Stopping Musk, Trump Restarts Dangerous Trade Wars And Sends His Wrecking Ball To Europe, Keep Making Calls Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Morning all. Back it at. Job 1 this week is continuing to fight Musk’s savage and wildly illegal assault on the US government and “The America of the Four Freedoms.” While we continue to have important wins in the courts we must keep prosecuting the political and communications battle against him 24/7/365. There can be no let up. I still believe our Congressional leaders should make criminal referral against him and his malicious posse. Emphasize the lawlessness and betrayal of the country. We have to contest, loudly, aggressively, the false narrative of “efficiency.” He’s a wrecking ball, wrecking things that matter, terrorizing hundreds of thousands of “working class” Americans, killing millions of people, serving foreign masters.

I was at an event this weekend with senior career government staffers. The stories they told were harrowing - tens of thousands of people forced to return to work with no office or place to work; critical, senior operational staff with serious public responsibilities put on “administrative leave,” a Muskian term for go home, and their access to their offices, email and work severed with no notice or justification; already lengthy commutes lengthened due to the traffic and chaos; not easily solvable child care, animal care, move kids around during the day challenges are rippling throughout the region. The disruption, the chaos, the sense of betrayal is overwhelming the nation’s capital now…..

Like everything with Trump and Musk, back to work five days a week could have worked if phased in over months or even years. Our government has used staggered remote work and permanent remote workers as a way of dealing with DC’s extraordinary traffic, historically some of the worst of any city in the nation, and as a way of attracting the best talent regardless of where they live (just like tech companies and their programmers who live all over the world). Just declaring universal 5 days a week back to work without months of prep time is inhumane, idiotic and designed to break and destroy, not make more efficient. Remote work was an efficiency step. 5 days a week with no transition is a terror tactic, designed to drive people from public service regardless of their value.

We need to keep contacting our reps, keep making our calls. We cannot let up. We have to keep helping them understand what their job is now - not just legislator or executive but also communicator, influencer, and leader of an emergent opposition.

Here are my four current working recommendations for calls/contacts this week:

• Keep calling to stop Musk’s crime spree and assault on the US government. Encourage your Senators and Reps to file a criminal referral for him and his malicious posse to DOJ/FBI. Feel free to add that you would like funding for USAID restored so our government does not kill millions and millions of people this year in our name.

• Keep calling Attorneys General in the states. Ask them to protect you and your data/privacy, and to keep federally mandated monies flowing to your states and communities. For those in the 19 states that brought the successful Treasury suit this weekend thank them and encourage them to keep going. I still believe these 19 states should make criminal referrals of Musk/his posse to DOJ/FBI this week, and raise the stakes.

• Demand full NIH funding for biomedical research be restored. For more on this emerging story read this new article from Liberal Currents by Samantha Hancox-Li and Adam Gurri. The repeated cutting of Congressional mandated programs in the middle of a fiscal year is illegal and an extraordinary abuse of power by Trump, and it needs to be challenged on every front.

• Insist they fight to challenge and rollback Trump’s tariffs which will raise prices here, strain our alliances, undermine the rules-based global order and make us a rogue, pariah nation. This is all particularly true as new data tells us the American economy is slowing, inflation is rising and consumer sentiment is dropping. There is perhaps no greater Trumpian betrayal of America than these tariffs. For more background, see below.

Paid subscribers should self-report their actions today in our daily chat. So inspired by how hard so many of you are working. I want to make a special plea to all Hopium readers in states with Republican Senators - please make your calls, every day. Even 50 to 100 people calling every day in every red state can make a difference. We have hundreds of Hopium subscribers in every state in the country and it’s critical that we all do our part now.

A note - while physical protests and rallies are a vital part of how we build our new opposition movement, make sure you only attend or promote events by organizations you know and trust.

Keep working it everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trump Restarts The Trade Wars. It’s Bad News For America and The World - From Politico:

HAPPY TARIFF WEEK: The president will today announce 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports as his long-threatened global trade war heats up. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday afternoon his universal tariffs on imported metals will be followed with further announcements this week targeting nations with a perceived trade imbalance with America. Trump’s latest moves came shortly after China’s own tit-for-tat trade measures targeting certain U.S. imports came into effect on Sunday night. The entire global economy is changing before our eyes — and we’re still only three weeks in.

Steel yourselves: So how big a deal are these metal tariffs? “The U.S. relies on aluminum imports, mostly from Canada, the United Arab Emirates and China, to meet the vast majority of its demand,” Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove reports. “Steel imports account for a smaller portion of consumption, but are vital for sectors leaning on specialty grades not made in the U.S., including energy businesses from wind developers to oil drillers.”

Tru-doh: It’s especially rough news for Canada, which had won a carveout from Trump’s existing tariffs on steel and aluminum when they were announced during his first term, and then dodged a 25 percent general tariff during those 11th-hour talks last week. “This is the next four years,” groaned Ontario Premier Doug Ford on X. “Shifting goalposts and constant chaos, putting our economy at risk.”

And…..

