The Trump administration has just nominated a slew of new generals to head up top US military commands in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Importantly, Air Force General Alex Grynkewich has been nominated as NATO’s new Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR) and head of U.S. European Command (EUCOM).

This comes amid reports that the US under the Trump administration is growing frustrated enough to ‘step back’ from NATO leadership, with lack of collective defense spending out of Europe.

For example, Defense News last month acknowledged, :The nomination to head European Command, which is not yet final, comes at a moment of uncertainty for America’s military commitment to Europe, potentially including cuts to U.S. forces on the continent and a lesser role in the NATO alliance.”

Brussels is meanwhile pushing plans for NATO buildup plans in connection with a new spending goal, also at a moment Washington has told the UK that it should reach a target of 5% of GDP spending on defense, according to The Telegraph.

Grynkewich currently serves as Joint Staff Director for Operations and was formerly the top US Air Force commander in the Middle East, which means he oversaw the aerial response to CENTCOM’s prior bombing raids against the Houthis of Yemen, as well as previously ‘counter-ISIS’ ops in northern Syria.

According to his official Air Force bio:

Lt. Gen. Grynkewich received his commission in 1993 after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has served as an instructor pilot, weapons officer and operational test pilot in the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-22 Raptor. Lt. Gen. Grynkewich has commanded at the squadron, wing and Air Expeditionary Task Force levels. His staff assignments include service at Air Combat Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Central Command, Headquarters Air Force, and the Joint Staff. Prior to his current assignment, he served as the 9th Air Force (Air Forces Central), Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, and the Combined Forces Air Component Commander for U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia.

President Trump also nominated Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, currently CENTCOM’s deputy commander, to lead CENTCOM. Additionally, Dagvin Anderson, director for Joint Force Development, has been tapped to lead US Africa Command (AFRICOM).

The Pentagon announces U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich as NATO’s new Supreme Allied Commander and head of U.S. European Command. pic.twitter.com/IIofVrs7W3

— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 5, 2025

This fresh crop of commanders are likely being tapped for their loyalty to Trump’s vision of ‘make deals, not chaos’ for the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

While there’s no peace on the horizon as yet when it comes to Ukraine, Gaza, or Yemen – there’s been noticeably quiet from the White House these past few days as both conflict theatres heat up. This could be a good thing, given Trump is not issuing threats, but could be patiently waiting for how Russia’s retaliation on Ukraine – for example – plays out.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% as Tesla shares rebounded 4% in premarket on signs that the spat between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk is cooling. Market gains had little conviction as traders brace for Friday’s main event: a pivotal payrolls report (full preview here) that’s likely to set the direction of travel for markets. Nasdaq futures also add 0.5% even as Broadcom shares fall 3% in premarket after giving a a lackluster revenue forecast for the current quarter. European stocks are little changed. Bond yields are 1-2bp lower; the USD is higher; the yen dropped after BBG reported that Bank of Japan officials are likely to discuss slowing their pullback from buying government bonds at a policy meeting later this month. Commodities are mostly higher: Gold climbs $6 to around $3,358/oz while silver tops $36/oz. WTI falls 0.6% to $63 a barrel. Bitcoin rises 3%. Macro headlines were largely muted overnight; All eyes on NFP today.

In premarket trading, Mag7 stocks are higher, led by Tesla, whose shares are set to rebound, rising 4.9% premarket, after plunging on Thursday as the feud between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump showed signs of de-escalation (Amazon +1%, Meta +0.8%, Apple +0.6%, Alphabet +0.6%, Nvidia +0.5%, Microsoft +0.4%). 

• Broadcom (AVGO) dropped 3% after the company gave a lackluster revenue forecast for the current quarter, suggesting that the AI spending frenzy isn’t as strong as some investors anticipated. Lululemon added to the gloom after its latest earnings report highlighted the risk posed by new tariffs and exacerbated concerns about slowing growth.
• Docusign (DOCU) shares are down 18% after the e-signature software company gave a second-quarter billings outlook that is weaker than expected.
• Lululemon (LULU) shares plunge 21% after the upscale athletic clothing company cut its earnings per share forecast for the full year.

Markets are still reveberating from the spat between Trump and Musk in which Trump proposed cutting off the billionaire’s government contracts. Musk, who sparked the public feud by criticizing Trump’s signature tax bill, later signaled that he’s keen to dial down the hostility. White House aides have reportedly scheduled a call with the world’s richest person for Friday in an effort to cool things down. Their public back-and-forth triggered the most spectacular real-time destruction of wealth ever, with $34 billion erased from Musk’s net worth. Tesla shares are rebounding in premarket, after tanking 14% Thursday.

“Futures are edging higher, perhaps as Musk has started to suggest on X that he would be open to a cooling-off period in his war of words with the President,” said Jim Reid, global head of macro research and thematic strategy at Deutsche Bank AG.

Moves in other asset clases were more muted as traders awaited Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for fresh insight on how the Trump administration’s trade war is affecting the economy. Turning to today’s main event, economists see payrolls rising by 125,000 after job growth in March and April exceeded projections. The unemployment rate is seen holding at 4.2%.  Weak payrolls data would be bad news for markets, with a big miss potentially sending stocks down 1.5%, according to Goldman Sachs traders (full preview here). A softening labor market would support expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at least twice this year.

“Investors are getting used to all the noise and are looking at concrete matters like the jobs report or budget,” said Mabrouk Chetouane, head of global market strategy at Natixis Investment Managers. “There is a cooling trend in the labor market, which I expect will show this afternoon. That should further reinforce our call for two or three cuts from the Fed this year.”

Meanwhile, BofA’s Michael Hartnett is warning that global stocks are close to triggering sell signals as both fund inflows and market breadth are running too hot. The strategist said inflows to stocks and high-yield bonds have totaled 0.9% of AUM in the past four weeks. The sell signal will be set off if that exceeds 1%. 

European equities are little changed as investors search for fresh catalysts on trade negotiations between the US and China and look ahead to a key US jobs report. The real estate and health care sectors outperform, while consumer shares are among the biggest laggards. Among individual movers, Adidas and Puma fall after Lululemon’s disappointing quarter fueled concerns over rising competition and tariffs. Here are the biggest European movers:

• Chemring gains for an 18th straight day, rising as much as 5.1% following an upgrade to buy at Berenberg which gives the UK defense firm a clean sweep of positive analyst ratings
• Galderma shares gain as much as 3.3%, to the highest level since February after Kepler Cheuvreux initiated coverage of the Swiss pure play dermatology group with a recommendation of buy and a new street high price target.
• Demant shares jump as much as 6.7% as the stock trades for the first time since being upgraded to buy at Citi.
• Huber + Suhner shares rise as much as 4.6% after Berenberg said the Swiss electrical products manufacturer is especially well-positioned for growth as it started coverage with a buy rating.
• Canal+ rises as much as 8.1%, reaching highest since mid December, after the media and entertainment company confirmed its full-year expectations and said it has reached an agreement with France’s cinema agency to settle a tax dispute.
• Recordati shares gain as much as 3.4% to a three-month high after JPMorgan lifted its price target on the stock, saying the Italian pharmaceutical company’s growth outlook is “strong and sustainable,” even before more M&A activity.
• Norwegian salmon stocks gaining after a broad cross-party agreement to delay any sweeping changes to the licensing system for several years, according to a statement from the parties after markets closed on Thursday.
• European athleisure stocks fall as US-listed Lululemon posted a second straight disappointing quarter, fueling concerns around the impact of rising competition and new tariffs.
• Allegro shares drop after two of its major holders — investment vehicles of Cinven and Permira Holdings, sold a 5.2% stake in the company.
• PostNL falls as much as 12.5% as Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Marc Zeck downgraded his recommendation from hold to reduce.
• Dassault Systemes shares decline as much as 2.5% after the company said it aims to double its non-IFRS diluted EPS by 2029, pushing out a more ambitious 2028 goal.
• Polish banking stocks fall after Szymon Holownia, the leader of junior coalition party Polska 2050, told Polsat News that he wants to include a windfall tax on lenders into a renegotiated coalition agreement.

