Tehran and Washington are truly not just back to square one, but it’s as if no rounds of dialogue – direct or indirect – have even taken place. It’s more like being back at square zero – and the US President has just acknowledged it.

President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday while departing Beijing that even the very first first sentence of Iran’s latest proposal was “unacceptable” and blamed the Iranians for backtracking on the nuclear issue.

The first sentence was an “unacceptable sentence, because they have fully agreed no nuclear, and if they have any nuclear of any form, I don’t read the rest,” he said, stressing that he remains unsatisfied with the “level of guarantee from them.”

Trump’s remarks center on his allegation that Iran agreed to give up its “nuclear dust” but then quickly “then they took it back” – but then stated his view that Tehran will eventually agree to it anyway.

“I looked at it, and I don’t like the first sentence. I just throw it away,” Trump said.

He once again in the comments called for Iran to completely abandon any nuclear capability, insisting there can be “no nuclear of any form.” He described: “You’ve got to get all the fuel out and no more production. You have to get everything.”

Trump has said China’s President Xi Jinping is in full agreement that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon:

According to Trump, Iranian representatives acknowledged only the United States and possibly China possess the specialized equipment necessary to remove radioactive debris from the damaged sites.

“They said the only one that can remove it is China or the U.S.,” Trump said. “They said you were right. It is a complete obliteration.”

The president has said the nuclear material is now “entombed” under ground after nuclear sites were “obliterated” – from bombing operations last June and this latest round of US-Israeli attacks in February through March and early April.

Also this week while in China Trump told Fox News in an interview that he did not underestimate the situation in Iran, despite the constantly shifting and expanding timeline and stated goals within the early weeks of Operation Epic Fury. 

TRUMP TO FOX: DIDN’T UNDERESTIMATE ANYTHING ON IRAN

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the topic of uranium enrichment “is currently not on the agenda of discussions or negotiations,” but will be addressed in later stages, as cited in Tasnim.

On China and whether President Xi agreed to commit to pressuring the Iranians to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said Friday “we don’t need favors” but that “we may have to do a little cleanup work.”

“We had a little month-long ceasefire, I guess you’d call it, but we have a blockade that’s so effective, that’s why we did the ceasefire,” he said, after suggesting that the conflict with Iran could continue.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

In yet another glaring example of failed “criminal justice reform” in blue cities, Cook County, Illinois officials have admitted that 243 dangerous criminals have gone completely AWOL from the county’s pretrial electronic monitoring program.

These include individuals charged with murder, attempted murder, and sexual assault — all supposed to be tracked by ankle monitors while awaiting trial instead of sitting in jail.

The revelation comes straight from Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach II’s new transparency dashboard, which shows roughly 3,048 people currently on the program with 8 percent unaccounted for.

🚨 HOLY CRAP!! Cook County, Illinois Democrats ran a pre-trial program for murders and sexual assaulters so they WOULDN’T BE IN JAIL awaiting trial…

…and 8% OF THEM JUST WENT MISSING! Untraceable.

243 criminals — including murderers, attempted murderers, and sexual… pic.twitter.com/bou1YVobHu

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 14, 2026

Of the criminals that have gone missing, 21 have been charged with murder, 13 with attempted murder, 103 with sexual assault, and 173 with aggravated battery.

A former Illinois police chief summed it up bluntly: “They have NO idea where they’re at. NONE. ZERO.”

🚨 THIS CANT HAPPEN! Cook County, Illinois just admitted they LOST TRACK of 243 criminals on ankle monitors, including 21 MURDERERS and 13 attempted murderers.

One of them was out on monitoring when he shot and killed a police officer and injured another during an armed robbery… pic.twitter.com/vPbE1ACawK

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) May 14, 2026

The criminals were supposed to be on ankle monitors. Instead, they’re lost, prompting what the report called a “wild goose chase.”

State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke called the figures alarming and warned of more victims if safeguards aren’t tightened.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s justice reforms — including elements of the controversial SAFE-T Act that pushed pretrial release over detention — are now under fresh scrutiny.

