There has been lots of confusion over the past week whether Trump has – or has not – spoken to Xi Jinping, to set trade negotiation talks in motion. According to Trump, he has and more than once…

Reporter: Have you spoken to President Xi since the tariffs?@POTUS: “I don’t want to comment on that but I’ve spoken to him many times.” pic.twitter.com/TAkK0EjXhA

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 25, 2025

… while China has repeatedly denied it has had any contact with its US counterparts, which is to be expected: admitting it is negotiating would be seen as a carte blanche for other countries to do the same, ending any attempts at negotiation “cartelization” Beijing may have tried to impose.

Unfortunately, the problem is that both sides tend to…. exaggerate reality, which makes a definitive conclusion either way challenging. And absent 3rd party confirmation either way, the market is forced to flip a coin to decide who is telling the truth. Unless, of course, there was 3rd party confirmation, which now appears to be the case.

According to an overnight report in The JoongAng, one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and the newspaper of record for South Korea, it was “confirmed that the United States and China have begun behind-the-scenes contacts in relation to the ‘tariff war’ waged by US President Donald Trump.”

Again, as noted above, after Trump said he had been in contact with China every day, the Chinese side, through a Foreign Ministry spokesperson briefing, said that Trump was effectively lying: “we have never had any consultations or negotiations with the United States, and (the related remarks) are all fake news.” The Chinese Ministry of Commerce also denied this, saying, “Economic and trade negotiations (with the United States) are not underway.”

However, in its overnight report, JoongAng Ilbo confirmed that at around 7 am ET on the 24th, a high-ranking official from the Chinese Ministry of Finance entered the Treasury building located right next to the White House in Washington D.C. accompanied by about 10 attendants.

According to the report, the exact identities of the senior officials leading the dozen or so entourage have not been confirmed, “but they were all wearing the identification required for entry into the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting currently taking place in Washington.” It was the same type of identification worn by Lan Poan, China’s Minister of Finance, when he met with Choi Sang-mok, the Minister of Strategy and Finance, who visited the U.S. the day before.

The Korean newspaper adds that “Chinese officials strongly blocked the press from taking photos of high-ranking officials entering the U.S. Treasury building this morning.” 

The Chinese officials then reportedly said that “we have no authority to block the freedom of the press,” but added “we have the right to refuse to allow our personnel to be photographed,” and demanded that the press delete all photos taken on their smartphones.

When the press asked him to reveal the identity of the person who had blocked the interview, he refused, saying, “I have no obligation to reveal my identity.” However, the ID card he was wearing had his name, photo, and nationality written as “China.”

The ‘Treasury Department Meeting’ between the US and China on this day began at around 7:00 AM, about an hour before Deputy Prime Minister Choi and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duck-keun began the ‘2+2 Trade Consultation’ with US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamison Greer. As a result, the Korea-US tariff negotiations were conducted following the US-China backroom contacts.

A diplomatic source told JoongAng Ilbo, “The fact that the treasury channels of both the U.S. and China are actually operating means that both countries have reached a critical point under domestic and international pressure due to the current retaliatory tariffs,” and predicted that “the results of the backroom negotiations between the two sides could be a major turning point in the tariff war.” 

As for why China has been extremely secretive about the process, the source told the South Korean outlet that “since this tariff war is unfolding as a battle of pride with the leaders of both countries directly appearing, it may not be easy to create some kind of ‘win-win structure.” He added that “the fact that China visited the U.S. Treasury Department in person could be an extremely sensitive issue for China.“

Remarkably, Trump may have been telling the truth… again.

Source: The JoongAng

Our latest trade war tracking coverage of critical U.S.-China supply chains shows that China’s export manufacturing base has already been severely impacted, with shockwaves thundering across the Pacific. Ports along the U.S. West Coast—particularly the Port of Los Angeles—are now bracing for a sharp plunge in containerized imports in the coming days, if not the next few weeks. 

On Friday, new data from Port Optimizer, a tracking system for vessel operators, showed that scheduled import volumes into the Port of Los Angeles are set to decline sharply beginning on Sunday.