Earlier in the session,  Asian stocks traded in a tight range as a much-anticipated call between Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping offered little details on how trade negotiations would progress. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed. Indian stocks rose after the central bank cut interest rates more than projected and unexpectedly reduced the cash reserve ratio for banks. Gauges in Hong Kong fell, while those in Japan rebounded. Markets in Indonesia, Philippines and South Korea were closed for holidays.

In rates, treasuries edge higher ahead of the jobs report, with US 10-year yields falling nearly 2 bps to 3.37%. Bunds outperform their US peers, pushing German 10-year borrowing costs down 5 bps to 2.54%.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rises 0.2%. The Japanese yen and Swedish krona are the weakest G-10 currencies, falling 0.4% each. The euro dips 0.3% with little reaction seen after euro-area GDP was revised up for the first quarter. ECB policymakers largely stuck to Thursday’s messaging after they cut rates by a quarter point. USDJPY rose 0.4% to 144.08 after BBG reported that Bank of Japan officials are likely to discuss slowing their pullback from buying government bonds at a policy meeting later this month.

In commodities, gold climbs $6 to around $3,360/oz while silver tops $36/oz. WTI falls 0.6% to $63 a barrel. Bitcoin rises 3%.

Looking at today’s calendar, the payrolls numbers are due at 8:30 a.m., while consumer credit data is due later in the day. The Fed’s Bowman is scheduled to give a speech on supervision and regulation.

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 mini +0.5%
• Nasdaq 100 mini +0.5%
• Russell 2000 mini +0.6%
• Stoxx Europe 600 little changed
• DAX -0.2%, CAC 40 little changed
• 10-year Treasury yield -1 basis point at 4.38%
• VIX -0.3 points at 18.18
• Bloomberg Dollar Index +0.2% at 1210.26
• euro -0.3% at $1.1413
• WTI crude -0.5% at $63.03/barrel

Top Overnight News

• Elon Musk signaled he would move to cool tensions with US President Donald Trump, after differences between the two exploded Thursday into an all-out public feud.
• White House aides scheduled a call with Elon Musk today to take down the temperature after a public feud erupted with Donald Trump. Musk signaled he’s open to cooling tensions. Premarket, Tesla shares (+4.3%) pared some of yesterday’s plunge. Musk also backed off on a threat to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. BBG
• In the midst of the trade war and administration efforts to disentangle the U.S. and Chinese economies, US pharma companies have simultaneously supercharged their interest in China-based biotechs, announcing what are likely to be the biggest deals ever for the rights to experimental medicines invented by Chinese companies. Barron’s
• The US Treasury called on the BOJ to raise rates to strengthen the yen, making a remarkable policy recommendation in its semiannual currency report. Japan’s finance ministry said it doesn’t comment on the views of a foreign government. BBG
• Expectations in the market are intensifying that the Japanese government may adjust debt issuance as soon as next month by increasing sales of shorter maturity securities and trimming offerings of longer-dated ones to prevent a further rise in yields. BBG
• The European Central Bank is approaching the end of its interest-rate cuts, according to two Governing Council members, as others declared inflation has been vanquished.
• The Reserve Bank of India cut its key policy rate on Friday by an unexpectedly sharp 50 bps to 5.5%, its lowest level in nearly three years, as tepid inflation allowed the bank to focus on spurring economic growth. Nikkei
• Iran orders thousands of tons of ballistic missile material from China as Tehran looks to rebuild its arsenal and provide more weapons to proxies in the Middle East. WSJ
• We estimate nonfarm payrolls rose by 110k in May, below consensus of 125k and the three-month average of +155k. On the positive side, big data indicators suggested a healthy pace of job creation. On the negative side, trade policy uncertainty was very high across the survey period and we expect another 10k decline in federal government payrolls from workforce reductions. GIR
• The ECB is approaching the end of its interest-rate cycle, Madis Muller said. Fellow Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras told BTV that the bank should take a break to give officials a chance to assess recent shocks. BBG
• Trump told Senate Republicans he’s open to a SALT cap below the $40,000 in the House-passed tax bill. BBG

Tariffs/Trade

• German Chancellor Merz said Europe is looking for more independence from China and tariffs are having a “terrible” impact on German automakers, while the Chancellery and White House agreed to even closer cooperation on trade talks, according to CNN. Merz also commented that US tariffs are threatening our economy and we are looking for ways to bring them down, according to a Fox News interview. German Chancellor Merz said this US admin is open for discussions, and hearing other opinions; no doubts US will stick with NATO
• Canadian PM Carney spoke with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and exchanged views on bilateral relations, while they emphasised the importance of engagement and both leaders agreed to regularise communication channels between Canada and China. Furthermore, they also discussed trade between the two nations and Carney’s office stated that both governments committed to collaborating on addressing the fentanyl crisis.
• Chinese Premier Li held talks with Canadian PM Carney, according to Xinhua; China willing to safeguard multilaterals and free trade with Canada. There is ‘great potential’ for cooperation between China & Canada. Both should strengthen cooperation in clean energy, climate change, and innovation.
• Japan’s government said trade negotiator Akazawa met with US Commerce Secretary Lutnick and Akazawa strongly sought a review of US tariffs, while they discussed non-tariff barriers and trade expansion.

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mixed following the subdued handover from the US where a stunning online bust-up between US President Trump and Elon Musk overshadowed the recent call between President Trump and Chinese President Xi in which the leaders agreed to start a new round of talks ASAP. ASX 200 saw two-way, rangebound trade as outperformance in the energy and utilities sectors was counterbalanced by losses in gold miners and the top-weighted financial industry, while a lack of pertinent data releases also contributed to the uneventful picture. Nikkei 225 gained with the index supported by recent currency weakness although further upside was capped following disappointing Household Spending data which showed a steeper-than-feared M/M decline and a surprise Y/Y  contraction. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were indecisive despite the recent phone call between US President Trump and Chinese President Xi which the White House had been touting throughout the week, while Xi reiterated calls for the US to handle the Taiwan issue with caution.

Top Asian News

• RBI cut the Repurchase Rate by 50bps to 5.50% (exp. 25bps cut) and changed its stance to neutral from accommodative, while it cut the Standing Deposit Facility Rate and Marginal Standing Facility Rate by 50bps each to 5.25% and 5.75%, respectively. RBI Governor Malhotra said growth remains lower than aspirations and it is important to stimulate growth, as well as noted that front-loading rate cuts to support growth was felt necessary. Malhotra also stated that inflation has softened significantly over the last six months and inflation is likely to undershoot the full-year target at the margin, while he noted that monetary policy has limited space left to support growth and they retained the FY26 Real GDP growth forecast at 6.5%. Furthermore, the RBI Governor announced to cut the Cash Reserve Ratio by 100bps in four equal tranches, which will release INR 2.5tln, as well as noted that they will continue to monitor and take measures as necessary and that the CRR cut is to reduce the cost of funding of banks and help accelerate policy transmission.
• PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1845 vs exp. 7.1935 (Prev. 7.1865).
• Japan’s former top FX diplomat says narrowing US-Japan rate gap will likely support the yen at around 135-140 against USD by year-end.