As one Illinois lawmaker noted in a follow-up post: “2,450 defendants on ankle monitors. 590 charged with violent crimes. 210 charged with aggravated weapons offenses. 85 felons caught with guns. 21 MURDER defendants. And 8% are just… gone. AWOL. Nobody knows where they are. THIS is Pritzker’s justice system.”

This isn’t some isolated glitch. The same program was ignored by a known career criminal with 72 prior arrests. He violated curfew, boarded a Chicago train, and set a stranger ON FIRE — exactly the kind of preventable horror that keeps repeating under these policies.

Chicago’s Revolving Door Of Doom: 72 PRIOR ARRESTS Revealed For Train Torcher

These repeat offenders keep being enabled in blue cities:

Recent cases like the cop-killing by an EM violator and the train torching show exactly where this leads. Illinois Democrats sold the public on “fairness” and “equity” in pretrial release.

What they delivered is a system where violent offenders roam free until they strike again — or simply vanish. The ankle monitors were meant to be a safeguard. Instead, they’ve become a joke.

Chief Judge Beach says more data and stricter violation reporting are coming. But after years of the same revolving-door failures, residents aren’t holding their breath.

Blue-city leaders keep doubling down on policies that prioritize criminals over victims. The body count — and the missing-persons list — keeps growing.

This is the predictable result of putting ideology over public safety. Until voters demand real accountability and law-and-order leadership, expect more of the same in Chicago and every other city following the same failed blueprint.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Despite record low consumer sentiment (if you believe UMich), this morning saw the Empire Fed survey show New York state factory activity expanded in May at the fastest pace in four years, and firms grew more optimistic about the outlook.

That was followed by a much hotter than expected Industrial Production print (up 0.7% MoM vs +0.3% MoM exp and higher than the highest estimate) for April (and March’s decline revised stronger), lifting annual growth up to +1.35% YoY…

Source: Bloomberg

April’s gain for US industrial production was the largest since February 2025.

Manufacturing output rose 0.6 percent in April after edging up 0.1 percent in March.

The production of durables increased 1.2 percent in April, with gains in most categories.

The largest increase was in the output of motor vehicles and parts, which jumped 3.7 percent.

Nondurable manufacturing production edged down 0.1 percent, as declines in several categories – notably the indexes for chemicals and for plastics and rubber products, which both decreased 0.9 percent – were mostly offset by increases in the indexes for food, beverage, and tobacco products, for printing and support, and for petroleum and coal products.

Mining output edged down 0.1 percent in April after falling 1.6 percent in March. 

The output of utilities increased 1.9 percent in April, with gains in both electric and natural gas utilities.

Capacity Utilization continued to rise to 76.1% (better than the 75.8% expected)…

So, if Americans are so pissed off (UMich), why is production and factory activity (and retail sales) picking up?

Authored by Peter Tchir via Academy Securities,

Stocks rallied after Jensen hopped on AF1 in Alaska. They rallied several times yesterday on Iran/China headlines, on Boeing selling planes headlines, and other soundbites from the much heralded Xi and Trump Summit.

As discussed in Wednesday’s report China and Trade, we did not have high expectations regarding this meeting. We did feel that the President wanted a deal badly enough, that we would get something to help markets, even though it seemed like China had a marginally better/better hand than the U.S.

What we were not expecting was a perfunctory set of meetings and press conferences.

The President is many things, but perfunctory is rarely one of them.

Perfunctory describes an action carried out quickly, superficially, or carelessly, usually as a routine duty rather than out of genuine interest or care.

It implies a lack of enthusiasm, effort, or thoroughness, often done merely to get a task finished.  (via AI finding the Merriam Webster definition).

With a truly impressive entourage of politicians, political appointees and business leaders, the stage seemed set for something “bigger” than what we got. We often get more market moving social media posts in the middle of the night than we got as part of this historic meeting.

I did not have high expectations, but I was hoping for more than what we got.

