Axios: Israel plans to occupy and flatten all of Gaza if no deal by Trump’s trip

Israel has set President Trump’s visit to the Middle East next week as a deadline for a new hostage and ceasefire deal, with a massive ground operation to commence if no deal is reached, Israeli officials say.

Why it matters: Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan Sunday night to gradually reoccupy all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely if no deal is reached by May 15. Plans for the operation call for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to flatten any buildings that remain standing and displace virtually the entire population of 2 million people to a single “humanitarian area.”

Ethnic cleansing at its “finest”.

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/05/israel-gaza-destroy-trump-deal

Raw Story: Ted Cruz thrown under bus as GOP senator desperately courts Trump ahead of brutal primary

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is fighting for his political life, according to new reporting from Axios.

The longtime Texas senator “is boasting a 99% voting record with President Trump in a new memo provided first to Axios,” said the report. This comes as Cornyn “and his firebrand primary challenger, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, are battling to win Trump’s coveted endorsement in what is quickly shaping up to be the most dramatic and expensive GOP primary of the cycle.”

“Cornyn’s team is using fellow Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) as a foil, tallying the votes to tout that Cruz has voted against Trump more often than Cornyn,” said the report. “Over Trump’s first term and so far in his second, Cornyn voted in line with Trump 99.2% of the time while Cruz voted with him 96.6% of the time, according to the data, which removed duplicative procedural votes.”

It’s a dog-eat-dog world! Let them devour one another!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ted-cruz-thrown-under-bus-as-gop-senator-desperately-courts-trump-ahead-of-brutal-primary/ar-AA1E4Nyu

More here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lies-gop-senator-lashes-out-after-stinging-ad-hits-airwaves-in-trump-s-backyard/ar-AA1E13WE

NBC News: Former aide who refuted Trump’s false 2020 election claims is under federal investigation

A former senior cybersecurity official who refuted President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was “rigged” is under federal investigation, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.

Chris Krebs is facing an unspecified government investigation, the DHS spokesperson said. As a result, Krebs was expelled from a U.S. customs program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved American travelers at airports, known as Global Entry.

Bully boy Trump exacts his revenge!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/former-aide-who-refuted-trump-s-false-2020-election-claims-is-under-federal-investigation/ar-AA1E4P83

Associated Press: Judge blocks Trump executive order targeting elite law firm, a blow to his retribution campaign

A federal judge on Friday permanently blocked a White House executive order targeting an elite law firm, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump’s campaign of retribution against the legal profession.

U.S. District Beryl Howell said the executive order against the firm of Perkins Coie amounted to “unconstitutional retaliation” as she ordered that it be nullified and that the Trump administration halt any enforcement of it.

The ruling was most definitive rejection to date of Trump’s spate of similarly worded executive orders against some of the country’s most elite law firms, part of a broader effort by the president to reshape American civil society by targeting perceived adversaries in hopes of extracting concessions from them and bending them to his will. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/judge-blocks-trump-executive-order-targeting-elite-law-firm-a-blow-to-his-retribution-campaign/ar-AA1E4P4H

CBS News: Department of Transportation is latest federal agency expecting layoffs

Employees at the Department of Transportation are bracing for layoffs, as part of the Trump administration’s effort to cut the federal workforce.

During a town hall meeting last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy informed DOT employees that the layoffs — referred to as reduction in force, or RIF — are expected soon, DOT officials confirm to CBS News.

An employee attending the town hall said Duffy did not offer specifics about which agencies or employees would be affected. The Department of Transportation said the final number of cuts would depend on how many employees first take a buyout offer. 

The cuts could happen as soon as the end of the month.  

Never mind all the recent aviation incidents and the Newark airport meltdown!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/department-of-transportation-layoffs-federal-agencies

Mediaite: ICE Agents Storm D.C. Restaurants and Demand To Interrogate Employees: ‘Pretty Unnerving’

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided several Washington, D.C. restaurants on Tuesday in a crackdown on undocumented immigrants, according to The Washingtonian.

The outlet reported that Millie’s, Pupatella, Chef Geoff’s, and Chang Chang were among the eateries targeted by the feds. Geoff’s is owned by Geoff Tracy, who is the husband of former CBS Evening News host Norah O’Donnell. At Millie’s, eight or nine agents entered the restaurant as it was opening for lunch.

“They all came in all of the public entrances at the same time,” owner Bo Blair said.

