President Donald Trump announced Monday that the administration is dramatically expanding the number of medications available through TrumpRx.gov, adding more than 600 generic drugs in what the White House described as another push to lower prescription costs for Americans.
Trump unveiled the expansion during remarks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, calling the move a major step toward making medications more affordable.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 18, 2026
“Today I’m thrilled to announce that we’re increasing the number of drugs available on TrumpRx by nearly seven times, adding over 600 affordable generics to the website, working with industry partners,” Trump said.
The president argued that generic medications often provide the same results as expensive brand-name drugs at a fraction of the cost.
“Cost-effective generic drugs are often available at just a tiny fraction of the price of their brand-name equivalents,” Trump said.
“Sometimes they’re better with the same dosage, the same effectiveness, and the same active ingredients.”
Trump said the expanded platform would offer some of the lowest prescription prices available to Americans, in some cases even beating insurance co-pays and out-of-pocket costs.
“With these additions, TrumpRx will feature the best and lowest prices on prescriptions used by tens of millions of Americans,” he said. “We’re going to be lower.”
The White House also demonstrated a new feature on the website that allows users to compare drug prices at local pharmacies using an interactive map. The presentation was led by Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised Trump’s efforts during the event and argued that previous administrations had promised lower drug prices without producing results.
“President Trump has asked us to make this, our country, the most affordable medication in the world, and he succeeded in doing that,” Kennedy said.
“I want to say one last thing: President Bush promised to do this, President Clinton promised to do it, President Biden promised to do it, President Obama promised to do it, President Trump actually got it done,” he added.
One of the administration’s partners in the effort is Cost Plus Drugs, co-founded by businessman Mark Cuban, who attended the announcement despite backing former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Cuban praised the initiative and emphasized that lowering drug costs should transcend partisan politics.
“Republicans want cheaper drugs, independents want cheaper drugs, Democrats want cheaper drugs, and together I think we’re going to do something special,” Cuban said.
Speaking afterward outside the West Wing, Cuban argued Americans should judge policies based on whether they improve people’s lives rather than reflexively opposing them because of politics.
“The only thing I care about is can they reduce the stress of the American people,” Cuban said.
“TrumpRx and Cost Plus Drugs working together is one step towards reducing the stress.”
Chaos Erupts In Bolivia As Socialists Unleash General Strikes And Riots
Socialists in Bolivia, mobilized through the national labor union, highland farmer federations, and supporters of former left-wing President Evo Morales, have ignited social unrest over the U.S.-backed, market-oriented policy agenda of President Rodrigo Paz.
The turmoil comes as the Trump administration seeks to shift the Americas away from socialist regimes and closer to Washington’s pro-capitalist stance.
En Bolivia, obreros, campesinos, maestros de escuela, indígenas y transportistas, llevan mas de 2 semanas paralizando el país contra las políticas neoliberales del gobierno de Rodrigo Paz, y medios occidentales ni informan.pic.twitter.com/ruAizBAOYV
Demonstrators clashed with police in La Paz, attempted to breach government buildings, and set up barricades amid weeks of blockades that have disrupted supplies and driven up grocery prices.
Bloomberg:
BANK BRANCHES IN LA PAZ, BOLIVIA SUSPEND OPERATIONS AMID UNREST
President Paz accused forces linked to Morales and drug traffickers of backing the demonstrations.
Bolivia’s government has ordered the arrest of all the main leaders of the indigenous movements and mineworkers unions.
They’re being charged for Terrorism for having organised the general strike against hunger. Strike continues regardless, now in day 7. pic.twitter.com/5ISk3KPb68
Paz’s election last year abruptly ended two decades of nation-killing socialist rule in the landlocked South American country. Voters, exhausted by economic turmoil, surging inflation, a severe foreign-currency crisis, and declining natural gas output, opted for political change.
The Socialist Labour Party in the U.K. stands in “solidarity” with the Bolivian people…
🚨We send our solidarity to the Bolivian people.
🔴Just six months after US-backed President Rodrigo Paz took office, protesters are demanding his resignation. Bolivia’s government has ordered the arrest of all the main leaders of the indigenous movements and mineworkers unions.… pic.twitter.com/TnYzuVIOIv
Meanwhile, Bolivia’s currency crisis has been a long time in the making under decades of state-heavy socialist rule.