European bourses – Flat/lower trade across Europe following the fallout of the dramatic Trump-Musk spat, but with traders setting their sights on the US jobs report due 13:30 BST/08:30 EDT. On the week, futures of the broad Stoxx 600 and Euro Stoxx 50 indices are currently poised for a second week of gains, though not by much at this stage, and will depend on how the aforementioned data comes in. European sectors – Sectors display a mixed picture with the breadth of the market also narrow, with no real bias. Top gainers at the time of writing include Health Care (+0.6%), Energy (+0.5%), and Retail (+0.3%); losers include Basic Resources (-0.9%), Industrial Goods and Services (-0.4%), and Media (-0.3%). European movers – HSBC (+0.3%) chairman Mark Tucker will step down on September 30th. Adidas (-1.3%), JD Sports (-0.5%), and Puma (-1.6%) are all slipping after US apparel maker Lululemon (LULU) saw its shares tumble by over 20% in extended trading. Airbus (-0.9%) confirmed that it delivered 51 jets in May (-4% Y/Y),

Top European News

• UK government unveiled new concessions to private equity firms regarding its tax break crackdown in which it proposed changes to tax treatment of carried interest that will make the regime less onerous, according to FT.
• ECB’s Holzmann says “I dissented” at the rate decision on Thursday (as expected)Lowering rates at a time of high savings and low investments ha no effect except a monetary effectCurrently expansive in monetary policyLagarde said we are at the end of the cycle, wanted to discuss whether that is the caseCurrent nominal neutral rate is around 3%
• ECB’s Muller said ECB can be happy with inflation where it is; and he agrees with ECB President Lagarde that cycle almost finished. Hard to say what’s coming next on rates.
• ECB’s Villeroy said the ECB has won the battle against inflation in Europe, and we will not again see the low rates we saw a few years ago, and added that French inflation is now under control but debt remains a serious issue, “France cannot continue like this”, according to Bloomberg.
• ECB’s Simkus said interest rates are now at neutral; its important to keep full flexibility, according to Reuters. Stournaras said the best thing for the ECB is to wait and see, ECB rate cutting is nearly done, ECB has achieved a soft landing, and ECB may cut if the economy weakens and inflation falls. Stournaras noted of downside risks to growth, and the bank is “quite” confident in its forecasts, and said he’s afraid the Dollar may lose some of its status.
• Bundesbank semi-annual report: German recovery delayed further; economy to tread water in 2025; German GDP to stagnate in 2025, grow by 0.7% in 2026. Increased defence, infrastructure spending to significantly increase growth by the end of 2027. German exports will decline significantly in 2025, increase only slightly next year.
• Italian Stats Bureau ISTAT cut Italy’s 2025 GDP growth to 0.6% from 0.8% forecast in December.
• SNB noted that it does not engage in any manipulation of the CHF; does not seek to prevent adjustments in the balance of trade or to gain unfair competitive advantages for the Swiss economy. In addition, the use of FX market interventions may be necessary under certain circumstances to ensure appropriate monetary conditions. SNB monetary policy is geared towards the needs of Switzerland.

FX

• USD – USD is slightly firmer in what has ultimately been a week of losses for DXY. Attention now is firmly fixated on today’s NFP report which is set to see payroll growth slow to 130k from 177k and unemployment rate hold steady @ 4.2%. As it stands, the next 25bps cut is not fully priced until September with 54bps of loosening seen by year-end. DXY is towards the top end of yesterday’s 98.35-98.94 range.
• EUR – EUR is trivially softer vs. the USD after gaining yesterday on account of the ECB rate decision which saw policymakers pull the trigger on a 25bps rate cut, whilst noting that policy is “well-positioned”; suggesting that the ECB could be nearing or at the end of its cutting cycle. ECB speak this morning hasn’t shifted the dial with policymakers signalling flexibility going forward, whilst acknowledging progress on inflation. EUR/USD is contained within yesterday’s 1.1404-1.1495 range.
• JPY – JPY is the laggard across the majors following disappointing Household Spending data. Subsequently, USD/JPY briefly made its way back onto a 144 handle with a current session peak @ 144.13, stopping shy of the WTD high @ 144.39. On the trade front, Japan’s government said trade negotiator Akazawa met with US Commerce Secretary Lutnick and Akazawa strongly sought a review of US tariffs. Elsewhere, Japan’s former top FX diplomat says narrowing US-Japan rate gap will likely support the yen at around 135-140 against USD by year-end.
• GBP – GBP is softer vs. the broadly firmer USD with UK-specific newsflow on the light side ahead of next week’s UK spending review. On which, UK Chancellor Reeves reaffirmed she will not have a UK budget like October’s again, but can’t rule out any tax changes over the next four years. For today’s agenda, BoE Chief Economist Pill is due to speak @ 13:00BST, but given the subject matter of “AI and Households”, it is unclear how much he will touch on monetary policy. After printing a multi-year high yesterday @ 1.3616, Cable has since retreated and moved back below the 1.3550 mark.
• Antipodeans – Antipodeans are steady vs. the USD following a light data docket and relevant newsflow overnight. Both continue to keep an eye on US-Sino relations following the Xi-Trump call yesterday given their trade exposure. However, the readout had little follow-through into either currency. AUD/USD has moved back onto a 0.64 handle and pulled back from yesterday’s YTD peak @ 0.6538. NZD/USD has also retreated from yesterday’s YTD high @ 0.6080 but is still holding above the 0.60 mark.
• NBP’s Litwiniuk said they need to be cautious regarding the disinflation path; MPC can return to the subject of cuts in July or September; rates can still be cut by 100-125bps this year.

Treasuries

• USTs – USTs are a touch higher ahead of the US jobs report and following yesterday’s ECB-led losses which outmuscled a spike higher in weekly claims metrics. As it stands, the next 25bps cut is not fully priced until September with 54bps of loosening seen by year-end. Sep’25 USTs are currently within yesterday’s 110.23+ to 111.14+ range. From a yield perspective, the US curve is fractionally in bull flattening mode, whilst the 10yr yield has moved back to the 4.37% after venturing as low as 4.318% yesterday.
• Bunds – Bunds are attempting to atone for yesterday’s losses which were seen in the wake of the ECB rate decision. Sep’25 Bunds have been as high as 130.72 but are still some way away from yesterday’s peak @ 131.47. The 10yr yield is back below the 2.55% mark after climbing as high as 2.581% yesterday.
• Gilts – Gilts are currently being led by the upside in German paper as UK-specific newsflow remains light ahead of next week’s UK spending review. Sep’25 Gilts have been as high as 92.31 but still have some ground to cover before approaching yesterday’s best @ 92.63. The 10yr yield currently sits just above the 4.6% mark and within yesterday’s 4.557-4.648% range.

Commodities

• Crude Futures – Subdued trade amid a firmer Dollar and overall cautious risk tone heading into the US jobs report before the weekend. Contracts saw a leg lower likely on technicals as WTI dipped under USD 63.00/bbl at the same time as Brent fell under USD 65.00/bbl, although prices thereafter stabilised. News flow has been light for the complex, with nothing major to report in geopolitics either.
• Precious Metals – Spot gold and silver are largely treading water amid a lack of catalysts during the European morning in the run-up to the US jobs report. Spot gold currently resides in a current USD 3,351.49-3,375.29/oz range, well within yesterday’s USD 3,338.29-3,403.15/oz parameter.
• Base Metals – Mixed trade across base metals, in fitting with the cautious risk tone ahead of the US jobs report, with the Trump-Xi phone call doing little to keep broader prices underpinned during this session. 3M LME copper dipped back under USD 9,700/t to trade in a USD 9,659.00-9,768.00/t range at the time of writing. Dalian iron ore futures rose to a one-week peak overnight with traders citing strong Chinese demand coupled with some optimism following the Trump-Xi call, with the front-month contract ending daytime trade +0.9%.
• HSBC expects OPEC+ to accelerate supply hikes in August and September; weaker fundamentals after the summer, raise downside risks to the Bank’s USD 65/bbl brent forecast from Q425.
• LME has intervened to make Mercuria roll its “huge” position in aluminium, according to Bloomberg.
• India’s Mines Minister said exploring critical mineral assets in Australia, Argentina and Chile.
• EU Ags Commissioner said EU-Ukraine trade has reverted to conditions of pre-war trade deal, after the expiry of wartime exemptions; could conclude a longer-term trade arrangement by summer. New EU-Ukraine trade arrangement will be in between the quotas under pre-war trade deal and war-time exemptions

Geopolitics: Middle East

• Israel assured the US it won’t strike Iran unless talks fail, according to Axios.
• Iran is said to have ordered material from China that could make hundreds of ballistic missiles, according to Wall Street Journal.
• “Lebanese Army: Israel’s continued violation of the agreement may push us to freeze cooperation with the monitoring committee regarding site inspection”, via Al Hadath.