Let’s review what’s transpired this month: 

• Amazon Cancels Orders, Walmart Pulls Forecast As Tariffs Take Hold

• Are China Road Traffic Indicators Set To Collapse As Tariff War Cancels Factory Orders

• Chinese Sellers On Amazon Panic After Trump’s Tariff Bazooka

• Liberation Day Fallout: China’s Port Volumes Sink After Trump’s Tariff Blitz

• Chinese Plastics Factories Face Mass Closure As U.S. Ethane Supply Evaporates

• “Our Export Orders Disappeared”: Chinese Factories Shutting Down, Laying Off Workers, FT Finds

• First Tariff Shock Set To Hit Port Of Los Angeles, With Ripple Effects Across The Broader Economy

Also on Friday, Goldman’s Jack McFerran provided clients with a “China Export Tracker” produced by Trina Chen, head of China research and Asia commodities at Goldman. 

“She has created a tracker and working with 46x corporates with products representing 70% of the China export value to gauge the speed and size of changes as they happen,” McFerran said.

He said this data provides clients with early reads on trade disruptions: 

• Early reads suggest substantial impact on Chinese exports to the U.S. While specifics are challenging, feedback suggests 41% have seen above 50% negative impact on their exports (produced in China). The most-impacted products are white goods, appliances, batteries and selected commodities, whilst lesser-impacted products include healthcare, gaming software, and industrial-tech (partly due to current tariff exemptions or FOB pricing systems).

• Pricing discussions have started, but no clarity on pass through; some corporates are not seeing enough margin to absorb tariff impact. The pace of changes has been so rapid that most producers haven’t been able to mount an effective response yet. However, 60% of surveyed corporates had started discussing new pricing with end users/importers in the U.S., but none of the respondents expect to see an improvement in clarity in the coming weeks.

• Ex-China supply chain (particularly Southeast Asia) could provide temporary reprieve. Producers have commented that alternative supply chains could fill the gap, with Southeast Asia, Mexico, and India providing the most alternative supply chains for the majority of products. In the near-term, Southeast Asia activity is picking up in a rush for orders during the current 90-day suspension – the team estimates 20% of Chinese producers surveyed are using their ex-China production facilities in lower-tariff countries now.

• Corporates are also pointing to their U.S. inventory buffers, for now. Producers that prepared ahead seem to have a 3–6-month inventory buffer in the U.S., with price-hikes being planned once these low-cost inventories have been depleted.

• Forward-looking container shipping data are pointing to a >27% fall by 3Q25. U.S. container imports from China stood at 0.76 mn TEU as of March, and forward-looking estimates for U.S. monthly container imports do imply a +10% YoY growth for 1Q25E, but also imply -15% YoY for 2Q25E, and -27% for 3Q25E.

A breakdown of Trina Chen’s key products in her tracker coverage… 

The trade war shock is set to hit U.S. West Coast shores momentarily, with the first impacts expected at the Port of Los Angeles.

Imagine what it would be like if the economy showed no growth for 7 years.

That is how the trucking market feels for truckers right now. Truckload volumes have dropped to 2018 levels as phase 1 of the trade war is showing up in the market. pic.twitter.com/TY3FAHn8LC

— Craig Fuller 🛩🚛🚂⚓️ (@FreightAlley) April 25, 2025

Meanwhile, leftist U.S. corporate media, ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, etc… has been silent about the unfolding economic mess crushing Chinese exporters as Democrats save headlines and quietly hope to pin a potential ‘Great Depression’ on Trump. 

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) told states on April 24 to take steps to make sure illegal immigrants do not receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), colloquially known as food stamps.

States must at a minimum verify the identity of program applicants, collect applicants’ Social Security numbers, compare the Social Security numbers to the federal government’s Social Security death data, and check whether the applicants are listed in a Department of Homeland Security database as being in the country illegally, John Walk, the USDA’s acting deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services, said in a memorandum to states.

The USDA released a letter from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that advised states that they can now use the Department of Homeland Security’s database for free.

