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‘Non-Negotiable’: Saudi Arabia Blasts Trump’s Gaza Takeover Plan

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‘Non-Negotiable’: Saudi Arabia Blasts Trump’s Gaza Takeover Plan

The international reaction to President Trump’s Tuesday declaration that the US will “take over” the Gaza Strip and that Palestinians would “love to leave” the largely destroyed enclave which has suffered in the midst of the Hamas-Israel war (though a fragile truce has held for a couple week) has been as expected. Various countries have issued condemnation, including predictably from the United Nations chief, given it smacks of ethnic cleansing of a historic territory, though few actual details have been defined in terms of how such a plan involving US troops would be executed.

Saudi Arabia has been one major US regional ally to react swiftly in condemnation. The Saudis have said Wednesday that Trump’s desired ‘normalization’ with Israel based on the Abraham Accords would definitely be off.

File image via USA Today

Riyadh said the Palestinians must be guaranteed an independent state if were to ever implement diplomatic relations with Israel. “The establishment of the Palestinian state is a firm, unwavering position,” the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said said on X.

“His Highness [Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman] has affirmed this position in a clear and explicit manner that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances.”

“His Highness stressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the Kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the statement continued. 

Needless to say, a permanent removal of Palestinians from Gaza would thwart such a possibility, and other Arab states which have already made peace with Israel might reverse their position, for example the UAE. The Saudis are making clear that this stance is ‘non-negotiable’ – and the reality is that mass displacement of Palestinians to neighboring states would likely collapse the Hamas truce, and halt the ongoing hostage/prisoner exchange.

Russia too is another major power condemning Trump’s Tuesday remarks, with top diplomat Sergei Lavrov arguing that this “culture of cancellation” is at work, suggesting that the US is seeking to ‘cancel’ Palestinian identity.

Lavrov said that UN National Security Council decisions were “were recognized by everyone without exception a month and a half ago as a necessary basis for actions to create a Palestinian state” and have “simply been canceled.”

Arab public opinion is also clear…

Via Al Jazeera

Trump said during Netanyahu’s White House visit that the US “will take over” Gaza after relocating Palestinians elsewhere and that a major reconstruction plan in the Strip could turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

Israeli hardliners in Netanyahu’s cabinet have welcomed these ‘shock’ words. But without Arab capitals, including the Saudis, on board it’s hard to see how it could get off the ground in any practical sense. Hamas would certainly resume fighting, and neighboring Arab militaries could be drawn in. There’s also a continuing truce with Hezbollah which would likely break down.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 21:20

OPM Says Federal Unions Are Misinforming Workers About Voluntary Resignation Contracts

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OPM Says Federal Unions Are Misinforming Workers About Voluntary Resignation Contracts

Authored by Mark Tapscott via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Federal employees considering the buy-out offer initiated by President Donald Trump shortly after his inauguration should ignore “misinformation” from government worker unions, according to a U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) spokesman.

The entrance to the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building that houses the Office of Personnel Management headquarters is shown in Washington on June 5, 2021. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

“Union leaders and politicians telling federal workers to reject this offer are doing them a serious disservice,” OPM’s Director of Communications McLaurine Pinover told The Epoch Times. “This is a rare, generous opportunity; one that was thoroughly vetted and intentionally designed to support employees through restructuring.”

“Instead of spreading misinformation and using workers as political pawns, they should be making sure federal employees have the facts and freedom to make the best decision for themselves and their families,” Pinover added.

The buyout offer allows federal workers who accept it to receive full pay and benefits coverage for eight months, exempts them from newly issued orders to return to work at their official duty stations on a daily basis, and protects them against Reductions-in-Force (RIF) processes that are expected to begin in the near future in many federal departments and agencies.

There are 2.3 million civilian federal workers, the vast majority of whom are careerists who receive above-average pay and benefits as well as a host of legal job protections overseen by OPM and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).

The average federal employee salary, according to OPM data, is $106,382. The median average household income for all Americans is $75,149, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The buyout offer must be accepted by Feb. 6 and OPM officials today circulated a “template contract” to all agencies and departments that will be the basis for the voluntary resignations under the “Deferred Resignation Program (DRP).”

The OPM comments came in response to multiple statements from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and Democrats in Congress saying that the buyout offer was not legal and President Donald Trump lacks the legal authority to make such a proposal.