The Washingtonian further reported that agents demanded to speak with the staff at Millie’s, whose general manager called the experience “pretty unnerving”:

The general manager met the agents, who provided a “notice of inspection” and asked to question employees. The manager said they couldn’t, and they did not push back. They asked for I-9 forms, which the restaurant keeps securely at its corporate office, not at the restaurant.

“They made it pretty public that they’re coming back to the restaurant on Monday [to collect the forms], which is pretty unnerving to the staff, obviously,” says the group’s CEO Marisa Casey. She says she is asking them not to come back to the restaurants because the documents are not kept there. “We also don’t want them to go back to our restaurants scare everybody.”

CNBC: Mattel CEO says toy manufacturing won’t come to America, but price hikes will

  • Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz told CNBC he does not foresee toy manufacturing coming to America.
  • Instead, the company expects to raise prices in the U.S. to offset President Donald Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese imports.
  • By the end of the year, less than 40% of Mattel’s product will be sourced from China, with a goal of reducing that to below 25% in the next two years.

One of the goals of President Donald Trump‘s 145% tariffs against China is to drive manufacturing back to America. But the odds of that are low, at least when it comes to toys.

“We don’t see that happening,” Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday, less than a day after the company withdrew annual financial targets.

“We need to remember that a significant part of toy creation happens in America,” he said. “Design, development, product engineering, brand management all happens in America. Making product, producing product in other countries, allows us to create quality products at affordable price points.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/06/mattel-ceo-toy-manufacturing-trump-tariffs.html

CNN: The first boats carrying Chinese goods with 145% tariffs are arriving in LA. Shipments are cut in half. Expect shortages soon

American consumers are on the cusp of tough choices because of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Ships now pulling into US harbors from China are the first to be subject to the massive tariffs that America is imposing on most Chinese imports. That means, in a matter of weeks, consumers will face higher prices and shortages of certain items.

Imports from China have fallen dramatically since Trump imposed steep tariffs – particularly since last month, when the tit-for-tat trade war sent the tariff on most Chinese goods up to 145%.

“This week, we’re down about 35% compared to the same time last year, and these cargo ships coming in are the first ones to be attached to the tariffs that were levied against China and other locations last month,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told CNN Tuesday. “That’s why the cargo volume is so light.”

The drop-off in imports from China on the boats now coming into port is more than 50%, Seroka said. Many importers have canceled previous orders because US businesses aren’t interested in paying the steep tariff, which can more than double the price of Chinese goods.

The Port of LA had expected 80 ships to arrive in May, but 20% of those have been canceled, Seroka said. Customers have already canceled 13 sailings for June.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/ar-AA1EgCdN

Barron’s: Global Shipping Is Grinding to a Standstill. It’s a Matter of Time Until Americans Feel It.

There aren’t shortages of goods in U.S. stores yet, but if the deterioration in global shipping is any indication, they are on the way. That could complicate the White House’s pleas for Americans to be patient as trade officials rush to strike dozens of deals.

Cargo has dropped, or is expected to, at major ports including those of Los Angeles; Long Beach, Calif.; and New York-New Jersey, primarily on shipments from China, which exports more than any other country to the U.S.

U.S. import booking volumes have dropped 35% since late March, according to the shipping data company Vizion, including a 26% drop between the week ended April 21 and the following week. Shipments from China dropped nearly 43% in the last full week of April, the sharpest decline of the year. During April, several weeks saw China import bookings down by more than half, Vizion said.

The potential impact on companies and consumers is broad. Imports of Chinese electronics, plastics, vehicles, steel, and textiles have all fallen by more than half.

Perhaps just as concerning for some farmers and 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/ar-AA1EhmJR

CNBC: 58 crypto wallets have made millions on Trump’s meme coin. 764,000 have lost money, data shows

  • 58 wallets have made over $10 million each from President Donald Trump’s meme coin, totaling $1.1 billion in profits, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said.
  • 764,000 wallets of mostly small holders have lost money on $TRUMP, according to the firm.
  • The $TRUMP event, set for May 22 at Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C., includes a reception for the 25 wallets with the largest balance, along with a White House tour.

About 764,000 wallets that purchased President Donald Trump‘s $TRUMP meme coin have lost money on the investment, according to fresh data shared with CNBC by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

Most of the wallets that lost money held smaller amounts of the token, according to the firm’s on-chain analysis. …

Chainalysis said that while around 2 million wallets have bought into the token, 58 wallets made more than $10 million apiece, totaling roughly $1.1 billion in gains.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/06/trump-meme-coin-crypto.html