State agencies must also verify U.S. citizenship for applicants “for whom there is an indicia that the applicant’s claim to United States citizenship (whether natural born, naturalized, acquired, or derivative) is questionable,” Walk wrote.

Federal law allows U.S. citizens and some legal immigrants to receive SNAP benefits but prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving food stamps. About 11.7 percent—approximately $10.5 billion—of the SNAP benefits paid by the USDA in fiscal year 2023 were improper, including improper payments to illegal immigrants, the Government Accountability Office said in a 2024 report.

States “did not always verify certain program eligibility requirements,” including citizenship, the report stated.

USDA officials are also encouraging states to require the verification of U.S. citizenship for each SNAP applicant, as the law allows states to mandate verification of certain factors and increase the number of in-person interviews of applicants.

“Benefit fraud is unacceptable in all forms, including use by illegal aliens. This guidance serves as a foundation for future compliance endeavors that will not only deter, but end access to benefits by illegal aliens. I appreciate your attention and assistance in making certain only those eligible receive SNAP benefits,” Walk said in the memo.

Walk cited President Donald Trump’s Feb. 19 executive order directing the USDA to “enhance eligibility verification systems, to the maximum extent possible, to ensure that taxpayer-funded benefits exclude any ineligible alien who entered the United States illegally or is otherwise unlawfully present in the United States.”

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins earlier this year sent a letter to states that said her guiding principles for SNAP included taking action to minimize fraud and waste while enforcing legal requirements.

“The days in which taxpayer dollars are used to subsidize illegal immigration are over,” Rollins said in a statement on Thursday. “Today’s directive affirms that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will follow the law—full stop.”

Despite a growing chorus of pundits claiming the “death of the dollar” is imminent, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the dollar will remain the world’s reserve currency. 

The dollar is in the midst of its worst start to a year on record…

The following clip from Bloomberg was based on a speech Scott Bessent gave Thursday morning to the IMF and World Bank:

More broadly, the Treasury secretary reinforced backing for the central role of the US and its dollar in the global financial system. 

“I think that the US will always, for my lifetime, be the reserve currency,” said Bessent, age 62. 

He also quipped of the global reserve role, saying “I am actually not sure that anyone else wants it.”

As RealInvestmentAdvice.com reports, some believe Donald Trump’s economic policies are designed to end the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency. 

Scott Bessent clears up such misinformation, affirming the dollar’s status as the reserve currency. 

In Trump’s Economic Revolution, we opined on the long-standing Bretton Woods Agreement that made the dollar the reserve currency and how Trump may be steering away from some of the “rules” that evolved since the agreement was signed in 1944.

The agreement and its unwritten rules are economically unsustainable. Trump is rightfully taking action to change them. 

However, that doesn’t mean he intends to change the dollar’s status as the reserve currency.

As we summarized in the article mentioned above:

The dollar will likely remain the world’s reserve currency as no reasonable alternative exists. However, the unspoken agreements and promises surrounding the global economy may change drastically.

Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times,

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Ken Martin on Thursday rebuked DNC Vice Chair David Hogg’s plan to fund primary challenges against some incumbents within his own party.

Hogg, a 25-year-old survivor of the Parkland High School shooting and one of the best-known DNC officials, and Leaders We Deserve, a progressive political organization founded by Hogg and others in 2023, announced the intention to primary Democrats on their website on April 15.

After Hogg came out as a leading proponent of the push, Martin was critical, saying that the DNC needed to be a “referee” with its officials remaining neutral on primary contests.

“Let me be unequivocal: No DNC officer should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election, whether on behalf of an incumbent or a challenger,” Martin said during an appearance on Fox News.

“If you want to challenge incumbents, you’re more than free to do that, but just not as an officer of the DNC, because our job is to be neutral arbiters. We can’t be both the referee and also the player at the same time.”

Hogg took the opposite stance in an X thread on Thursday defending the push, saying that he could remain affiliated with the DNC in his official capacity while also working against Democratic incumbents that progressives perceive as weak.

“This moment requires us to have the strongest opposition party possible to stop [President Donald] Trump  … and to provide a real alternative to the Republican Party for voters that we simply do not have right now,” Hogg said.