Workers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and their supporters protest outside JPL against a U.S. government mandate requiring all federal employees to receive the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine, in Pasadena, Calif., on Nov. 1, 2021. Robyn Beck/Getty Images

The union and its allies also said the new president wants to politicize the federal workforce, and that SpaceX founder Elon Musk initiated the buyout offer as part of his efforts leading the presidential advisory commission, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“There is not yet any evidence the administration can or will uphold its end of the bargain, that Congress will go along with this unilateral massive restructuring, or that appropriated funds can be used this way, among other issues that have been raised,” AFGE told its more than 800,000 members in a Feb. 3 email.

“We are encouraging AFGE members NOT to resign or respond to this email until you have received further information and clarification,” the union continued.

A senior OPM official, speaking on background, told The Epoch Times that, contrary to widespread media reports quoting representatives of the AFGE, the country’s largest civil service union, the DRP is a legal contract that “provides binding assurance they will not be subject to future RIFS, not be expected to work, and their pay will be protected even if there is a lapse in appropriations.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the union for comment about the OPM’s complaints.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) echoed the AFGE skepticism, saying in a Senate floor speech that “there’s no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work.”

“Don’t be fooled. He’s tricked hundreds of people with that offer. If you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you just like he stiffed the contractors,” Kaine alleged.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) at his election watch party in Richmond, Va., on Nov. 5, 2024 Terri Wu/The Epoch Times

Former OPM General Counsel Joseph A. Morris told The Epoch Times today that rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts in recent years make clear that the president, as the chief executive of the federal government, has widespread constitutional authority to take actions to ensure efficiency and honesty in government operations, including terminating positions and offering incentives to resign.

“I am not aware of any case law before the MSPB or, more importantly, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, where an appealing employee challenged a removal, let alone did so successfully, where the removal was directly done or ordered by the president,” Morris said in an email to The Epoch Times.

Morris pointed to the Supreme Court’s Collins v. Yellen decision in 2021 that held “the President must be able to remove not just officers who disobey his commands but also those he finds ‘negligent and inefficient.’”

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 20:55

Meet The Pro-Life Activists Set Free By Trump’s Pardons

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Meet The Pro-Life Activists Set Free By Trump’s Pardons

Authored by Sam Dorman & Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Joan Bell had just finished saying her second group rosary of the day when a fellow inmate ran into her Philadelphia prison cell and delivered unexpected news.

“‘Miss Joan’s husband’s on TV! She’s been pardoned,’” Bell, 76, recounted to The Epoch Times.

Bell, who has been dubbed the matriarch of pro-life activism, has been to jail multiple times for “rescues”—the pro-life term for entering an abortion clinic and potentially blocking entrances in hopes of stopping procedures from occurring. This time, the president of the United States granted her a pardon.

“I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Bell said, referring to the pardon. She said she was grateful to President Donald Trump for his “great, great kindness.”

While in prison, Bell and a group of other inmates would perform Mass prayers from a missalette daily in both English and Spanish. Two groups would also pray the rosary in both languages.

She had already served more than a year in prison for an October 2020 protest at the Washington Surgi-Clinic, located in the nation’s capital.

Bell, who received a sentence of 27 months, was one of 23 pro-life activists prosecuted under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Trump pardoned each of them just three days after he was sworn in as president.

The Justice Department had also leveled charges under a conspiracy against rights statute, which was part of a post-Civil War law targeting groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Combined, the two laws resulted in multiple defendants receiving years-long sentences. By the time Trump issued the pardons, many had already been incarcerated for more than a year.

“They should not have been prosecuted,” Trump said before signing the pardons in the Oval Office on Jan. 23. “This is a great honor to sign this.”

Joan Bell plays with her grandson Zahir as her husband, Chris Bell, daughter Valera Bell, and grandson Kolbe look on, in New Jersey on Jan. 29, 2025. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

From Rescued to Rescuer

Eva Edl said she could not recall who told her she had been pardoned, but she did remember her first thought.

“Praise the Lord!” she told The Epoch Times.

Edl, 89, was facing what she said “would have been a death sentence”—more than 10 years in prison for blocking the entrances to two Michigan abortion clinics. That possibility has now been erased, along with the three years of probation she was sentenced to in September 2024 for her involvement in a similar protest in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.

As a veteran abortion “rescuer,” Edl has been participating in clinic blockades since the late 1980s.