Geopolitics: Ukraine

• Ukraine said Russia launched a drone and missile attack with explosions and air defence activity heard over Kyiv.
• Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ryabkov said returning to the arms control agreement with the US is becoming less and less realistic amid the US’ Golden Dome project.
• EU is weighing adding Russia to its money laundering ‘grey list’, according to FT.
• French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs hopes the European Commission will put new Russian sanctions package before the end of June, according to Reuters.

US Event Calendar

• 8:30 am: May Change in Nonfarm Payrolls, est. 126k, prior 177k
• 8:30 am: May Change in Private Payrolls, est. 120k, prior 167k
• 8:30 am: May Change in Manufact. Payrolls, est. -4.5k, prior -1k
• 8:30 am: May Unemployment Rate, est. 4.2%, prior 4.2%
• 8:30 am: May Average Hourly Earnings MoM, est. 0.3%, prior 0.2%
• 8:30 am: May Average Hourly Earnings YoY, est. 3.7%, prior 3.8%
• 3:00 pm: Apr Consumer Credit, est. 10b, prior 10.17b

Central Banks 

• 10:00 am: Fed’s Bowman Gives Speech on Supervision, Regulation

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Markets had a volatile session yesterday, as they grappled with a barrage of news that each pushed in different directions. Those included positive US-China headlines amid a call between Trump and Xi, a hawkish ECB decision and more weak data from the US. But the most remarkable was an extraordinary war of words between Trump and Elon Musk that ultimately left risks assets losing ground. Tesla’s shares plunged by -14.26%, while the S&P 500 fell -0.53% despite earlier briefly moving into technical bull market territory as it climbed just over +20% since its recent low on April 8.

The dramatic feud between the US President and the world’s richest man emerged after Trump said during a meeting with Germany’s chancellor Merz that he was “disappointed” and “surprised” in Musk’s recent criticism of the Republicans’ budget bill, with Musk responding on X by suggesting that Trump would have lost the election without his support. The war of words then escalated on social media, with Trump posting that “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts”, while Musk posted that Trump’s tariffs “will cause a recession in the second half of this year” and responded “yes” to a suggestion that Trump should be impeached.

Following the Trump-Musk spat, Tesla’s shares slumped -14.26%, which together with a -3.55% decline on Wednesday marked its worst two-day decline (-17.30%) since 2020. The feud also weighed on US risk assets more broadly, with the S&P 500 (-0.53%) seeing ten of its eleven sector groups move lower on the day. Meanwhile, the VIX volatility index rose +0.87pts to 18.48, having been earlier on course to fall to its lowest level since late March. The tech mood has stayed subdued overnight as Broadcom’s results delivered a lackluster revenue forecast. The chipmaker, which is now the 7th largest company in the S&P 500 and around $300bn of market cap ahead of Tesla, saw its shares slide by more than -4% after-hours. However S&P 500 (+0.25%) and NASDAQ 100 (+0.14%) futures are edging higher, perhaps as Musk has started to suggest on X that he would be open to a cooling-off period in his war of words with the President.

Earlier on in the session we had seen a clear risk-on move on both sides of the Atlantic as a surprise Trump-Xi call raised the prospect of fresh US-China talks, leading to growing optimism that trade tensions would ease. The news of a call by Chinese state media led to an immediate jump in US equity futures. Shortly after, the rally got a further boost after Trump posted that it was “a very good phone call” which “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries.” In the post, it said that their respective teams would soon meet, and also that “There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products.” So that helped to boost market optimism, particularly after Trump had posted the previous day that Xi was “VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!”.

The trade headlines outweighed an initial negative reaction to the latest weekly US jobless claims, which added to fears that the US labour market was finally deteriorating after Liberation Day. Initial jobless claims (one of the most timely indicators we get) moved up to 247k in the week ending May 31 (vs. 235k expected), reaching their highest level since October. Moreover, that followed the very soft ADP report the previous day, which had private payrolls up by just +37k in May. The one caveat to the claims data is that seasonals tend to boost the number a bit at this time of the year. However it’s not the only evidence of a slightly weakening labour market. So that’s really heightened the focus on today’s jobs report for May, as any softness there would really magnify those fears. In terms of what to expect, our US economists forecast nonfarm payrolls to come in at +125k, dipping down from the +177k in March, with the unemployment rate remaining at 4.2%.

Those competing factors drove a big turnaround for US Treasuries yesterday. They initially fell back, with the 10yr yield hitting an intraday low of 4.31% just after the claims data. But the hawkish ECB decision and the Trump-Xi call led to a significant turnaround, with the 10yr yield ultimately closing up +3.7bps at 4.39%. The moves were even larger at the front-end of the curve, with the 2yr yield up +5.4bps to 3.92% as investors dialled back the likelihood of Fed rate cuts.
Meanwhile in Europe, the ECB was the biggest market driver yesterday. They cut rates by 25bps as expected, taking the deposit rate down to 2%. But significantly, President Lagarde signalled that they had “nearly concluded” the easing cycle, suggesting that policy rates weren’t likely to go much lower from here. She also signalled little urgency to cut rates, saying that the current level left them “in a good position to navigate the uncertain conditions that will be coming up.” As such, the ECB appears to be saying that it may have now reached the appropriate level of rates, a stronger message than a soft signal of a pause our European economists had expected. That said, our economists see expected soft growth in H2 and more significant disinflation than projected by the ECB as still favouring some further easing. See their full reaction here.

Lagarde’s comments immediately drove a clear market reaction, with another 25bp ECB cut now being less than fully priced, the 2yr German yield surging +7.8bps on the day and the euro itself strengthening +0.25%. Several other details also fed into the hawkish narrative, with the policy statement saying that although trade uncertainty would be a short-term drag, “rising government investment in defence and infrastructure will increasingly support growth over the medium term.” Later in the day, Bloomberg also reported that ECB officials thought a pause at the next meeting in July was the most likely scenario, with mixed views on whether another rate cut was likely after that. By the close, yields on 10yr bunds (+5.2bps), OATs (+4.7bps) and BTPs (+3.5bps) had all moved higher. Otherwise, equities ended the day higher with the STOXX 600 up +0.16%, but that was mainly thanks to the Trump-Xi call, as the index had been in negative territory after the hawkish ECB news.

In Asia markets are relatively subdued this morning. The Nikkei (+0.24%) has risen a little on weak Japanese economic data that might delay further rate hikes by the BOJ (more below). Meanwhile, the CSI (-0.12%) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.06%) are struggling to gain traction while the Hang Seng (-0.21%) and the S&P/ASX 200 (-0.19%) are seeing minor losses.

Coming back to Japan household spending (-0.1% y/y) unexpectedly fell in April, attributed to consumers curbing spending due to rising prices. This contrasted sharply with market expectations of a +1.5% gain following the previous month’s +2.1% increase.

Elsewhere yesterday, data showed the US trade deficit narrowed sharply to $61.6bn in April, reflecting the impact of the new tariffs. That was the smallest monthly deficit since September 2023, and a huge decline from the prior month’s $138.3bn trade deficit. Given that lower imports mechanically add to GDP, this is expected to lead to a strong bounceback in GDP for Q2 after the Q1 contraction. Indeed, the Atlanta Fed’s latest GDPNow estimate is pointing to annualised growth of +3.8% in Q2.

To the day ahead now, and the main highlight will be the US jobs report for May. Over in Europe, there’s also Euro Area retail sales for April, and German and French industrial production for April. Otherwise, central bank speakers include ECB President Lagarde, and the ECB’s Holzmann, Simkus and Centeno.

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

Maybe there was a time—when I was a kid watching “The Jetsons”—when I fantasized about a walking, talking, productive robot in my house. It would do the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, answer the door, walk the dog, dress the kids, make the bed, and so on.