“As we’re seeing law firms, tech companies, and so many others bowing to Trump, we all must use whatever position of power we have to fight back. And that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Hogg also said he isn’t breaking any rules by targeting certain Democratic incumbents for replacement.

“The role of the DNC is to set the Presidential primary calendar, set the Presidential debate schedule, to help strengthen our state parties, play a key role in building our data infrastructure for the party, and to be the campaign in waiting for whoever the next Democratic nominee is,” Hogg wrote. 

“Nothing I’m doing is at odds with any of that.”

David Hogg talks to people after speaking at the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Aug. 26, 2023. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

Leaders We Deserve announced the push earlier this month, indicating that they were seeking a change in the status quo.

“Too many elected leaders in the Democratic Party are either unwilling or unable to meet the moment and are asleep at the wheel while Trump is demolishing the economy, challenging the foundations of our democracy, and creating new existential crises for our country by the day,” a page dedicated to the topic reads.

The group said Washington has an incumbent-favoring culture.

“Today’s party politics has an unwritten rule: if you win a seat, it’s yours for life. No one serious in your party will challenge you. That is a culture that we have to break.”

The organization is seeking to replace long-serving incumbents with new, younger Democrats—and have committed $20 million to that end.

“Younger leaders simply bring a different level of urgency that we just aren’t seeing in our politics right now,” the statement said, referencing young Democrats’ perception of urgency on issues like climate or gun control.

“Our politicians have failed to make [democracy] work for the people, and instead made it work for the special interests destroying our future.”

Democrats Search for Identity Post-Trump

The escalating feud fits into a larger identity crisis for the Democratic Party in the wake of Trump’s sweeping 2024 electoral victory, when he took all seven swing states as well as the popular vote.

Since then, Democrats have been scrambling to articulate their platform and stances amid Trump’s much more aggressive second term.

Meanwhile, young progressive Democrats—including figures like Hogg and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)—have increasingly sought to assert a presence over the party.

At the end of the 117th Congress, mounting pressure from younger Democrats led three longtime House leaders—Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), all of whom were octogenarians—to step down, making way for the ascent of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other younger Democrats.

As we have shown on several recent occasions, the US-China trade war is notable in that while the Xi and Trump admins are clearly going at it, their core “support” organizations such as the Fed and PBOC have taken on decidedly different paths: while the Chinese central bank (which is controlled by the communist party) is doing everything to prop up markets and the yuan, and give Beijing the upper hand when it comes to market leverage in the war with Trump, the Fed is doing just the opposite, allowing the dollar to tumble and letting stocks slide, refusing to intervene in the market. 

In fact one of the biggest tension points in recent weeks has been Trump’s anger at Powell, and his desire to “remove” the Fed chair due to the Fed’s reluctance to cut rates now, versus cutting them in September 2024, when the market was at all time highs and the Biden economy was reportedly so much stronger.

China PPT: propping up Chinese stocks literally every day

Fed’s Powell: fuck your calls pic.twitter.com/VGXMNNwccv

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 17, 2025

Perhaps not surprisingly, with every passing day this dynamic only gets more acute, because while the Fed is desperately seeking reasons to avoid cutting rates such as predicting inflation may jump in a year or so – despite increasingly dovish comments from the likes of Fed officials Waller and Hammack who realize that the US would be in recession long before inflation kicks in – China’s leadership overnight vowed to stabilize the economy and society, “as the country is now at a critical stage in handling the unprecedented trade war with the United States.”

In an economic-analysis meeting on Friday, the 24-man Politburo, China’s main decision-making body headed by President Xi Jinping, said authorities would roll out specific plans to support companies and individuals affected by the trade war.

They pledged to “coordinate domestic economic work with international economic and trade engagements, resolutely focus on doing our own affairs, steadfastly expand high-level opening up, and focus on stabilizing employment, businesses, markets, and expectations”, according to a meeting readout released by Xinhua.

“By enhancing the certainty of high-quality development, we can effectively respond to the uncertainties brought by drastic changes in the external environment,” it said.