By 2025, Bolivia was facing a severe dollar shortage, fuel lines, and a forty-year-high inflation. Socialism reached its endgame last year with President Paz’s election victory. Socialists squandered the nation’s inheritance.
Socialism has also reached its endgame in other countries, including:
Argentina, 2023: Voters rejected the ruling Peronist government and elected libertarian Javier Milei amid a severe inflation and currency crisis.
Chile, 2025: Conservative José Antonio Kast defeated the ruling left’s candidate, Jeannette Jara, marking a sharp rightward shift after the Boric era.
As well as the US removal of socialist Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela.
Bolivia’s unrest by socialists attempting to shut down the economy should serve as a warning that socalist NGOs and unions in the US could attempt general strike in the US to derail the economy – we outlined that here.
U.S. households are now 18.79 trillion dollars in debt. In 1980, U.S. households were just 1.4 trillion dollars in debt. Over the past several decades we have witnessed a household debt binge that is unlike anything that we have ever witnessed in our entire history. But if consumers could handle that debt load, there wouldn’t be such a high level of concern. Unfortunately, just like we witnessed prior to the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, Americans are getting behind on their debts at a staggering rate. This isn’t going to end well, but of course many of you know that already.
The latest numbers published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show that delinquency rates for auto loans, student loans and credit card debt have all soared to very alarming levels…
Today, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) published new data showing that the share of Americans behind on a range of household consumer debts reached all-time highs in the first quarter of 2026. As the nation hurdles toward an historical record of $19 trillion in total household debt, Americans saw the highest rates of auto loan delinquency that FRBNY has ever recorded, rates of credit card delinquency near those last seen at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, and student loan delinquency at its worst since before the COVID-era payment pause.
While families took on more debt, they also fell behind. Credit card delinquency rates are now the highest they have been in 16 years (13.1 percent). Overall student loan delinquency rates soared to 10.3 percent, the highest recorded since 2020. Significantly more student loan borrowers are also entering serious delinquency, with their loans more than 90 days past due (10.9 percent) compared to the first quarter of 2025 (8.0 percent). In fact, delinquency rates have increased for all credit types tracked by the FRBNY since the final quarter of 2025.
New data released by real estate analytics firm ATTOM found that 42,430 properties nationwide received foreclosure filings in April 2026, including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.
Is that a high number?
Yes, it is.
In fact, it is 18 percent higher than last year’s very high figure for the month of April…
Foreclosure filings across the US have surged 18 percent compared to last year in a troubling sign that mounting financial pressure is beginning to hit homeowners.
It is a red flag that is reminiscent of the foreclosure spike in the run up to the 2008 Great Recession – that financial pressure is mounting for thousands of families.
Many of you clearly remember that we experienced a growing wave of foreclosures well before the financial markets started to crash in late 2008.
It was obvious that the housing bubble was crashing way in advance, and we can see the same thing happening again.
In Seattle, the number of homes listed for sale is nearly twice the usual figure, and prices are beginning to fall…
There are 8,630 homes listed for sale across the Seattle metro right now. In a normal April, there are about 4,600.
Nick Gerli, CEO of the real estate analytics firm Reventure, posted that data on Sunday on X. His read: Seattle’s housing market is going through a historic inventory shock, driven by layoffs, historic unaffordability, and outbound migration. King County values are already down 2.5% year over year. Prices are falling, and a typical listing is still right around $1 million, with a monthly mortgage payment of $7,000 to $8,000. That’s $84,000 to $96,000 a year just on the mortgage. The median household income across the Seattle metro is about $112,000 before taxes. After federal and state deductions, that household is taking home somewhere around $85,000 to $90,000. The mortgage alone consumes virtually all of it.
The market is cracking. Regular people still can’t afford to buy.
Yes, the market in Seattle is most definitely cracking.
And the same thing could be said about dozens of other markets all over the nation.
It is inevitable that home prices will fall because we have reached a point where most of the population simply cannot afford a typical mortgage payment.
In our “K-shaped economy”, those at the very top have been thriving while the vast majority of the country has been deeply struggling.
Sadly, there are a lot of young adults out there that have simply stopped trying.