She said the government has no business deciding who lives or dies. And as the survivor of a Soviet concentration camp, she said she knows firsthand what happens when government “usurps the right” to make that determination, as her native Yugoslavian government once did.

As a little girl, Edl watched the Soviets round up her family members. Her older siblings were forced to work in a labor camp, while she and her grandmother were sent where those deemed too weak to work went—to an extermination camp.

“I was only 9 years old, so I was placed in a cattle car like cattle—standing room only, where you nearly died from lack of air,” Edl said.

It was at that concentration camp that Edl found Jesus, she said, and that faith carried her through until she was rescued by her mother, who bribed a guard to allow her to escape. She immigrated to Austria and then to the United States, where she was shocked to learn about abortion.

In 1988, Edl became involved with pro-life activism after learning of demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta.

“I told my husband, ‘Sweetheart, this is what somebody should have done for me. May I go?’ And he let me go,” Edl said.

Edl has been arrested dozens of times for her involvement in various pro-life protests. In her eyes, the abortion clinic is no different from the concentration camp where she was held.

Pro-life activists pose for a photo in a hallway in front of the door of the now shuttered abortion clinic Carafem Health Center, in Mount Juliet, Tenn., in March 2021. Eva Edl is in a wheelchair in front of the door. Eva Zastrow is to the right. Courtesy of Eva Edl

“I see the sidewalk as the train tracks and the entrance to the abortion clinic as the gates to the death camp,” she told The Epoch Times. She said she wonders what might have happened if someone had blocked her train and helped her to escape.

“Somehow, another group of Christians could have come and pried open my cattle car and saved us, or at least given us a chance to be saved,” she said. “This is how I see what I’m doing now.”

The Battle Continues

Questions remain as to whether Bell, Edl, and other activists will face legal consequences for future protests.

That is why Edl and 11 of her co-defendants are calling on the president to push for the repeal of the FACE Act.

“This law was always meant to be partial toward injustice,” they wrote in a Jan. 29 letter obtained by The Epoch Times. “It was meant from the beginning to persecute pro-life Christians who love their neighbors.”

They also urged Trump to support a federal abortion ban. “Neither a heartbeat, brainwaves, viability, or other objective measurements of development determine the worth of a human being,” the letter states.

The letter’s other signatories include Dr. Coleman Boyd, Cal Zastrow, Dennis Green, Eva Zastrow, Jim Zastrow, Heather Idoni, Chester Gallagher, Paul Place, and Paul Vaughn—each of whom were charged after a protest in Tennessee. Justin Phillips and Joel Curry, who were indicted in Michigan, also signed it.

Vaughn, who was under house arrest, is hoping that the pardon he received will not render moot his pending appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Justice Department filed a motion on Jan. 28 to vacate Vaughn’s and others’ convictions, as well as to remand the case for dismissal at the district court level.

Read the rest here…

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 20:05

FCC’s Brendan Carr Launches Investigation Into Soros-Backed Radio Station That Outed Undercover ICE Agents

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FCC’s Brendan Carr Launches Investigation Into Soros-Backed Radio Station That Outed Undercover ICE Agents

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr has launched an investigation into a radio station backed by left-wing billionaire activist George Soros that broadcasted the live locations of undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

San Francisco-based KCBS 740 AM, one of the 200 Audacy radio stations bought by a Soros-backed group, came under fire after broadcasting the locations of ICE agents in the San Jose area during the January 26th edition of KCBS Radio Weekend News, where host Bret Burkhart was reporting on ICE raids in the areas. While reading a statement from San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, Burkhart included a statement from the Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network – a left-wing “community defense project developed to protect immigrant families from deportation threats.

The Response Network reports, which Burkhart read on air, gave the color, make, and model of three unmarked vehicles as well as the specific locations of agents in the area.

Chairman Carr thinks KCBS-AM may have violated licensing rules which require broadcasters to serve the public interest, and has sent a formal Letter of Inquiry to the station.

“I want to express my thanks and appreciation to DHS and ICE agents. These law enforcement professionals are honorably serving this country and carrying out vital missions. Their safety is paramount. The FCC will hold broadcasters accountable for complying with their public interest obligations,” Carr told Fox News Digital.