In other words, the PBOC will continue doing more of the same, creating a false sense of stability, even as stateside, the Fed encourages the all too real sense of instability.

The Politburo meeting typically sets the tone for the country’s economic work in the second quarter. This year, it has come amid uncertainty over how the world’s second-largest economy will fare in an escalated tariff war with the US while trying to meet leadership’s annual growth target of “around 5 per cent”, after a solid start in the first quarter saw gross domestic product rise by 5.4%, but the growth rate is expected to tumble in coming months.

To boost the role of domestic consumption in driving economic growth, Beijing will strive to increase the income of the lower- and middle-income groups while vigorously developing service consumption, the authorities said. Which is desperately needed since unlike the US, China does not have a social safety net, and therefore how long its economy can remain stressed depends entirely on how long the middle class refuses to revolt.

Beijing will also step up measures to stabilize the housing market, including renovating dilapidated housing in urban areas and refining policies for the acquisition of commercial housing inventory, according to the readout. On the other hand, why Beijing has failed to do this for the past 5 years ever since China suffered a spectacular collapse in its housing sector which crushed the middle class, is anyone’s guess. Actually, it’s not a guess: the reason why China can not do anything to forcefully stabilize its housing market is because China has way too much debt, and any attempt for massive fiscal stimulus will lead to a quick sugar high… and epic crash shortly after. And Beijing is well aware of this, which is why China has perfected the art of jawboning constantly and doing absolutely nothing.

In response to Trump tariff hikes, China vows to unleash much more stimulus, as it has every week for the past 3 years.

Luckily, at 330% debt/GDP China has lots of fiscal space for stimulus

Oh wait… pic.twitter.com/UmJL9ZwjnQ

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 7, 2025

There’s more: authorities said they will also maintain stability and boost vitality in the capital markets, in other words the PBOC and “National Team” plunge protection teams will be even more active… while Powell goes fishing.

The Politburo reiterated that Beijing would implement a more proactive fiscal policy and moderately loose monetary policy, by accelerating the issuance of government bonds and cutting the reserve requirement ratio and key policy interest rates at an appropriate time.

It will also launch new lending facilities to boost technological innovation, consumption and trade.

To support companies significantly impacted by tariffs, the proportion of job-retention refunds from unemployment insurance funds will be increased, the readout added. “We must focus on ensuring people’s livelihoods,” it said correctly, although it will be short by a few trillion yuan when it’s all said and done.

Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for China’s economic growth this year to 4%, down from 4.6%, while slashing the US growth outlook to 1.8%, a 0.9% drop from its January projection, as the trade war between the two countries raises the risk of a prolonged decoupling.

And speaking to just how debt-constrained China truly is, the Politburo meeting did not announce any new stimulus measures beyond the budget approved in the National People’s Congress in March, but it “reflects the government’s readiness to launch new policies” when the economy is affected by external shocks, according to Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

“It seems Beijing is not in a rush to launch a large stimulus at this stage,” Zhang said. “It takes time to monitor and evaluate the timing and the size of the trade shock.” Actually, the only reason China is not in a rush to launch a large stimulus, is because it can’t: if it does, all it does is buy a few quarters of time before a far more dire crash as deflationary debt-crisis spreads across the country.

Authored by Rachel Acenas via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. State Department issued a warning on Thursday to foreign nationals who plan to obtain U.S. citizenship for their children through “birth tourism.”

Tourist visas will be denied to those who travel to the country for the primary purpose of giving birth on U.S. soil, the State Department said.

“It is unacceptable for foreign parents to use a U.S. tourist visa for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States to obtain citizenship for the child, which also could result in American taxpayers paying the medical care costs,” the State Department wrote on X.

“This is known as birth tourism and U.S. consular officers deny all such visa applications under U.S. immigration law.”

For visitor visas, a foreign national who wishes to enter the U.S. temporarily for business can obtain a B-1 visa. For tourism, they can apply for a B-2 visa. The State Department warned that visa applicants who violate immigration law through birth tourism may be ineligible to travel to the United States in the future.