I would rather have seen some confrontation and pushing an agenda, than what seemed quite “perfunctory”.

It leaves me (and possibly markets) a little confused.

Have stocks been pumped as high as they can?

What decision does the President make with Iran over the weekend? 

It did not seem like there was any commitment from China to help, and according to at least some comments from the President, China was not asked to help.

Really, not sure what to make of the lack of headlines, but cannot help but think of those souvenir T-Shirts saying My President Went to Beijing and all I got was this Crummy T-Shirt.

It could have been worse.

It could have been a lot better. 

But with bonds under pressure, the affordability issue getting more and more attention, and stocks at all time highs, I think markets needed something more than we got.

Maybe there will be a “surprise” statement or two in the coming days, following up on the meeting, but I am disappointed, and suspect markets are too!

President Trump’s China trip has concluded, with the multi-day summit producing comments from both sides that pointed to warming bilateral relations. As Trump returns aboard Air Force One on Friday morning, traders are shifting focus to overnight turmoil in South Korea, where labor action risks rattled Samsung shares and other memory stocks, and dragged the country’s benchmark KOSPI index lower.

Samsung’s strike is set to formally begin on May 21. Because the company’s semiconductor fabs are already highly automated, the impact on production is expected to be limited. However, there will likely be noticeable disruptions to packaging and logistics, R&D and design, as well… https://t.co/l2ibgeXEIL

— TrendForce (@trendforce) May 15, 2026

“There was pronounced pressure in Asia, with the KOSPI down 6.1%, led by heavy selling in Samsung and SK Hynix. Headlines around a potential 18-day union strike at Samsung further exacerbated weakness across tech,” UBS analyst Zeynep Akkok wrote in a short note to clients.

First time in weeks that Samsung and KOSPI had a down week:

Samsung

KOSPI

Akkok explained that the selling in South Korean tech and memory stocks spread to Europe: “This is feeding directly into Europe, where technology stocks are down 2.7%, and UBS’s semiconductors basket is off 4.2%.”

One of the most aggressive AI melt-ups globally just hit its first real air pocket. Spot-up, vol-up works great…until everybody suddenly realizes they are naked to the downside.https://t.co/YqHKAjyZEP

— The Market Ear (@themarketear) May 15, 2026

Everything you need to know about the labor action theat against Samsung (courtsey of Bloomberg):

• Samsung’s largest labor union threatened an 18-day walkout beginning May 21 after government-mediated wage negotiations collapsed on May 13.

• The union demands that Samsung scrap existing bonus caps and allocate 15% of operating profits to bonuses, while both sides remain sharply divided over AI-related earnings bonuses.

• Samsung CEO Jun Young-hyun and executives met with union leadership on Friday, with Samsung offering unconditional talks and urging swift dialogue.

• Samsung reportedly began cutting production on Thursday ahead of the planned strike to prepare for potential quality issues.

Beyond selling pressure in Asia and Europe, the U.S. is also experiencing a red morning, with Nasdaq futures down 1.6% and S&P 500 futures down about 1.2%.

Among U.S. semiconductor stocks, Nvidia is down 2.6% in premarket trading. Broadcom is down 3%, AMD is down 4%, and Intel is down 5%.

We briefed readers earlier on another bout of selling pressure hitting global markets this morning, including surging Treasury yields and elevated crude prices (read the report here).

Taken together, from memory, stocks soaring and yields higher amid inflation woes, this setup points to a risk-off Friday. That said, traders will be watching closely for any bull-friendly White House comments that could stabilize and provide a relief bid.

Traders are waking this morning in the US to some relative market mayhem and questioning what came first – the oil spike or the geopolitical angst – to trigger these moves as it appears the market finally remembered there’s more going on in the world than trading ‘short compute’ demand to the moon…

Oil prices are up significantly (WTI >$100)…

Bond yields are breaking out everywhere (10Y 4.5%, 30Y UST 5.10%!, 30Y Gilt 5.82% – highest sine 1982)…

Equity markets sharply lower overnight (Kospi -6%, Japan Semis  approx. -5%, Japan momentum approx. -2.5% Nasdaq -1.5% as levered ETF exposure and high concentration clearly exacerbating the sell off)…

The catalysts are intertwined with what appears to be a nothing-burger in terms of outcomes from Trump’s trip to China (exacerbated by Xi’s not so hidden threat) and Trump’s comments on the Strait of Hormuz..