As Radioink reports further, the investigation comes as Carr weighs revisiting a previous commission vote on Audacy’s post-bankruptcy restructuring due to concerns over ownership ties to billionaire and Democratic donor George Soros, which has been an area of concern for many Republican leaders. While Audacy has officially closed its bankruptcy case, when asked by Fox Business about the deal in November, Carr said, “There’s a petition for reconsideration pending at the FCC right now, and I want to take a very hard look at that.”

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 19:40

California Attorney General Issues Warning On Trump’s Buyout Offer

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California Attorney General Issues Warning On Trump’s Buyout Offer

Authored by Jane Yang via The Epoch Times,

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Feb. 3 warned federal employees in the state about what he called the Trump administration’s “questionable ‘deferred resignation’ program.”

Bonta said unions representing federal employees had warned their members against the buyout offer and that benefits were not guaranteed.

“I urge federal employees to heed warnings from their unions to be very cautious of any buyout offers,” he said in a statement.

The Trump administration on Jan. 28 announced the “deferred resignation” initiative offering eligible federal employees eight months of payment and benefits coverage until the end of September, if they resign by Feb. 6.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which serves as the chief human resources agency and personnel policy manager for the federal government, sent out more than 2 million emails on the same day to federal workers nationwide with the proposal.

More than 20,000 federal workers have accepted the offer, making up more than 1 percent of the workforce, according to a Trump administration official. However, the number of deferred resignations is rapidly growing, and the largest spike is expected to come 24 to 48 hours before the Feb. 6 deadline, the official said.

Bonta is one of 12 attorneys general in a coalition including New York Attorney General Letitia James in issuing a warning ahead of the buyout deadline.

“The Trump Administration’s so-called buyout offer is a pointed attack aimed at dismantling our federal workforce and sowing chaos for Americans that rely on a functioning government,” said Bonta in a statement.

OPM’s director of communications, McLaurine Pinover, told The Epoch Times that the buyout “is a rare, generous opportunity; one that was thoroughly vetted and intentionally designed to support employees through restructuring.”

“Instead of spreading misinformation and using workers as political pawns, they should be making sure federal employees have the facts and freedom to make the best decision for themselves and their families,” she said, referring to critics such as the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employees union.

As of March 2024, California has 180,973 federal employees on OPM’s list, Pinover said.

California has the third-most federal workers in the nation behind Virginia and Washington, D.C., according to a 2023 report by the nonpartisan nonprofit organization Partnership for Public Service.

The top five agencies with the most federal employees nationwide are Veterans Affairs, Navy, Army, Homeland Security, and the Air Force.

However, military personnel, U.S. Postal Service workers, and those who work in immigration enforcement and national security are not eligible for the buyout offer.

The report also found the government-wide attrition rate in fiscal year 2023 was 5.9 percent. In fiscal years 2022 and 2021, the rate was 7.6 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 19:15

SecDef Hegseth Declares Record Army Recruiting Under Trump After Years Of Decline

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SecDef Hegseth Declares Record Army Recruiting Under Trump After Years Of Decline

“The US Army is back! Growing future lethal warriors prepared to fight and win our nations wars!”… that’s the latest message from Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

We have long documented the steady decline in recruiting among all national military branches over the last several years during the Biden administration. Just last year we observed the theme of recruiting decline as follows, also confirmed in a seeming myriad of mainstream media headlines: The US Army faces the most challenging recruiting environment in decades, if not ever, as America’s Generation Z doesn’t want to fight foreign wars driven by neocon warmongering politicians in Washington, the military-industrial complex, NATO, and mega-corporations.

But when Trump was elected with an overwhelming amount of the American voting public giving a clear mandate, there was a shift in this mentality. At least this is what the numbers show, according to a fresh statement by the US Army on its official X account, also shared by Hegseth…

The statement announces US Army recruiting’s biggest enlistment numbers in December, a month after the election, suggesting Trump’s election has injected new and clear motivation for the nation’s young to join up.

Nearly 350 new recruits for the Army may not seem like a lot, but it’s an immense process involving background and fitness checks, as well as a lengthy visit to “MEPS” – and the oath is finally taken paving the way to be shipped to boot camp. Often it takes months for a recruiter to get a single individual to sign on the dotted line.

Complicating the US armed forces’ prior recruitment woes was a steady dose of “woke” ideology being pumped out from Biden’s Department of Defense. To review a few past reports:

Indeed, Covid was another Biden disaster where many thousands of able-bodied and healthy troops were unnecessarily processed out. This decision has since been reversed, and these unfairly discharged troops are being invited back it.