Many companies, most notably Tesla, are working on this now. We see the prototypes all over social media. Artificial intelligence (AI) language models have made their speech very impressive. Their movements are looking ever more natural. They do seem to be on the way, and Elon Musk says they will be the biggest consumer product in history.

These days, I’m not so sure. In fact, the prospect seems absurd to me, destined to make our lives worse not better. Do we really need fewer routines and more excuses to sit and stare at our computers while machines do even more work for us?

Count me among the skeptics. We have been replacing household routines with machines for a century. Some have merit because the manual way is too arduous. I would rather have a vacuum cleaner than beat out rugs, even if the latter method is better in the long run. Same with dishwashers and washing machines. I get that they save time.

But there comes a point when it is all too much. The trigger for me was the “smart” lightbulb. That’s where I drew the line. I would rather stand up and turn it off and on than become nothing but a couch potato with a smartphone. There are reasons perhaps for the ability to remotely manage household temperature, but if I were building today, I would look long and hard for analog over digital thermostats.

After my decision to reject smart bulbs, I started de-digitizing my domestic space. No more home assistants. I can stand up and turn the volume on the speaker up and down with my fingers. I can look through a hole in the door to see who is there. I can walk to the car and turn it on. And so on. I also appreciate not being surrounded by tools of surveillance.

As this process unfolded, I began to realize something culturally insidious about all of these new technologies. They all teach us to regret however it is we are using our time except and to the extent we are frittering away our lives on digital devices. They teach us that everything else we are doing is a waste of time.

We are encouraged always to get things done faster and with ever less effort. Whatever we are doing is regrettable. Adopting a new tech means saving time and energy. But ask yourself: For what are we actually saving this time and energy? Very likely it is something else that you are supposed to regret.

This becomes a major attitude problem. It creates a culture of grumbling and discontent. That attitude invades our hearts and souls, so eventually the normal stream of life itself becomes nothing other than a big pain in the neck. This then fuels the consumer demand for ever more products that promise to do everything for us.

How many actual skills are we losing along the way? Plenty.

Quick story about how I had wax melted all over a linen cloth. I had no idea what to do about it. So I looked it up on Grok. The suggestion came in two parts. First, freeze the cloth and scrape off the excess with a credit card. Second, iron it with a hot iron with a brown bag or newspaper between the iron and cloth.

I did it and was utterly astounded. It worked like a dream.

I thought, “Thank goodness for AI for teaching me this amazing trick.”

But in talking with others about it, it turns out that this is not some great secret. This is how people have been removing wax from cloth for centuries.

Apparently, our grandfathers all knew this. But for me, I somehow missed out on that lesson. Now it can be part of my routines.

One wonders how much other knowledge is being lost as we turn over more and more parts of our lives to AI and robots. There is a genuine danger here of intellectual and spiritual atrophy. We should think about this carefully before we plunge full-on into a machine-run world.

Every new technology brings benefits, but also costs. Musical skill is evaporating in the home, for example, and has for decades. Most young people today have no idea how to iron. When inflation hit restaurants so hard a few years ago, many people had to learn how to cook for the first time.

Most people have no clue about how clothing comes to be washed without a machine and would not even know how to begin cleaning a pair of socks by soaking them in hot water. Instead, we think the machines do some mysterious magic inside a rumbling box.

This is not a case against streaming music or washing machines but only a heads-up that they come at the cost of our own capacity to manage our lives in their absence. We become less useful as human beings. That surely must be recognized as something to regret, even if only a bit.

We should be more aware of the way the product market thrives off feeding our disgruntlement. It’s not evil, and that’s the market at work. There’s always going to be a better mousetrap.

But we should still be aware of the effect on our lives and attitudes. There is merit and joy in simple routines such as cleaning, cooking, folding, walking the dog, standing up from time to time and doing things, and even gardening and hard work.

If we come to think of all these things as pointless expenditures of time and energy, better done by a machine, a major swath of our lives becomes nothing but drudgery.

This is all about the attitude we bring to routine tasks. If we go into them with a sense that someone or something else should be doing them, we have a downcast mind, do a sloppy job, and let our brains be invaded by all kinds of negative energy.

If you look at the same task as an opportunity to be scrupulous, to be useful, to achieve something with one’s own hands, to better our little part of the world, and to take pride in what we have done, the opposite happens. Our blues turn to joy, gradually over time.

As I’ve written, this is how farmers think. They rise early to feed the chickens, repair the fences, fix the water well, brush the horses, or whatever else, not with a sense that all of this is terrible but rather that this is how life is, its very essence. It is all about using one’s own energy to exercise some controlling and civilizing cooperative relationship with the natural world around us.

Most of us are not farmers, but we can adopt the same patience, persistence, and joy that they have, even if we are dealing with urban commutes, buying groceries, or keeping our homes and spaces clean and orderly. Or gardening. We don’t need robots for this. We can do this with our own hands.

Again, what precisely are we preparing to do with the time we supposedly save with all this automation and rushing around? If you think about it, you are probably merely doing something else that you are regretting just as much as the previous thing. Honestly, this is no way to live.

It’s all about the attitude we bring to the conduct of daily life. If we listen to the constant screams that our lives are miserable—that it is darn near slavery to fold clothes and do dishes—so we need robots to do things for us, the result will be sadness all around instead of a constant sense of achievement.

Maybe there is a role for these machines for the sick and infirm, just like autonomous driving can be a dream for those in no position to drive themselves. But as usual with new products, we have a tendency to wildly exaggerate their merits, believing that they will take away all the demons that surround us. When that doesn’t work, we turn to substances.

Buy a robot if you must, but it is just as crucial to learn and do so-called menial tasks with joy, if only to remind ourselves of the high place of the human person—ourselves—in the unfolding of our lives. Maybe we should stop spending money on toys that encourage us to believe that we are ever less useful as human beings.

Every new technology in the 21st century seems to go in the same direction: overpromised results, wild enthusiasm, roaring stock markets, release, disappointment, and finally reality. Remember the way we were all going to wear headsets and live in the Metaverse? That did not happen.

Similarly on robots for domestic use. I’m bearish. My intuition is that society has already seen peak techno-utopia and is now ready for a return to the physical world with all its beautiful routines, the mastery of which requires human hands.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tokyo-based ispace Inc.’s second uncrewed lunar landing attempt ended in failure on Friday, as its Resilience lander crashed during the final descent phase. The lunar mishap marks another setback for the Japanese firm.

“As of 8:00 a.m. on June 6, 2025, mission controllers have determined that it is unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored and therefore completing Success 9 is not achievable. It has been decided to conclude the mission,” ispace wrote on X. 

As of 8:00 a.m. on June 6, 2025, mission controllers have determined that it is unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored and therefore completing Success 9 is not achievable. It has been decided to conclude the mission.

“Given that there is currently no… pic.twitter.com/IoRUfggoiQ

— ispace (@ispace_inc) June 6, 2025

The mission, which was positioned as a pivotal moment for Japan’s entry into lunar exploration and a cornerstone for its commercial space ambitions, has sidelined moon missions from the company for now. The loss follows a failed 2023 mission due to a software error.

Meanwhile, Texas-based rivals Intuitive Machines Inc. and Firefly Aerospace Inc. have already achieved lunar landings. Firefly became the first private company to successfully land a functioning spacecraft on the moon in March, while Intuitive Machines managed a hard touchdown—but its lander lost functionality just hours later.

Ispace provided color on the sequence of events that led to the failed landing:

ispace engineers at the HAKUTO-R Mission Control Center in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, transmitted commands to execute the landing sequence at 3:13 a.m. on June 6, 2025. The RESILIENCE lander then began the descent phase. The lander descended from an altitude of approximately 100 km to approximately 20 km, and then successfully fired its main engine as planned to begin deceleration. While the lander’s attitude was confirmed to be nearly vertical, telemetry was lost thereafter, and no data indicating a successful landing was received, even after the scheduled landing time had passed.