China Summit

As Goldman Sachs one-delta desk-head, Rich Privorotsky, notes this morning, the Xi/Trump summit appeared to yield little in the way of immediate tangible outcomes.

Despite all the positive rhetoric, Boeing sank,  KWEB closed -4.6%, the details around NVIDIA H200 exports remain murky and even some of the headline “wins” looked shaky.

Reuters reported that Chinese customs “halted export clearances for hundreds of U.S. beef plants” just hours after approvals had seemingly been renewed during the summit. 

For now this still looks more like stabilization than a durable reset. 

Feels like the US side came hoping for transactional risk deals while China was looking for a broader multi year reset and foundations for more constructive dialogue.

Talking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said that the two leaders talked about Taiwan “a lot,” NBC News reported.

“On Taiwan, he does not want to see a fight for independence because that would be a very strong confrontation,” Trump said.

Trump said he hadn’t made any decisions about sales of arms to Taiwan, but he will “make a determination,” the Associated Press reported.

Xi told Trump that he opposes Taiwan’s independence, and Trump said he heard the Chinese leader out without offering any response.

The references to the “Thucydides Trap” did not go unnoticed either:

Xi invoked whether China and the US could “transcend the so-called Thucydides Trap” (the theory that when a rising power threatens to displace an established great power, war becomes highly likely).

…very deliberate language and clearly aimed at framing this as something much bigger than tariffs or trade.

Trump later had to go on a posting offensive clarifying that he must have been referring to the Biden administration…

When President Xi very elegantly referred to the United States as perhaps being a declining nation, he was referring to the tremendous damage we suffered during the four years of Sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden Administration, and on that score, he was 100% correct. Our Country suffered immeasurably with open borders, high taxes, transgender for everybody, men in women’s sports, DEI, horrible trade deals, rampant crime, and so much more!

President Xi was not referring to the incredible rise that the United States has displayed to the world during the 16 spectacular months of the Trump Administration, which includes all-time high stock markets and 401K’s, military victory and thriving relationship in Venezuela, the military decimation of Iran (to be continued!) — Strongest military on earth by far, economic powerhouse again, with a record 18 trillion dollars being invested into the United States by others, best U.S. job market in history, with more people working in the United States right now than ever before, ending country destroying DEI, and so many other things that it would be impossible to readily list.

In fact, President Xi congratulated me on so many tremendous successes in such a short period of time.

Two years ago, we were, in fact, a Nation in decline. On that, I fully agree with President Xi!

But now, the United States is the hottest Nation anywhere in the world, and hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before!

However, as Privorotsky noted, the market probably came in pricing deal momentum and instead got managed coexistence. 

That is still positive in macro terms, just less catalytic for risk assets immediately.

Now, to the second part of the double-whammy…

Oil

This is where Privorotsky says ‘the rubber meets the road.’ 

Feels like the US held back from escalation ahead of the China summit, hopeful Beijing might lean on Iran to de-escalate.

But China’s messaging remained diplomatic rather than forceful, saying “the most urgent issue is to keep the ceasefire” and calling for “good-faith negotiation between the two sides.” 

Trump said he and Xi agreed that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, returning market focus to the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Reopening the waterway has been a key objective for the US in diplomatic efforts since a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran took hold about five weeks ago. But Iran insists it keep an oversight of traffic through the maritime chokepoing as part of any peace agreement, stoking fears of a prolonged disruption in energy exports from the Persian Gulf.

Trump oscillated between threatening further attacks on Iran, including in a Truth Social post between meetings with Xi, and insisting the US does not rely on energy imports through the Strait of Hormuz.

“They need the Strait more than we need it open, we don’t, we don’t need it at all,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.