Coming attractions: Trump told reporters Sunday that reciprocal tariffs for other nations with trade barriers raised against America could be announced as soon as tomorrow. “Very simply — if they charge us, we charge them,” the president said, adding these reciprocal tariffs would come in “almost immediately.” Reuters’ Jeff Mason has more.

Miller time: Earlier in the day, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller spelled out what it all means on Fox News. Miller’s ire was fixed largely on the European Union, which he said uses a combination of tariffs, VAT on manufactured goods plus fines and digital taxes on tech firms to damage the U.S. economy. “If we’re getting charged 30 percent by Europe, then we are going to charge them 30 percent in return,” he said. “Enough is enough. The president is going to insist on fair treatment.” It’s going to be another busy week.

For our take on why Trump’s tariffs are such a threat to our economy, our security and of “The America Of The Four Freedoms” see this post and watch my interview with economist, Rob Shapiro.

As Stephen Miller indicated, above, the Trumpian wrecking ball heads to Europe this week. From Bloomberg:

You’ve got to hand it to US Vice President JD Vance: Showing up in Paris on the day that US tariffs are supposed to hit the European Union is a bold move.

Assuming he follows through, President Donald Trump’s 25% levies on steel and aluminum will be the first of his new administration to affect the 27-nation bloc.

Vance’s beef is on another front.

A former venture capitalist with ties to Silicon Valley, he’s in town for a summit on artificial intelligence hosted by President Emmanuel Macron that presents the first of several opportunities for European leaders to witness the Trump administration up close this week.

Each threatens to be a bruising experience for the European side.

Vance, who frequently posts his support for Elon Musk, has suggested that European efforts to regulate US big tech hurt free speech, mentioning it in the same breath as US support for NATO.

Coincidentally or not, former Fox News presenter turned US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is due to attend meetings with NATO allies this week to discuss backing for Ukraine.

That’s ahead of the Munich Security Conference starting Friday, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio will join the US delegation that’s expected to float its plans to end the three-year war triggered by Russia’s invasion.

The Kremlin yesterday declined to confirm or deny that President Vladimir Putin had discussed the war with Trump. The fear in European capitals is that direct talks would undermine Ukraine’s position and shut Europe out of any decisions taken affecting the continent.

After dinging South Africa, wading into the Middle East, threatening America’s neighbors and slapping at China, it looks like Europe is now in Trump’s sights.

Just what his intentions are — and what he wants in return — is likely to become clearer in the days ahead.

Things To Do, Fighting Hard, Fighting Smart - Our Daily Reminder:

Trump 2.0 is a profound, ongoing betrayal of America, and everything that has made this remarkable nation the most powerful and prosperous in the world. It is why we must fight. As dark as all this is, we cannot for one moment forget that what Trump is doing is wrong; he and his project remain deeply unstable and his coalition fractious; he is doing deeply unpopular things, going far beyond his narrow “mandate;” he is old, impulsive, reckless and clearly in decline; and extremists and ideologues are often far better at bread and circuses than governing.

Dive into my recent interviews with folks who are making a difference. Check out our upcoming events. Paid subscribers should register for our Wednesday night event. Come see me in Bethesda, Maryland next Tuesday. Watch my new video presentation, Fighting Hard, Fighting Smart - Notes On Building A Ferocious and Effective Opposition.

For those wanting to do more traditional political/campaign work, we have three Hopium-backed efforts we're rallying behind right now:

Help Get Ken Martin Off To A Strong Start - In this time of extraordinary challenge we need a strong DNC. A week ago Saturday we set a goal of raising $100,000 by March 31st for our new Chair. Incredibly 1,000 of you have donated over $101,000 so far. Watch my interview with Ken about what he wants to do with the DNC, and chip in whatever you can to help Ken and the new exciting team at the DNC get off to a strong start. We now have a new stretch goal of $150,000 by March 31st after hitting our initial goal of $100,000 in just seven days!

Note that two other good friends of Hopium - David Hogg and Jane Kleeb - were elected Vice Chairs of the DNC this weekend (Jane was elected head of the ASDC which also makes her a DNC Vice Chair). You can watch my inspiring interviews with David here, and with Jane here and learn more about where they want to take the party in the days ahead.

Help Abigail Spanberger Win Virginia - Virginia will be one of the big battlegrounds of the November, 2025 elections and we have a great candidate for Governor, Abigail Spanberger. Watch my interview with Abigail, donate, volunteer, and learn more here. Given how many federal employees live in Virginia, this race is also now on the front lines of the Trump/Musk assault on the federal government. We’ve raised more than $31,000 so far towards our March 31st goal of $100,000 - thank you all. Let’s keep working it for Abigail!

Help Susan Crawford and Ben Wikler in Wisconsin - As a way of honoring our good friend Ben Wikler and supporting this critical April Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, I’m asking our community to donate to the Wisconsin Democratic Party today. The money raised here will make sure Ben has the resources he needs to keep his team in place so they can support this critical statewide race. I know many of you are already deeply involved here - thank you all. More on this critical election in the coming days. Our goal is to raise $50,000 by April 1st. We’ve raised $20,000 so far - thank you all!

Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you - Simon