33,000 Births Per Year

The State Department says that an entire industry has evolved around birth tourism to help pregnant women from other countries come to the country to obtain U.S. citizenship for their children by giving birth on U.S. soil.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), birth tourism results in 33,000 births by women on tourist visas every year, and “hundreds of thousands more are born to mothers who are illegal aliens or present on temporary visas.” According to CIS, birth tourism in the United States is practiced by people from around the world, especially citizens of China, Taiwan, Korea, Nigeria, Turkey, Russia, Brazil, and Mexico.

The federal government has sounded the alarm over birth tourism due to potential burdens on public resources, criminal activity, and national security risks.

The 14th Amendment states that children born on U.S. soil are automatically granted U.S. citizenship by virtue of birthright citizenship.

Executive Order

On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship. However, the directive has been met with legal challenges and halted nationwide by three district courts.

The Trump administration has argued that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, a phrase used in the 14th Amendment, and therefore not entitled to become American citizens automatically.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on Trump’s birthright citizenship restrictions in May.

The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced the withdrawal of guidance for banks related to their crypto-asset and dollar token activities and related changes to its expectations for these activities. 

These actions ensure the Board’s expectations remain aligned with evolving risks and further support innovation in the banking system.

Bitcoin prices extended gains above $95,000…

Amid a sudden resurgence in net inflows into BTC ETFs…

The Board is rescinding its 2022 supervisory letter establishing an expectation that state member banks provide advance notification of planned or current crypto-asset activities. 

As a result, the Board will no longer expect banks to provide notification and will instead monitor banks’ crypto-asset activities through the normal supervisory process.

The Board is also rescinding its 2023 supervisory letter regarding the supervisory nonobjection process for state member bank engagement in dollar token activities.

Finally, the Board, together with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is joining the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in withdrawing from two 2023 statements jointly issued by the federal bank regulatory agencies regarding banks’ crypto-asset activities and exposures. 

The Board will work with the agencies to consider whether additional guidance to support innovation, including crypto-asset activities, is appropriate.

Additionally, CoinTelegraph reports that Bitcoin is flashing multiple technical and onchain signals suggesting that a rally to $100,000 is possible by May.

And as we have noted recently, bitcoin continues to track lagged global liquidity almost perfectly…

Combined with bullish chart structures and concentrated short liquidity overhead, BTC remains positioned for a potential move toward $100,000 by May.

Via Remix News,

Berlin Senator Cansel Kiziltepe, of the Social Democratic Party  (SPD), decided to attack Elon Musk on X, comparing his Tesla cars to “Nazi cars,” creating a massive backlash in the neighboring state of Brandenburg, home to Europe’s only Tesla car factory. The post is particularly odd, given her role as state minister for labor.

In what appears to be a now-deleted post, the SPD politician had written on X: 

“Who wants to drive a Nazi car? Manufacturers of electric cars are experiencing a sales boom – apart from Tesla,” according to Welt. 

Brandenburg’s Minister of Economic Affairs Daniel Keller (also SPD) called on her to retract the statement. 

“Such a Nazi comparison hurts the people who work there and is completely inappropriate for a labor senator,” Keller told the dpa news agency.

“I expect the labor senator to retract her historically unacceptable comparison and return objectively to the major economic and labor market policy challenges that Berlin and Brandenburg should tackle together.” 

Keller continued, saying, “Everyone can have their own personal opinion about Elon Musk. But it’s important to me that we don’t forget the people behind the Tesla factory in Grünheide. 11,000 people from 150 nations work here – more than half of the employees live in Berlin.”

Senator Kiziltepe still has a more diplomatic statement posted regarding the electric car company:

“Tesla is currently experiencing a sales slump because customers attribute the right-wing extremist positions of its shareholder Elon Musk, who holds around 13% of the company,” she wrote.

“I explicitly stand by my assessment of Elon Musk. Of course, this does not mean that I hold Musk’s employees or customers responsible for his political positions,” she added.

But not everyone felt this was enough, especially given her comment was seen by most as potentially endangering jobs. 