Trump says US is “doing it to help Israel and to help Saudi Arabia” and other gulf allies.

“It also helps China”

That comment triggered a jump in crude prices, rise in the dollar, and drop in gold…

For now, it appears the combination of Trump’s nonchalance about the Strait and the over-arching geopolitical threat from Xi (combined with a disappointing outcome from the talks in terms of tangible trade deals) are enough to trump the Gamma Squeeze in AI/Semis (so far).

So now the question becomes:

Does the US feel compelled to escalate further (with China… or Iran)?

Markets are understandably skittish into the weekend risk window, which combined with the options expiration removing a chunk of positive (stabilizing) gamma, leaves markets more free to move (up or down).

Authored by Mohamed Moutii via the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER)

Over the past decade, Europe has played a leading role in shaping global climate policy, highlighted by the launch of the European Green Deal in 2019—Ursula von der Leyen described it as a “man on the moon moment.” The initiative aims to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 while fostering innovation and strengthening its industrial base.

Yet several years later, the results are deeply disappointing. Instead of meeting its goals, the Green Deal is increasingly associated with higher energy costs, weakened competitiveness, and growing political backlash. It has deepened divisions within the EU, strained global relations, and increased pressure on households and businesses—raising serious doubts about its feasibility and long-term economic impact.

How Green Ideology Undermines Europe’s Economy

Europe’s economic stagnation points to a deeper structural problem in its energy and climate strategy—one closely tied to the direction set by the European Green Deal. Since its launch, competitiveness has eroded sharply, with soaring energy costs at its core. Electricity prices in Europe are now two to three times higher than in the United States and China, with taxes accounting for nearly a quarter of the total cost.

These outcomes largely stem from policy choices. The EU’s binding targets—net zero by 2050 and a 55-percent emissions reduction by 2030—have constrained energy supply, despite Europe accounting for only six percent of global emissions. At the same time, phasing out nuclear, restricting gas, and relying on intermittent renewables have weakened energy security and increased price volatility. For industry—where energy can account for up to 30 percent of total production costs—this, combined with carbon pricing, has become a critical constraint, driving firms to scale back, relocate, or shut down, accelerating deindustrialization across the continent.

The automotive industry clearly illustrates these pressures: representing over 7 percent of EU GDP and nearly 14 million jobs, the sector is under pressure from the 2035 ban on combustion engines, forcing a rapid shift to electric vehicles despite unresolved technological challenges and market constraints. As Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius warned, the policy risks driving the sector “full speed into a wall.” The consequences for the sector are already visible: declining production, mounting restructuring, and significant job losses—86,000 jobs since 2020, with up to 350,000 more at risk by 2035—while tightening regulations are set to reduce profits by seven to eight percent by 2030, pushing the sector toward losses and eroding Europe’s automotive leadership.

Agriculture has also become one of the Green Deal’s clearest casualties. Stricter rules on emissions, land use, pesticides, and fertilizers are raising costs and increasing yield volatility, hitting small farmers hardest and accelerating consolidation among large agribusinesses. Targets such as cutting pesticide use by 50 percent and expanding organic farming risk significant declines in output, threatening both rural livelihoods and food security. Rather than enabling farmers to innovate and improve productivity, these policies are constraining production—fueling widespread protests and weakening both competitiveness and sustainability.

Taken together, these pressures are not isolated—they reflect a broader economic burden. The European Commission estimates that the transition will require at least €260 billion in additional investment each year, with total costs reaching up to 12 percent of EU GDP—a burden that is increasingly difficult for the European economy to sustain.

The Green Deal’s Central Planning Problem

The economic strain is now translating into political backlash. In recent years, opposition to the European Green Deal has surged across the continent—from farmers and industrial groups to voters and political parties. The 2024 EU elections confirmed what was already clear: the once-dominant green consensus is fracturing. In response, Brussels has begun quietly rolling back key elements of the policy—weakening regulations, introducing loopholes, and even avoiding the term “Green Deal” itself. What was presented as a historic transformation is now unraveling.