This is particularly true for young men, and the numbers clearly show that millions upon millions of them have chosen to drop out of the labor force…
The Department of Labor keeps careful track of employment and the demographics thereof. Their latest report on men in the labor force is both mysterious and deeply alarming. It turns out that the labor force is missing about 7 million men who would otherwise be working. Close to a third of working-age men have vanished from the labor force.
The labor force participation rate among “prime age men,” age 25 to 54, in the 1950s approached 100 percent. Now it is 89 percent, meaning roughly 11 percent are not in the labor force (neither working nor looking for work).
Among all men over 16 years of age, the rate is a devastatingly low 66 percent, so about one-third are gone. Among U.S.-born men, nearly 22 percent are gone.
This is really quite shocking.
We really do have a national crisis on our hands.
The number of homeless Americans is at an all-time high.
Most of them are men.
The number of drug addicts in our country is at an all-time high.
Most of them are men.
So many people have been falling through the cracks in the system, and it seems to get worse with each passing year.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of households are falling behind on their debts and America’s middle class is steadily shrinking.
All of the long-term trends are taking us in the wrong direction, and it appears that our economic problems will only accelerate during the months ahead.
With the U.S. national average sitting at $4.53 per gallon (according to AAA data) and no resolution yet on a U.S.-Iran peace deal or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, pump prices risk rising even higher into the holiday weekend as the summer driving season begins.
Let’s start with the chart of the day: AAA retail gas prices in the U.S. on a seasonal basis closely track the 2022 run, when the Russia-Ukraine conflict was in its first several months.
Gas prices in 2022 did not top out until mid-June.
The impending problem, with no near-term Hormuz resolution, as JPMorgan analysts recently warned, is that the world is spiraling toward a catastrophic cliff-edge shortage of crude oil if the maritime chokepoint remains blocked into June.
Former CIA analysts and current RBC commodities head Helima Croft told clients days ago that she is “very skeptical of a June grand reopening or even that maritime traffic will return to February 27 levels for the foreseeable future.”
AAA Retail Gas Price Map
For Memorial Day 2026, AAA forecasts around 39.1 million Americans will travel by car, representing 87% of all holiday travelers. That will create a meaningful near-term lift in gas demand, especially from Thursday through Monday.
EIA notes that gas demand typically rises into the summer driving season, while last year’s Memorial Day period coincided with the highest weekly implied gas demand of 2025 up to that point.
So, in an already tight gas market, a busy Memorial Day driving weekend can certainly pull more barrels through the system, support pump prices, and may only lead to higher prices if no Hormuz resolution is found in the near term. The demand destruction level sits around $5.
Third Iran-Linked ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tanker Seized By US Navy Off South Asia
Update(1500ET): A WSJ report Tuesday afternoon has revealed that the US seized an “Iran-linked ship” in the Indian Ocean overnight, which had not previously been revealed, at a moment President Trump is threatening to resume airstrikes on Iran, but has given a few more ‘days’ for Tehran to come to the table.
“The tanker, called Skywave, was sanctioned by the US in March for its role in transporting Iranian oil,” the report says. These kind of high seas interdictions are happening with semi-regularity at this point, especially in waters of south and southeast Asia. The report details:
Ship-tracking data showed it sailing just west of Malaysia on Tuesday after transiting the Malacca Strait. The ship was likely loaded with more than a million barrels of crude at Iran’s Kharg Island in February, according to brokers and data from Lloyds List Intelligence.
It marks at least the third time the U.S. has seized an oil tanker in connection with its crackdown of Iran-linked shadow-fleet vessels.
Meanwhile, also on Tuesday VP JD Vance had a meeting with the president related to the Iran crisis, and engaged in another testy exchange with the media:
COLLINS: You last week denied that the president said he was not taking Americans’ financial situation into consideration when he’s making decisions on the Iran war. He’s since said it again, calling it a ‘perfect statement.’
Update(1140ET): President Trump has on Tuesday while fielding questions from reporters repeated his line that Iran is ‘begging’ for a deal. “They’re begging to make a deal. I hope we don’t have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit. We may have to give them another big hit. You’ll know very soon.”
His threat to give them another “big hit” was coupled with the assertion that he was just one hour away from ordering new attacks on Iran Monday, but was asked by Gulf allies to given diplomacy just a little longer:
Trump: “I was an hour away” from striking Iran on Monday.
