration.

“Then, just over two weeks ago, the federal government informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees,” Rowe said in his Monday statement.

Newsweek: Donald Trump issues new warning message to Walmart

President Donald Trump warned Walmart on Saturday against raising its prices, writing on Truth Social that he will “be watching.”

“Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

“I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”

It’s not surprising that Trump got this so wrong, give that he has bankrupted SIX businesses over the years.

A corporation has a fiduciary duty to maximize its profits for the benefit of its SHAREHOLDERS, not to cater to the whims of a corrupt self-serving narcissistic political apparatchik in Washington, D.C.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-issues-new-warning-message-walmart-2073638

Intelligencer: Donald Trump Is a Crook, But He’s Their Crook

What does seem genuinely new, even by the standards of America’s warped history, is the unabashed corruption. No president, really, has favor-traded like Trump. No president has ever tried to blatantly enrich himself like this while in office. No president has ever hung a for-sale sign over the White House — not like this, anyway. Trump is poised to accept a $400 million luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, which feels like something of a capstone to his latest corruption binge. He would be able to use the plane while in the White House and transfer it to his presidential foundation when he’s out of office. Trump’s inaugural committee also gobbled up $239 million from wealthy business interests who are desperate to curry favor with such a nakedly transactional president. The amount far outstrips the $107 million Trump raised for his committee back in 2017, and since there is no way to spend so much cash on dinner and events, it appears Trump might have a slush fund for the rest of his life.

And then there’s his crypto hustle ….

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/qatar-plane-trump-corruption.html

ABC News: Families separated by ‘zero-tolerance’ policy at risk of separation again, ACLU says

Under a 2023 settlement, the government agreed to provide some services.

Hundreds of parents and children separated under the “zero-tolerance” border policy during President Donald Trump’s first term — who were later reunited and protected by a 2023 settlement — are at risk of being separated again due to a lapse in legal services, lawyers argue.

Under the 2023 court-approved settlement agreement, reached as a result of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2018, the federal government agreed to provide certain services to an estimated 5,000 people — families and children separated under the 2017-2018 “zero tolerance” policy — including behavioral health services and immigration legal services.

However, the ACLU says a recent decision made by the Trump administration to gut and then abruptly terminate a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice violates that agreement, leaving hundreds of migrants in legal limbo. The nonprofit organization is the main contractor that oversees services provided to separated families, such as helping them apply for parole and other benefits they’re “mandated” to receive at the government’s expense, the American Civil Liberties Union argues.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/families-separated-trumps-zero-tolerance-policy-risk-due/story?id=121892150

Rolling Stone: Transgender Troops Deserve the Right to Serve

As Trump and Hegseth push to remove transgender troops, Republicans in Congress want to make the change irreversible

Commander Emily Shilling served nearly 20 years in the U.S. Navy as a combat aviator with over 60 missions. Fighter pilots are very hard for the military to find, nonetheless. Shilling will be removed from service by Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. So will many others, like former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck, who served 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, including with SEAL Team Six. She earned the Bronze Star with Combat “V,” the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Purple Heart. 

Shilling and Beck are heroes the military will never get back, and the absence of service members like them will make America less ready, endanger troops, and hurt recruiting efforts.

Hegseth’s service could never compare to that of Shilling or Beck, even though Hegseth likes to pretend to be a Navy SEAL as he sycophantically follows them around the country during special events. Trump never served a day in his life. That is why it is odd to me and to many others that they are so adamant about preventing transgender troops — and likely, before his term ends, gay Americans — from serving in the armed forces. 

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/trump-hegseth-transgender-military-troops-right-service-1235341979

Alternet: ‘Breadth of corruption’: How Trump is ramping up to ‘blatantly enrich himself in office’

Almost four months into his second presidency, Donald Trump continues to be one of the most divisive presidents in U.S. history. Trump is still adored by his hardcore MAGA base, while his critics are finding even more to dislike about his second presidency than they did about his first. And it remains to be seen how swing voters and independents will feel about him when the 2026 midterms arrive.

In an article published on May 17, New York Magazine’s Ross Barkan argues that “corruption” is the main thing that makes Trump’s second term uniquely bad.

“What does seem genuinely new, even by the standards of America’s warped history, is the unabashed corruption,” Barkan stresses. “No president, really, has favor-traded like Trump. No president has ever tried to blatantly enrich himself like this while in office. No president has ever hung a for-sale sign over the White House — not like this, anyway. Trump is poised to accept a $400 million luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, which feels like something of a capstone to his latest corruption binge…. And then there’s his crypto hustle.”

https://www.alternet.org/trump-corruption-barkan

Raleigh News & Observer: ‘Nullified’: Trump Suffers Blow in Court

A U.S. federal appeals court has temporarily blocked former President Donald Trump’s effort to end benefits from the humanitarian parole program (CHNV) for over 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled that the administration did not meet the criteria for an emergency intervention to overturn a prior lower court ruling. Federal Judge Indira Talwani previously halted the cancellation of the CHNV ordered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Trump has since pushed for the Supreme Court to grant him the ability to put an end to the program.

The DHS under Trump has alleged that the CHNV program was misused. Critics argued that its cancellation violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, resulting in detrimental effects for migrants who relied on the established program.

Talwani found that the DHS’s measure did not comply with legal requirements for case-by-case reviews and ordered the reinstatement of the parole process and its associated immigration benefits. Her ruling mandated that notifications sent to individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela remain suspended pending further judicial orders.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nullified-trump-suffers-blow-in-court/ss-AA1EYz0E

Sacramento Bee: ‘We Fixed It’: Fallout from Suspension of Female Commander

Fort McCoy in Wisconsin is a 93-square-mile military training base supporting nearly 75,000 service members this year. Colonel Sheyla Baez Ramirez took command in mid-2024, bringing extensive military intelligence and operations experience. The U.S. Army suspended Ramirez after portraits of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on the base’s chain of command wall were turned to face the wall.

Hats off to whoever did it! 😀

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-fixed-it-fallout-from-suspension-of-female-commander/ar-AA1EYKqT

Business Insider: A GOP congressman says raising taxes on top earners would help push Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ forward

A GOP congressman said on Saturday that raising the top tax rate for high earners could help President Donald Trump‘s massive tax and immigration package get the votes it needs.

“The One Big Beautiful Bill has stalled — and it needs wind in its sails,” Rep. Nick LaLota said on X. “Allowing the top tax rate to expire — returning from 37% to 39.6% for individuals earning over $609,350 and married couples earning over $731,200 — breathes $300 billion of new life into the effort.”

LaLota said that his proposal would be fiscally prudent and could be done “without raising taxes on the middle class.” The New York congressman has suggested that the money generated from raising taxes on high earners could protect Medicaid and “fix” the cap on the so-called SALT deduction.

And get rid of the proposed tax on remittances!

And a wealth tax to cull the herd of plutocrats!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-congressman-says-raising-taxes-230856834.html