“Denigrating the Tesla as a Nazi car shows what you’re really like. Full of hate and division. Simply disgraceful. Better to eliminate all jobs in Germany. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? After all, we’re paying you,” reads one reply.

“Are you still a senator, or have you already resigned to avert further damage to your office and democracy after your unspeakable trivialization of the Nazis? If not, you should do so immediately” another commenter posted.

“Yeah, everyone knows by now that you hate Elon Musk. What are the reasons for your hatred? As a civil servant, don’t you have better things to do than vent your hatred online? another X user asked.

Tesla has become the largest employer in Brandenburg in Grünheide, with some 11,500 people working there. The jobs at its Gigafactory, which opened just three years ago, are permanent with good salaries. The automaker’s net profits took a hit last quarter; the drop in sales is attributed to both a model change as well as controversies surrounding Musk’s politics. 

“Brandenburg and Berlin benefit from this in terms of employment and value creation,” AfD deputy leader Stephan Brandner told the “Rheinische Post” newspaper.

The Berlin-Brandenburg Business Association (UVB) also called out the comparison for insulting Tesla employees and scaring away new investment, not to mention hurting Kiziltepe’s own re-election. Managing Director Alexander Schirp stated that such defamation was unworthy of a member of the Berlin Senate.

“This doesn’t increase the manufacturer’s chances of investing in the capital. Statements of this magnitude do not bode well for the election campaign,” the UVB MD said. 

Read more here…

A top Russian general has been assassinated in a car bombing in the Russian city of Balashikha on Friday, authorities have confirmed. The city lies less than 20 miles east of Moscow.

The deceased has been identified as Lt Gen Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, who died when a “homemade” explosive device detonated under his Volkswagen Golf, according to TASS. Shrapnel ripped through the area and what appears to be a residential neighborhood.

Crucially news of the blast and killing was breaking just prior to President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The two sides are trying to find a way forward toward Ukraine peace settlement, which President Zelensky has clearly not been on board with.

Witkoff was in his meeting with Putin at the Kremlin by early Friday afternoon, during which time news of Gen. Mokalik’s assassination, accompanied by shocking video of the event, was spreading around the world. Witkoff also met with senior Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev.

An initial investigation at the scene has resulted in authorities describing that the improvised explosive device was packed with shrapnel.

The Guardian describes that “A video circulating on Russian social media captured the moment the car exploded, while additional images showed the vehicle completely burnt out.” Ukrainian leaders have yet to comment on the bombing.

“The latest apparent Ukrainian operation is unlikely to sit well with the Trump administration, which has been desperate to show tangible progress on peace before Trump’s 100th day in office next week,” The Guardian continues.

Videos of the car bombing suggest the person(s) behind clips like the below knew of the attack ahead of time…

Another Russian General assassinated in Moscow via car bomb. The war is only going to become more and more asymmetrical with time. pic.twitter.com/qemmLN8G9v

— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) April 25, 2025

The Friday meeting and visit to Moscow was Witkoff’s fourth trip and meeting with Putin, at a moment Moscow says it’s “ready” for peace, but has called for Ukrainian forces’ exit from the four annexed territories, and insisted that Crimea belongs to Russia forever.

Given the timing, was this Ukrainian or other European intelligence services sending a message?

💥 Explosion in Moscow — Russian Army General Moskalyuk has been killed.

– just in time as Trump’s envoy Witkoff arrives in Moscow for Peace Talks with Putin pic.twitter.com/5xREq3y3uL

— Russian Market (@runews) April 25, 2025

Throughout the course of the war there’s been a string of similar high profile assassinations involving car and cafe bombs.

The August 2022 killing of Darya Dugina, daughter of ultranationalist political commentator Alexander Dugin, is among the most well known. Her vehicle exploded while it traveled in a Moscow suburb, in assassination likely meant for her father. Also, the Ukrainians owned up to killing senior Russian general Igor Kirillov and his assistant, Ilya Polikarpovwho. They died in a December 2024 scooter blast outside Kirillov’s apartment. He headed Russia’s Radiological, Biological, Chemical Defense Forces.