There was also the below moment where he again talked timeline, saying he’s ready to resume military action in a few ‘days’ if Iran doesn’t comply:
Reporter: How many days does Iran have to come to the table?
Trump: Two or three days. Maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Maybe early next week. A limited period of time. pic.twitter.com/yAAfv2jR20
Iran for its part says it stands ready to “confront aggression” and remains in a high state of military alert.
Also, tensions with nearby Gulf states are still soaring, and amid reports that drones have recently been launched from Iraqi territory – likely the work of Shia paramilitary organizations which are closely allied with Iran.
(Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates’ Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that a drone that caused a fire at its nuclear power plant on Sunday had been launched from Iraq.
Emirati officials have said the UAE has the full right to respond to such “terrorist attacks”. https://t.co/Skv8LEkkRy
In a huge and unexpected announcement, amid stalled US-Iran peace talks – which have proven a failure and illusive thus far, NATO now says it could deploy military assets to forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Per breaking newswires Tuesday late morning:
NATO TO CONSIDER HORMUZ DEPLOYMENT IF STRAIT NOT OPEN BY JULY
President Trump has continuously chastised the NATO alliance for being largely bankrolled by Washington but at the same time fence-sitting when it comes to forming a coalition to patrol and reopen the vital energy transit waterway. Oil plummeted on the initial headline, seeing in it a positive for the potential that crude transit in the Persian Gulf could again be opened up soon:
NATO is discussing the possibility of helping ships pass through the blocked Strait of Hormuz if the waterway isn’t reopened by early July, according to a senior official in the military alliance.
The idea has support from several members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but doesn’t yet have the necessary unanimous support, said a diplomat from a NATO country. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity. Leaders from NATO countries will meet in Ankara July 7-8.
But July feels very far away at this point, and anything could happen between now and then, as Washington continues to threaten renewed military action, and Iran says it remains on high alert.
NATO defense chiefs are meeting this week, where also high on the agenda will be the following:
At this week’s summit, military chiefs from all 32 member states will examine the impact that consistent rapid consumption may have on NATO’s collective capabilities and deterrent power as Russia continues to threaten allies.
Remarkably, many news articles are citing confusion in trying to understand why U.S. Undersecretary of War, Elbridge Colby, announced the suspension of U.S. participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defense with Canada.
However, the announcement comes immediately after his meeting with U.S. ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, at the Pentagon andthe comment,“we’re working closely to ensure every NATO partner, including Canada, reaches the Hague Summit’s 3.5% GDP defense spending target, a vital investment for North American and Arctic defense.”
The issue, as outlined by Undersecretary Colby, centers around Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent statements in antagonism toward the U.S., a public announcement that Canada would not be purchasing U.S. military equipment and the biggest issue of all, that Canada is not living up to the NATO defense spending agreements.
It was in December of 2024, immediately after the November election where Donald Trump won, when then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Lago for dinner with President Trump and told him there’s no way that Canada could meet their NATO obligations.
Canada had relied on the USA to provide all national defense and was 16th in defense spending at 1.1% of GDP. {CITATION}
The issue of NATO compliance was part of a larger discussion around trade imbalances, non-tariff barriers, intellectual property conflicts and legislative hurdles that Canada used as a crutch to retain economic benefit without reciprocity.
Trudeau was arguing that Canada could not change all the points of conflict, drop their non-tariff barriers, comply with NATO demands and simultaneously get into total alignment with the USMCA trade compact (CUSMA to Canada), because their climate policies did not support or match the heavy industrial processing capabilities of both the United States and Mexico.
This triggered President Trump to respond with the 51st state, notation.
Essentially, if you cannot be a partner with equal capabilities; and if you need to retain structural economic dependency; then Canada should just become a 51st state of the USA.
Since that time, things went downhill quickly. Instead of trying to find ways to eliminate points of conflict, Prime Minister Mark Carney began a campaign of aggressive anti-Trump narrative distribution in order to maximize domestic political benefits.
President Trump then turned toward Mexico and began working with USTR Jamieson Greer to construct what is essentially a bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and Mexico.