This backlash reflects a deeper failure. Although the EU allocated $680 billion from 2021 to 2027—over a third of its budget—the Green Deal has achieved only modest environmental improvements, while imposing a heavy economic burden on households and businesses, who now face higher energy prices, taxes, and regulatory pressure.

The problem is not merely execution—it is structural. The Green Deal relies on centralized planning to manage a complex energy transition, even though policymakers lack the information and incentives to do so effectively. A major flaw is its rejection of technological neutrality. Leading manufacturers support a mix of electric, hybrid, hydrogen, and e-fuels to compete freely and allow efficient solutions to emerge, yet Brussels is enforcing a single pathway—effectively dictating which technologies survive and sidelining industry expertise.

In such a system, the outcomes are predictable: misallocation, distorted competition, and costly failures. These distortions are amplified by Europe’s restrictive regulatory environment, where internal barriers within the EU single market amount to a 44-percent tariff on goods and 110 percent on services, further constraining efficiency and innovation.

Germany illustrates these dynamics clearly. Long regarded as the leader of Europe’s green transition, its Energiewende—expanding renewables while phasing out nuclear—has cost around $800 billion since 2002, yet delivered only modest results and left German industries paying up to five times more for electricity than American competitors. Much of the progress in renewables has been offset by the closure of zero-emission nuclear plants. Estimates suggest that maintaining nuclear capacity could have achieved a 73-percent emissions reduction at half the cost, highlighting the limits of ideologically driven policy.

The comparison with the United States is instructive. In the U.S., emissions have declined even as the economy more than doubled since 1990—driven largely by market forces, particularly the shift to cheaper natural gas and the expansion of renewables. This combination reduced emissions without imposing comparable costs. Europe, meanwhile, has pursued a more rigid, policy-driven approach that has raised prices and weakened growth.

The deeper lesson of the Green Deal is that climate policy cannot succeed when it abandons the principles that made Europe prosperous in the first place: free enterprise, open markets, private innovation, and limited government. Energy transitions cannot be engineered through centralized planning, subsidies, and political mandates. Innovation emerges from competition, experimentation, and market signals—not from governments dictating technological outcomes.

A millennial used Anthropic’s Claude to crack the password to his Bitcoin wallet after locking himself out for more than 11 years.

Back in 2014, the X user “cprkrn,” who did not identify himself, explained that he had a crypto wallet on an old computer, got stoned one night, changed the password, and forgot it. He tried trillions of password guesses over the years with no luck.

“I tried like 7 trillion passwords lmfao. Found this old pneumonic a few weeks ago that ended up being the old password before I changed it. Thought I was screwed. Last-ditch effort dumped my whole college computer into Claude,” cprkrn said.

He noted, “It found an OLD wallet file that the pneumonic successfully decrypted. Locked out 11+ years because I got stoned and changed the password.”

The password turned out to be: lol420fuckthePOLICE!* …

Best part is the password was:

lol420fuckthePOLICE!*:)

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

— 🍜 (@cprkrn) May 13, 2026

Here are the prompts in Claude that helped the man retrieve five lost Bitcoins…

HOLY FUCKING SHIT OMG CLAUDE JUST CRACKED THIS SHIT, THANK YOU @AnthropicAI THANK YOU @DarioAmodei NAMING MY KID AFTER YOU 😍https://t.co/gObNirRDpS https://t.co/ByTdIM4d20 pic.twitter.com/xB5LUJb6Pe

— 🍜 (@cprkrn) May 13, 2026

And here is proof: the wallet went active on Wednesday after being dormant for a decade.

He added:

Last tweet + muting, asked Claude to summarize our recovery efforts:

TLDR, tried ~3.5 trillion passwords + none worked, ended up matching an old seed phrase found in a college notebook with an old wallet file 🙂 pic.twitter.com/iOaIIVsiHd

— 🍜 (@cprkrn) May 13, 2026

It was on Wednesday when we cited UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri, who provided color on what corporate America thinks about the chatbot race: “The survey continues to point to Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia as the key enterprise AI winners, but with Anthropic gaining ground.”