Based on the currently available data, the Mission Control Center has been able to confirm the following: The laser rangefinder used to measure the distance to the lunar surface experienced delays in obtaining valid measurement values. As a result, the lander was unable to decelerate sufficiently to reach the required speed for the planned lunar landing. Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface.

After communication with the lander was lost, a command was sent to reboot the lander, but communication was unable to be re-established.

In markets, iSpace shares in Tokyo crashed on Friday, closing down nearly 29%… What goes up must come down.

Earlier, Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada held a news conference following news of the failed landing attempt. He compared iSpace to SpaceX: “SpaceX has also failed several times, but now SpaceX occupies the launching market.”

Ispace CFO Jumpei Nozaki recently told CNN that the company has already secured funds for a third attempt at landing a craft on the lunar surface.  

As students weigh their post-secondary options, job prospects remain a key consideration.

Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti reports that new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, current as of May 2025, highlights which college degrees have the highest unemployment rates in the U.S. workforce.

For income, mid-career is defined as ages 35 to 45.

Anthropology Tops the List

At the top of the list is anthropology. Anthropology majors face an unemployment rate of 9.4%, the highest among the 20 fields analyzed.

Fine arts and sociology follow closely, with unemployment rates of 7.0% and 6.7%, respectively. These degrees tend to offer mid-career salaries around $70,000, placing them on the lower end of the earnings spectrum.

Interestingly, some of the highest-paying degrees also have relatively high unemployment rates.

For instance, computer engineering majors earn a median of $122,000 mid-career, but face a 7.5% unemployment rate. Physics ($100,000) and computer science ($115,000) also show above-average jobless rates, at 7.8% and 6.1%, respectively.

Meanwhile, several liberal arts degrees continue to show a mismatch between pay and employment. English language, history, and liberal arts majors typically earn between $70,000 and $77,000 mid-career, with unemployment rates ranging from 4.6% to 5.3%.

Communications and journalism degrees, which offer earnings closer to $85,000, show slightly lower unemployment levels, around 4.4% to 4.5%.

Other fields such as economics, political science, and international affairs offer stronger income potential—often exceeding $90,000 mid-career—but still face moderate unemployment rates, generally between 4.7% and 5.5%.

While salary remains a strong indicator of economic outcomes, these findings underscore that a higher paycheck doesn’t always guarantee job security.

As the labor market continues to evolve, prospective students may want to weigh both earning potential and employability in their education decisions.

If you enjoyed this graphic, check out this map on Voronoi about the income needed to buy a home in every U.S. state.

Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A Swedish government commission has recommended halting all international adoptions after an investigation found that decades of illegal adoptions amounted to child trafficking involving state authorities and adoption agencies.

At a news conference in Stockholm, Swedish Social Services Minister Camilla Waltersson Gronvall told the Swedish language Epoch Times on June 2: “[There are] appalling cases of deficient background information, and even children simply being stolen from their parents.

“There has been an unreasonable level of trust in the governments of the countries of origin for the children adopted to Sweden.”

According to Human Rights Watch, roughly 60,000 people have been adopted into Sweden. It started with children from South Korea in the 1950s, and then began to include children from China, Chile, Ethiopia, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, peaking in the mid-1970s to 1980s. By the early 2000s, the numbers began to steadily decline.

Amid growing concerns that adopted children may have been taken from their biological parents illegally, the commission found confirmed cases of child trafficking spanning every decade from the 1970s to the 2000s.

Head of the inquiry Anna Singer, professor of civil law, told The Epoch Times that this practice is “winding down by itself.”

“Last year, 54 children were adopted to Sweden [from abroad]. … Many countries have ceased putting children up for intercountry adoption,” she said.

“Adoption agencies are not a sustainable solution for meeting the needs of these children. It’s better to try to improve conditions in their countries of origin. Intercountry adoption may have worked to slow down such efforts.”

China in the Spotlight

The final two-volume report released on June 2, the result of a probe that started in 2021, states that Swedish adoption organizations “have taken great risks by operating in China, which has been a closed country with very limited opportunities for transparency throughout the period.”

It states that all children adopted from China were described as abandoned and lacked any background history, making it difficult, or impossible, to assess whether the adoptions were in the children’s best interests.

“Chinese authorities have confirmed that four adoptions to Sweden were linked to the systematic child trafficking in Hunan [Province] that was exposed in 2005,“ the report reads. ”However, it cannot be ruled out that more Swedish adoptions are affected by the child trafficking in China.”

Financial incentives were created, as orphanages in China were compensated with $3,000 to $5,000 per child placed for international adoption. The Swedish supervisory authority found that the orphanages were dependent on these fees.

In total, almost 4,300 adoptions from China have been carried out to date, making China the fourth-largest country of origin for adoptions to Sweden in terms of total numbers.

Most adoptions occurred during the period 2000 to 2010, when more than 3,200 children were adopted from China to Sweden.

China is one of the few countries that approved adoption of young children to single adoptive parents.

The report also states that Swedish adoption companies failed to ensure that children were made available for adoption through proper channels or that the process was in the children’s best interests.

In many cases, signed documentation from biological parents was missing, even when those parents were known. Files also often lacked critical details needed for adoptees to understand their origins.

“Ultimately, it is the Swedish State that has failed to protect the rights of children in intercountry adoption activities,“ the report reads. ”This means that the State must take responsibility for what has happened and take measures to ensure that it does not happen again.”

It recommends an official apology to adopted people and their families as well as financial aid to help those who have been adopted to travel to their country of origin.

The Netherlands said in December 2024 that it would phase out international adoptions over the next six years, after an official 2021 report found that children had been stolen or bought from their birth parents in cases going back to the 1960s.

Switzerland said in January that it also plans to end international adoptions, amid similar concerns of abuse.

Roger Sahlstrom and Reuters contributed to this report.

Because what six-year-old doesn’t want to start planning for retirement?

Germany’s government is floating an “early start pension” for kids aged 6 to 18, according to Fortune.

Instead of relying on your own paycheck (which, at 6, probably isn’t that robust), the government would pony up 10 euros ($11) a month per child. Over 12 years, that’s a whopping 1,440 euros—plus whatever compounding interest the Tooth Fairy manages to generate.

Once they hit 18, these kids can add their own cash and get tax-free gains—but no withdrawals until they’re 67. Because nothing says “carpe diem” like waiting six decades to cash in.

Fortune writes that this is all part of Germany’s plan to reform pensions, bolster private saving, and generally get people thinking about the unaffordable retirements that plague modern life. With people living longer and working well past 65, retirement is looking less like a golden sunset and more like a second job. The share of Americans over 65 who are still working has doubled since the 1980s—because that beach house just won’t buy itself.

Financial gurus like Suze Orman say Gen Z could retire millionaires if they start investing early enough. She crunches the numbers: just $100 a month at 12% growth could net them over a million bucks by 65. Now imagine starting at age 6 instead of 26—who knows, maybe they’ll be sipping umbrella drinks while their parents are still on the clock.

That is, if a million bucks even buys you a coffee in America decades from now…

Via Remix News,

The issue of crime on public transport in Germany is a major topic, as the left wants more people taking public transport while at the same time promoting open borders, which makes public transport more and more dangerous. The data has shown for years that migrants are sexually assaulting women, partaking in knife attacks, and generally making public transport hell for Germans, and the latest data from the southern state of Baden-Württemberg only highlights this trend.

There, a recent inquiry by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) to the Ministry of the Interior, Digitalization, and Municipalities reveals a concerning picture of safety on public transport in Baden-Württemberg.

In 2024, Baden-Württemberg’s public transport system saw a total of 30,950 individuals identified as suspects for various crimes, averaging about 85 suspects per day. It is important to note that this figure does not include violations for immigration offenses, which can only be committed by foreigners, of which there were an additional 20,339 violations of immigration law, bringing the total recorded incidents in public transport to 51,289.

NEW: 🇩🇪 Foreigners commit 59% of all sexual crimes at German trains and train stations, the latest crime data shows.

Sexual violence crimes have doubled between 2019 and 2024.

Foreigners are 15% of Germany’s population.