The boost in confidence under the early Trump administration is likely also due to the Republican president vowing to wind down foreign adventurism abroad. For example, there are reported plans on the book to bring the troops home from Syria, and likely Iraq, as well as hopes that Trump can oversee peace in Ukraine.

Via US Naval Institute 

The post “Global War on Terror” GWOT legacy is also dying, given Trump has this time around refused top national security positions to the same cadre of Bush-era necons (though some of these are still around no doubt). Young people today are wary of nation-building quagmires under the old regime change and “nation-building” playbook. Trump is promising to change that. Patriotism is back among the youth.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 18:50

Trump Warns He Left Instructions To Destroy Iran If He Is Assassinated

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Trump Warns He Left Instructions To Destroy Iran If He Is Assassinated

It’s been a longtime conservative media and Republican talking point that Tehran is looking for opportunities to take out President Donald Trump, in retaliation for his ordering the drone killing of IRGC Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020 outside Baghdad International Airport during his first administration.

President Trump has this week warned that he has left instructions ordering the destruction of the Islamic Republic in the event he is assassinated by Iranian agents.

Via Associated Press

The unexpected and somewhat unprecedented contingency, which we would expect at the very least would require the approval of Congress, was issued Tuesday while Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office restoring “maximum pressure” to Iran. Trump hailed the action as “very tough on Iran”.

That’s when he was questioned by reporters over Iran and its proxies threatening to assassinate him, to which the commander-in-chief responded:

“They haven’t done that and that would be a terrible thing for them to do. Not because of me— if they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions, if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left. And, they shouldn’t be able to do it.”

He laid blame in part on the prior Biden administration for being weak on Iran, and allowing alleged plots to fester without taking firm action. He soon after received Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

“Biden should have said that but he never did, I don’t know why. Lack of intelligence perhaps but he never said it. If that happens to a leader or close to a leader— frankly, if you had other people involved also—you would call for total obliteration of a state that did it. That would include Iran,” Trump said.

Back in September of last year, Trump said at an event in North Carolina: “As you know, there have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, and they may or may not involve – but possibly do – Iran.”

He also wrote on X at the time, “Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire US Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again. Not a good situation for anyone. I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before.”

Trump’s campaign at the time said they were briefed on the alleged Iranian threat by officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence under Biden, which was led at the time by Avril Haines.

The president was also asked Tuesday to assess how close he thinks Iran is to developing a nuclear weapon, to which he responded, “too close” – and added, “They’re pretty close.” But the CIA recently assessed it doesn’t think Tehran is pursuing a bomb at this point.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 18:00

Daniel Penny Hired By Andreessen Horowitz After Acquittal In Subway Case

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Daniel Penny Hired By Andreessen Horowitz After Acquittal In Subway Case

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran acquitted of criminally negligent homicide last year after using a chokehold to subdue a mentally ill subway passenger, has been hired by the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Penny joined Andreessen Horowitz as a deal partner on its American Dynamism team, according to the company’s website. It is unclear when Penny joined the investment company.

Andreessen Horowitz states on its website that the department focused on investing in companies that support the national interest, including aerospace, defense, public safety, education, housing, and industrials.

Vice President JD Vance said in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday that Penny’s hiring was “incredible news.”

Vance previously described Penny as a “good guy” and invited him to the U.S. Army–Navy game after his acquittal in December 2024. Vance’s post was later shared by David Ulevitch, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz who leads the company’s American Dynamism team.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Ulevitch for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Penny was found not guilty by a Manhattan jury on Dec. 9, 2024, in connection with the death of Jordan Neely. Neely was a mentally ill homeless man who died after Penny restrained him during a 2023 incident on a New York City subway.

His lawyers had argued that Penny was trying to protect himself and other passengers when he subdued Neely in a chokehold.

Witnesses said that Neely boarded the train and began screaming that he was ready to go back to jail. Prosecutors said that Penny’s hold on Neely had caused an asphyxial death.

Neely had previously been arrested for assaulting people at subway stations. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had drugs in his system at the time of his death.

Penny first spoke publicly about the case during an interview with Fox News on Dec. 10, 2024, where he defended his actions. Penny said that he was not a “confrontational person” and that he did not “want any type of attention or praise” for his actions.