Read that report here.

Via Remix News,

Labor Minister and Social Democratic Party (SPD) co-leader Bärbel Bas (SPD) says nobody is immigrating to Germany to take advantage of its social welfare system. However, she has received substantial pushback directed at her claim.

Bas’ comment came during a session of the Bundestag, when AfD MP René Springer asked Bas why she wasn’t cutting spending on immigration due to the current budget crisis, given the clear burden it is putting on social welfare, a situation that is making German taxpayers increasingly angry. 

“Immigration into the welfare state threatens social cohesion! The fact is: More and more immigrants are pushing into our social welfare system – and are bringing the system to its limits and to the brink of collapse,” CSU Member of Parliament Stephan Mayer told Bild on Tuesday, as quoted by Junge Freiheit.

Bas, in return, has called this notion a lie from “right-wing extremists.”

Her goal, like many proponents of mass immigration is to link it to eliminating Germany’s skilled worker shortage.

“We have a skilled worker shortage in this country, which many companies are addressing by saying, ‘We need everyone who is here in the country and can work.’”

Mayer, and many others before him, shot her down.

“Every statistic refutes her. The immigration into Germany’s social systems is verifiably documented and one of the main reasons why the Federal Republic is heading toward state bankruptcy,” Springer posted on X last week. 

Bärbel Bas hat ein weiteres Zitat für die Geschichtsbücher geliefert. Nach Norbert Blüms „die Rente ist sicher“, Kohls „blühende Landschaften“ im Osten, Merkels „Wir schaffen das“ zur Grenzöffnung und Scholz’ „Doppel-Wumms“ zur energiepolitischen Irrfahrt setzt die… pic.twitter.com/7etME3lddg

— René Springer (@Rene_Springer) May 6, 2026

“There is less and less money for those in need because the wrong people, who have never paid into the system and never will, are being supported by us,” he told Bild. 

Remix News has reported extensively on migrant abuse of the German welfare system. In November 2024, data from the federal government revealed that 64 percent of those receiving benefits have a migration background, despite making up a much smaller share of the overall German population. The cost of providing this social welfare rose to €12.2 billion the previous year, but in total, Germany spent nearly €50 billion on immigrants and protecting its border in 2023.

And yet, in August 2025, Germany’s Federal Employment Agency is actively promoting the country’s “citizen’s benefit” (Bürgergeld) to young migrants, with one critic noting: “Germany is so generous that it not only explains to immigrants from abroad how to get a job, but also how to make ends meet in Germany without one.”

That same month, two SPD chiefs in the German state of Thuringia broke with their party, calling for most non-EU migrants — including asylum seekers and recognized refugees — to receive social benefits only as interest-free loans, repayable once they find work, in an effort to break reliance on the state.

Currently, there is very little incentive for many to find work. And even those under deportation orders are being supported at taxpayer’s expense. And this is, of course, ignoring the other issue with massive crime from the migrant community.

Bas, however, has, in turn, said Springer is simply ignorant of the facts.

“You’ve probably never heard of it, because you’re probably not out and about in the country, visiting companies,” she told him. 

Alice Weidel, the AfD parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, reacted to this with her own input:

“The SPD’s denial of reality is symptomatic of the federal government’s inability to act—a government that doesn’t want to change a thing. A political turnaround is only possible with the AfD!” she wrote on X. 

According to Günter Krings (CDU), deputy leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, “there are too many people who come to us from other EU countries and only work a few hours a week, receiving social assistance for the rest of their time,” the MP told Bild, noting that the German social system is “a magnet for many EU foreigners.”

Former Bundestag member Joe Weingarten (SPD) described Bas’s statement as “a completely unrealistic assessment.” He added that she “is largely alone in this view, even within the SPD.” Weingarten also told The Pioneer, “Any responsible local politician could provide her with enough examples from their own city to prove the opposite.” 

Read more here…