(Source: German Federal Police) pic.twitter.com/WQpbyap6Xm

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) November 21, 2024

Significantly, foreigners also lead the statistics across all other crime categories, including violent crime. Out of the 30,950 suspects for crimes on public transport, 19,138 (62 percent) were non-German, compared to 11,812 (38 percent) German suspects.

A deeper dive into specific crime categories further highlights the trend:

• Violent Crime: Of the 1,942 suspects recorded for violent crimes in 2024 (including murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, and various forms of bodily harm), 1,037 (53 percent) were non-German, while 906 (47 percent) were German.
• Theft Offenses: In the 2,180 suspects registered for theft, 1,397 (64 percent) were foreigners, compared to 783 (36 percent) Germans.
• Drug Offenses: Non-German suspects also formed the majority in drug-related offenses, accounting for 1,216 (56 percent) out of 2,189 total suspects, with 973 (44 percent) being German.
• Weapon Offenses: Out of 422 suspects, 257 (61 percent) were non-German, while 165 (39 percent) were German.

The number of suspects in knife attacks on public transport has continuously increased over the past three years in Baden-Württemberg, rising from 181 in 2022 to 184 in 2023, and reaching 224 suspects in 2024.

🇩🇪🚨Germany’s Green Party is calling for “women-only” train cars in Berlin due to soaring sexual assaults.

In February, Iranian migrant Moshen K. raped a 63-year-old woman on the U3 train line, sparking outrage.

Since 2013, sexual violence crimes have jumped 260% in Berlin. pic.twitter.com/Xunuj84hpu

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) November 18, 2024

Of the 224 knife attack cases, foreigners constituted the majority, with 127 suspects (approximately 57 percent), compared to 97 German suspects (43 percent). Among the foreign knife attackers, individuals from asylum-seeker countries topped the list: Syria (30 suspects), Tunisia (14), Morocco (13), and Algeria (9). Turkey and Iraq each had six suspects, while Poland and Afghanistan each had five.

🇩🇪‼️ “I will beat you till you die… Look at your pig skin.”

A migrant makes sexist, racist, and anti-LGBT remarks against young women in the Berlin train system near the Tempelhof stop. pic.twitter.com/LuJZCcrTsT

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) November 19, 2024

A “knife attack” is defined as an offense where an attack with a knife is directly threatened or carried out against a person.

It should be noted of the German offenders, many of them have a migration background, but Germany does not collect that data. However, in some cases where the names of suspects have been obtained, many of these German offenders clearly have foreign backgrounds, as data for gang rapes in North Rhine-Westphalia reveals.

🇩🇪🚨 Last year, police in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia arrested 155 suspects in connection with 209 cases of gang r*pe.

A total of 84 suspects were foreign nationals and 71 were German citizens.

At the request of the AfD state parliamentary party, the state… pic.twitter.com/Nc3DwTje1o

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) September 3, 2024

In addition, foreigners only make up about 16 percent of the population of Germany, yet their extreme over representation in the crime statistics is striking.

Passengers are not the only ones being threatened with exploding crime levels, but also public transportation staff. German train unions have raised the alarm.

🇩🇪🗡️ NEW: Germany’s rail system is seeing an explosion in violence, with 75 violent and sexual crimes every single day last year.

🔺 25,640 violent crimes were recorded in 2023, a 42% increase from 2019

🔺 There were 1,898 sexual crimes, a 60% increase

🔺 555 knife crimes pic.twitter.com/WT2fVI9vcG

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) August 27, 2024

“I have an average of three employees sitting in my Erfurt office every week for legal advice. They were attacked, spat on, insulted, threatened or pushed,” said Steffi Recknagel, the head of the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) in Thuringia, during an interview.

“The worst case was that a train attendant was threatened with a knife,” said Recknagel, while another was physically attacked from behind and “the air was knocked out of her.”

🇩🇪‼️ German women rejected the advances of a group of 5 men and were spat at and then pepper sprayed.

According to the police report, the girls were waiting for a train in Cologne when the group of five men approached them. The group of girlfriends rejected the advances of the… pic.twitter.com/7Gmzl1DeDl

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) December 17, 2024

In other cases, female train workers were “slapped,” “kicked,” had their clothing pulled, and were “treated aggressively.” In some cases, the perpetrators told these female workers they were not allowed to speak because they are women.

The union head in that region said that while there are problematic spots across the German state, there is one particularly bad stretch between the state capital of Erfurt and Suhl. She said the “extreme” situation there is due to the presence of a refugee center in Suhl, which features mainly Syrian, Afghan, and Turkish migrants, who travel to Erfurt and back again on a regular basis.

Read more here…

Update (2358ET):  The optics of what happened this week between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump are wild – with Musk standing up for MAGA ideals that Trump campaigned on, and Trump peddling a bill that came from the swamp. Musk’s key issues are that it raises the debt ceiling another $5 trillion, while – and this part is in contention – the bill either raises the deficit by $2.4 trillion, or lowers it by $1.4 trillion – depending on who you believe. We note that it also makes little to no effort to actually do anything about the waste, fraud, or abuse found by DOGE. 

So, following a rollercoaster of a day (scroll down if you just emerged from a coma), on top of a rollercoaster week, Musk struck a different tone Thursday night on X after a long 12 hours which saw Trump threaten to pull federal funding from Musk’s companies for opposing the BBB, which was met Musk calling his bluff and declaring he would decommission the SpaceX Dragon (the only operational US spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station), proposing a new political party “that actually represents the 80% in the middle,” implying Trump is a pedophile, and endorsing Trump’s impeachment. 

Now that the dust has settled, Musk appears to have struck somewhat of a conciliatory tone Thursday night – first posting that he would not in fact decommission Dragon. 

Good advice.

Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2025

He also reposted several things on X hinting at a path forward if Republicans fix the bill. 

Musk also reposted Senator Rand Paul suggesting that he would vote for the BBB “if we got real spending cuts” instead of “the largest debt increase in US history.” 

He also replied “You’re not wrong” to Bill Ackman’s suggestion that Trump and Musk “should make peace for the benefit of our great country.” 

You’re not wrong

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2025

And then he made fun of himself.

😂🎯 https://t.co/hKhIMhKizZ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2025

Meanwhile, when contacted for comment by Politico, Trump said “Oh it’s okay,” adding “It’s going very well, never done better.” 

Earlier Thursday — as Musk raged about the cost of legislation that is projected to add $2.4 trillion to the deficit — Trump tempered some of his commentary on his own social media platform at the urging of White House aides.

The aides advised him to focus on the bill and getting it through the Senate instead of the conflict with Musk, according to one person close to the White House who was granted anonymity to discuss private exchanges. -Politico

According to the report, White House aides have scheduled a all on Friday with Musk to broker a peace.

In short, Trump and Republicans need to “Drop the tax cuts, cut some pork, and get the bill through” so it aligns with MAGA and DOGE priorities (what you were elected to do), kith and make up, and make sure JD doesn’t have to spend Christmas at two houses this year. 

w-w-well does this mean i get two quissmassess~? pic.twitter.com/gGMGOlv57N

— OSCAR (@now_thats_oscar) June 5, 2025

Overnight shares of Tesla were higher on the news.

*  *  *

Like a vendor at a ballgame parking lot, we sold a ton of these waxed canvas hats today amid the drama. Thank you for your support. 

Update (1725ET): As the Trump-Musk feud continues to escalate, Musk endorsed the notion that ‘Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him,’ floated by Malaysian US political commentator Ian Miles Cheong.

Yes https://t.co/rqRsX8B4Hg

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Earlier…

Aaaand Musk just announced he’ll begin decommissioning the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft ‘immediately’

In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately pic.twitter.com/NG9sijjkgW

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

He also doubled down on the Epstein claim…

🤨 https://t.co/ec6Je8nZKC

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

While Trump defenders such as Laura Loomer pushed back:

At least there’s one reasonable person on here. https://t.co/wh0ihbzTOh

— Ben Smith (@semaforben) June 5, 2025

Trump, meanwhile, posted what could be considered somewhat of an attempt to de-escalate – that he ‘doesn’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,” adding “This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given.”