“The guilt I would have felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself,” he told the news outlet. “I’ll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed.”

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 17:40

Ford Slides 5% On Tariff Concerns, Warning Profit Could Fall $2 Billion In 2025

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Ford Slides 5% On Tariff Concerns, Warning Profit Could Fall $2 Billion In 2025

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Ford posted a net income of $1.8 billion, or 45 cents per share, a strong turnaround from last year’ s net loss of $526 million, or 13 cents per share. Excluding one-time charges, adjusted earnings per share came in at 39 cents. Here’s the full Q4 results:

  • Adjusted EPS: 39c vs. 29c y/y, estimate 32c
     
  • Total revenue: $48.2 billion, +4.8% y/y
  • Ford Blue revenue: $27.3 billion, +4.2% y/y, estimate $25.85 billion
  • Ford Model e revenue: $1.4 billion, -13% y/y, estimate $1.8 billion
  • Ford Pro revenue: $16.2 billion, +5.2% y/y, estimate $15.57 billion

    Adjusted EBIT: $2.1 billion, +91% y/y, estimate $1.89 billion

  • Adjusted EBIT margin: 4.4% vs. 2.3% y/y, estimate 4.36%
  • Ford Blue EBIT: $1.58 billion, +94% y/y, estimate $1.25 billion
  • Ford Model e EBIT loss: $1.39 billion, -12% y/y, estimate loss $1.34 billion
  • Ford Pro EBIT: $1.63 billion, -10% y/y

It is now clear that Farley faces mounting challenges, including overhauling the company’s EV strategy to curb losses and cutting high warranty repair expenses. The automaker lost a record $5.1 billion on EVs last year and expects that deficit to widen to as much as $5.5 billion in 2024.

While Farley is pushing for more affordable, longer-range models, those won’t hit the market until 2027. Meanwhile, the pressure on Ford shares continues, with the stock falling nearly 19% last year, in contrast to General Motors’ 48% surge.

Farley has emphasized the need to close Ford’s $7 billion to $8 billion cost disadvantage against competitors, largely driven by warranty costs. He has tied executive bonuses to improving quality and efficiency, with the company targeting $1 billion in cost cuts this year. “In 2025, we expect to make significantly more progress on our two biggest areas of opportunity – quality and cost,” Farley said. “We control those key profit drivers, and I am confident that we are on the right path.”

Ford’s 2025 guidance reflects headwinds, including a 2% decline in industry-wide pricing and slower sales, but does not factor in potential new tariffs under a Trump administration:

  • Adjusted EBIT: $7 billion to $8.5 billion, estimate $8.57 billion
  • Ford Pro EBIT: $7.5 billion to $8 billion
  • Ford Blue EBIT: $3.5 billion to $4 billion
  • Ford Model e EBIT loss: $5 billion to $5.5 billion
  • Ford Credit EBT: about $2 billion
  • Adjusted free cash flow: $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion
  • Capital expenditure: $8 billion to $9 billion, estimate $8.66 billion

Incoming CFO Sherry House said: “There is no question that 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada would have a major impact on our industry. That said, we believe the Trump administration intends to support the American auto industry.”

Tariff concerns are also weighing on the industry. “I know tariffs are on everyone’s mind,” House added.

Trump has also pledged to eliminate federal incentives for electric vehicles, including the $7,500 tax credit that dealers consider critical for sales.

In kneejerk reaction to the disappointing guidance, Ford shares tumbled 5% after hours…

… sliding back below $10 and the lowest level in fouf years.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 17:20

Crypto Regulatory Pivot Accelerates: FDIC Releases 790 Pages Of Letters; SEC Dials Down Oversight, Reassigns Lawyers

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Crypto Regulatory Pivot Accelerates: FDIC Releases 790 Pages Of Letters; SEC Dials Down Oversight, Reassigns Lawyers

That’s quite a pivot…

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the regulatory body overseeing banks in the United States, has released 790 pages of additional correspondence related to firms offering crypto services to clients.

According to the FDIC, the documents show requests from banks and other institutions to offer crypto services to clients were almost always met with resistance, delays, constant requests for more information and pause letters.

As CoinTelegraph’s Vince Quill reports, the newly revealed document tranche included previously released correspondence from 24 banking firms and additional correspondence from other firms that requested permission to offer crypto-related services.