Update (1615ET): Just as the spat between Elon Musk and President Trump seemed to have reached cruising altitude, Musk hit the afterburners – claiming on X that President Trump is “in the Epstein files,” adding “That is the real reason they have not been made public…

Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Meanwhile, shares in TSLA are down 16% as the market cascades lower. Fun fact, Tesla was the most bought retail stock over the last week. 

*  *  *

Update (1255ET): The tech-bro industrial complex has to be shitting themselves as the Trump-Musk spat just hit a new gear; Elon Musk is calling for a new political party, while Trump just threatened to pull Musk’s contracts. 

In a Thursday afternoon post to Truth Social, Trump said that Elon was “wearing thin,” and that he “Asked him to leave.” 

“I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!“

Trump then ‘truthed’ that “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”

“Such an obvious lie. So sad.” Musk replied…

Such an obvious lie. So sad. https://t.co/sOu9vqMVfX

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Before calling Trump’s bluff…

This just gets better and better 🤣🤣

Go ahead, make my day … https://t.co/APmy7cV8iL

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

And is calling for a new political party…

Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Which has an 84% ‘yes’ rating…

Elon Musk just asked, if there is a time to create a new political party and 84% of 386k people voted yes.

And you worry about your bags being down? pic.twitter.com/dQnpj0mvhk

— Mókus (@kryptomokus) June 5, 2025

*  *  *

You can support ZeroHedge by picking up a waxed canvas hat!

Update (1255ET): Well that escalated quickly…

Elon Musk is now raging on X against President Trump, after Trump talked greasy to the press over Musk’s opposition to the “Big Beautiful Bill” over the past several days. 

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote, adding “Such ingratitude.” 

Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Such ingratitude

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Meanwhile Tesla stock is down 9%…

And Palantir is down 5% as the tech bro darlings come under pressure… 

*  *  *

President Trump has weighed in after Elon Musk began publicly bashing the GOP’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ telling reporters on Thursday that he’s ‘very disappointed in Elon,’ and that Musk only opposes the bill because they eliminated electric vehicle tax credits from it. 

“Elon is upset because we took the EV mandate which was a lot of money for electric vehicles. They’re having a hard time the electric vehicles, and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy. Elon knew this from the beginning,” said Trump. 

Trump on Elon Musk: “You saw a man who was very happy when he stood behind the Oval desk. Even with a black eye. I said, do you want a little makeup? He said, ‘No, I don’t think so,’ which is interesting … Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.” pic.twitter.com/4dHkJoqYmQ

— Polymarket Intel (@PolymarketIntel) June 5, 2025

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump on Elon Musk:

“Elon is upset because we took the EV mandate which was a lot of money for electric vehicles. They’re having a hard time the electric vehicles, and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy. Elon knew this from the beginning.” pic.twitter.com/VwB7bSapXe

— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) June 5, 2025

Trump also suggested that Musk “recommended somebody he knew very well to run NASA. I didn’t think it was appropriate, and he happened to be a Democrat, like totally Democrat.”

TRUMP: “Elon Musk recommended somebody he knew very well to run NASA. I didn’t think it was appropriate, and he happened to be a Democrat, like totally Democrat.”pic.twitter.com/AnnVxDZqpR

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 5, 2025

Musk, meanwhile responded with “Whatever” to Trump…

“Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,” Musk wrote. “In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this!”

“Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.” 

Whatever.

Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill.

In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful.…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

And then there’s this…

Where is this guy today?? https://t.co/qcLNVSYEIB

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

He then addressed Trump’s specific comments regarding the bill, posting “False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!”

False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it! https://t.co/V4ztekqd4g

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Prior to Trump’s comments, Musk spent much of the morning re-posting old Trump tweets calling for no ficits and to stop raising the debt ceiling. 

Over the past several days Musk has dug in over the issue – posting to X on Tuesday, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.”

This sent the White House scrambling to do damage control – with Budget Director Russ Vought sending Congress a request for a $9.4 billion clawback for unspent foreign aid funding – which if you’re Musk, after what DOGE has uncovered, is a huge slap in the face.

On Wednesday, Musk continued to rage on X – posting: “Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! Kill the Bill.” – followed by a ‘Kill Bill’ movie poster featuring Uma Thurman. 

Call your Senator,
Call your Congressman,

Bankrupting America is NOT ok!

KILL the BILL

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2025

pic.twitter.com/b15EQ9l0nD

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2025

Musk’s solution? A new spending bill that doesn’t jack the debt ceiling by $5 trillion dollars while “massively” growing the deficit. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson also spoke out against Musk, saying “I think Elon is flat wrong.” 

🚨 MIKE JOHNSON: “I think Elon is flat wrong. I think he’s way off on this. I’ve been privately and publicly consistent on that.”

Yikes 🤦‍♂️

pic.twitter.com/StZZLefFRS

— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) June 4, 2025

Developing…

Authored by Randall Bock via The Brownstone Institute,

Peter Daszak’s recent X posts (June 2, 2025) labeling Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the new NIH Director, an “anti-science Luddite” who is “destroying public health” are a masterclass in projection.

Daszak, former head of EcoHealth Alliance (facilitator and co-conspirator of that recent pandemic, what was it called? Oh yes, SARS CoV-2 Covid-19), accuses Bhattacharya of having a “vendetta against the NIH” and claims his policies will cost lives, while pointing fingers at organizations like Brownstone Institute for being part of a right-wing conspiracy (how original!) to dismantle science. Let’s cut through the noise.

Calling Bhattacharya anti-science is absurd. Erstwhile Stanford professor and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, Bhattacharya has consistently championed evidence-based public health, advocating for open scientific debate over dogmatic policies. His focus on data-driven approaches—like considering natural immunity and the harms of lockdowns—earned him censorship under the previous administration. His leadership at the NIH promises transparency and rigor, both of which seem to terrify Daszak—operating without (his previous sponsor) Dr. Fauci’s golden parachute of a Biden/autopen pardon.

Now, let’s talk about Daszak’s version of “science.” EcoHealth Alliance, under his watch, funneled US. taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) for gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses—research that may have contributed to the unleashing of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan. 

As I detailed in my Brownstone articles, Daszak’s collaboration with WIV’s “Bat Woman” Zhengli-Li Shi involved modifying coronaviruses to make them more infectious to humans, fitting the NIH’s own definition of gain-of-function despite his denials. That second article of mine only came about after EcoHealth Alliance’s bullying. When I had pointed out EcoHealth’s complicity in my original Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Own Gain-of-Function, Daszak’s minions tried to bully Brownstone into retracting the reference. 

When that failed, he blocked me on X to dodge accountability.

How “science-y” is that? Blocking someone for raising legitimate questions about your role in a global pandemic isn’t the mark of a scientist—it’s the mark of someone with something to hide.

Daszak’s attacks on Bhattacharya are a distraction from his own failures. Why were US funds sent to a CCP-controlled lab with poor oversight instead of trusted allies? Why the lack of transparency? These questions remain unanswered, and his attempts to silence critics—like me—only deepen the suspicion around EcoHealth’s actions.

Science thrives on open debate, not censorship. Bhattacharya represents a return to that principle at the NIH, while Daszak’s behavior—blocking dissenters and evading tough questions—shows what anti-science really looks like. The public deserves better, and with Bhattacharya leading the NIH, we might finally get it.

NEVER FORGET: Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance tried to quash and have Brownstone retract my: Dr. Anthony Fauci’s Own “Gain-of-Function”—October 9, 2023.

Instead, I researched further, doubled down, and produced this: “EcoHealth Alliance’s Wuhan-Virus Dalliances” October 22, 2023.

After which, crickets…Peter Daszak blocked me on X.com. The essence of bullies is cowardice.

Please see also my Fauci’s ‘DNA of Caring’ By Randall Bock, August 9, 2024, Brownstone.org.

Republished from the author’s Substack