“Looking forward, we are actively reevaluating our supervisory approach to crypto-related activities,” FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill wrote, marking a seismic shift in the government agency’s stance toward the crypto industry.

Additional FDIC document relating to crypto services. Source: FDIC

FDIC exposed in Freedom of Information Act request

Coinbase filed two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for FDIC documents related to the debanking of crypto firms under Operation Chokepoint 2.0 in October 2024.

One of the requests sought documentation relating to a 15% cap on bank deposits from crypto-related companies.

A US court released the initial tranche of FDIC documents in December 2024, which included several heavily redacted pause letters sent to banks offering crypto services or products to clients.

Following the public release of the documents, US Judge Ana Reyes chastised the FDIC for the heavy redactions and ordered the agency to produce more transparent documents.

The FDIC “cannot simply blanket redact everything that is not an article or preposition,” Judge Reyes wrote in a Dec. 12 order, which characterized the redactions as a “lack of good-faith effort.”

Senator Lummis’ letter to the FDIC instructing them to preserve records related to crypto enforcement. Source: Senator Cynthia Lummis

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis accused the FDIC of destroying documents related to Operation Chokepoint 2.0 in January 2025 and instructed the agency to preserve all records relating to “digital asset activities” from 2022 onward.

Senator Lummis also threatened to make criminal referrals to the US Department of Justice if the destruction of evidence by FDIC employees was discovered by the Senate Banking Committee.

At the same time, Decrypt reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is cutting back its specialized crypto enforcement unit, reassigning more than 50 lawyers and staff members focused on regulating digital assets as a changing landscape under President Donald Trump takes root.

Several members of the crypto unit have been shifted to different departments within the agency, according to a Tuesday report by The New York Times, which cited several anonymous sources.

At least one senior lawyer was removed from the enforcement division altogether – a move some insiders described as an “unfair demotion,” per the report.

The crypto unit overhaul is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail government intervention in digital assets. Trump has vowed to curb regulatory oversight in the crypto sector since his Presidential campaign and make the U.S. a global leader in digital assets.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who long ago earned the nickname “Crypto Mom,” has laid out how the watchdog will regulate the digital asset industry with its new crypto task force—and did so in a letter that blasted the previous administration’s approach. Peirce, who was announced as the new task force’s boss last month, wrote Tuesday that the SEC would take a while to get on track and regulate a fast-moving and arcane industry. “It took us a long time to get into this mess, and it is going to…

While the SEC has not yet responded to requests for comments from Decrypt on the restructuring, Commissioner Hester Peirce, who now leads the agency’s newly formed crypto task force, has signaled a significant shift in the agency’s priorities.

Peirce, a longtime advocate for clearer crypto guidelines, blasted the SEC’s past regulatory approach in a statement Tuesday, calling it “marked by legal imprecision and commercial impracticality.”

Known affectionately by those within the industry as “Crypto Mom,” Peirce likened the agency’s past treatment of digital assets to “a car careening down the road” and vowed to introduce a more balanced framework.

The staff reassignment also raises questions about ongoing SEC lawsuits against major crypto firms, including crypto giant Coinbase. The SEC sued the exchange in 2023, alleging it operated as an unregistered securities platform.

That case became a litmus test for former Chair Gary Gensler’s assertion that most cryptos should be classified as securities.

During Gensler’s tenure, multiple industry leaders shot back, accusing the SEC of attempting to “unlawfully kill” the crypto industry while refusing to provide clear regulatory guidelines.

On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission expedited approval for the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, allowing it to be listed and traded on NYSE Arca.  Bitwise’s hybrid ETF will offer investors direct exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in a single fund with Coinbase’s custody business to oversee the fund’s holdings. 

“I really want to interpret this as a sign the new SEC will be faster, but no way to know really,” Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on X,…

The SEC’s overhaul is just one piece of the Trump administration’s broader effort to rewrite the rulebook on crypto. 

Last month, the agency scrapped Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB121), a controversial policy that forced firms to treat customer-held crypto as a liability. 

Critics, including Peirce, said the rule unfairly burdened banks and kept them from embracing digital assets.

In one of his first executive orders, the President established a presidential working group on crypto policy and outright banned the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC)—a clear rejection of a government-issued “digital dollar.”

Tyler Durden
Wed, 02/05/2025 – 14:20

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