The administration began ignoring Canada, planning instead to announce the upcoming dissolution of the USMCA and then force Canada to negotiate a bilateral. A jilted Canada then began doubling and tripling down on the anti-Trumpism, with Carney saying the era of trade between the USA and Canada is over.
Carney then reached out to Europe and China for trade replacement value and began making announcements about no longer purchasing U.S. manufactured fighter jets and military hardware.
U.S. Undersecretary of War, Elbridge Colby meets with U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, and obviously the NATO stuff is just the straw that ended the U.S. participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defense with Canada. Not a complicated timeline to figure out.
WASHINGTON – […] “A strong Canada that prioritizes hard power over rhetoric benefits us all,” Colby said.
“Unfortunately, Canada has failed to make credible progress on its defense commitments. DoW is pausing the Permanent Joint Board on Defense to reassess how this forum benefits shared North American defense.
“We can no longer avoid the gaps between rhetoric and reality. Real powers must sustain our rhetoric with shared defense and security responsibilities,” he continued. “Delivering on shared continental defense begins by recognizing our shared geography. Only by investing in our own defense capabilities will Americans and Canadians be safe, secure, and prosperous.”
It’s unclear why Colby made the announcement on Monday, given that Carney’s Davos speech was months ago.
Minutes before the announcement, Colby posted a photograph of himself meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, at the Pentagon, though he did not specify when the meeting took place.
“We’re working closely to ensure every NATO partner, including Canada, reaches the Hague Summit’s 3.5% GDP defense spending target, a vital investment for North American and Arctic defense,” he wrote along with the photo.
Carney’s relationship with President Donald Trump has fractured in recent months over several different issues, including the former’s address at Davos. (read more)
Every trade and economic associated agency within the Trump administration is in alignment, and the elimination of the USMCA with Canada is clearly at the end of this path.
However, if you can find one in one-hundred Canadians who understand or accept this destination, I would be surprised.
A mass formation psychosis has fallen upon the land of Canada, and the overwhelming majority of Canadians just repeat, “Trump bad.”
Nickel Jumps As Indonesian Output Cut Stokes Supply Fears
Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange surged as much as 2.6% to $19,050 a ton after Shanghai Metals Market said upwards of 15% of high-grade nickel pig iron capacity at Indonesia’s Weda Bay Industrial Park will undergo rotational maintenance in the coming months, according to Bloomberg.
Indonesia’s Weda Bay Industrial Park is one of the most important nickel-processing hubs in the world and serves a large cluster of smelters that produce nickel pig iron, a key input for stainless steel production.
Indonesia dominates global nickel supply, producing 2.6 million metric tons of nickel in 2025 out of a global total of 3.9 million tons, accounting for roughly two-thirds of global mine production.
So, the earlier news from SMM indicating a 10% to 15% reduction in NPI output from Weda Bay Industrial Park in the coming months, building on existing NPI reductions in March and April due to lower ore supplies and high costs, has easily sparked supply concerns on the LME …
Nickel is extremely valuable and a critical industrial metal in the era of electrification and data center buildouts:
Stainless steel, by far the largest demand center, where nickel improves corrosion resistance, strength, and heat tolerance.
EV and energy-storage batteries, especially nickel-rich lithium-ion chemistries that increase energy density and driving range.
Aerospace and military superalloys, including jet-engine turbine blades and high-temperature gas turbines.
Industrial alloys, plating, and catalysts, used across machinery, chemicals, and corrosion-resistant equipment.
Let’s not forget that sulfuric acid prices have surged amid the Hormuz disruption. This industrial chemical is used in nickel production, especially in Indonesia’s battery-grade nickel supply chain.
The line in the sand for LME nickel futures is $20,000.
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 18 ordered lower courts to reconsider rulings in two redistricting cases that concern whether private individuals may sue to enforce a federal law that bans discriminatory voting practices.
The court directed the lower courts to take another look at the cases from Mississippi and North Dakota in light of its recent landmark ruling limiting the use of race in redistricting efforts.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from both new rulings.
In Louisiana v. Callais, a majority of the court had said April 29 that race may not be the predominant, overriding reason for how congressional district lines are drawn. The case focused on the Pelican State’s decision to add a majority-black district after a lower court said omitting the district would violate the Section 2 nondiscrimination provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act.
On Monday, the nation’s highest court summarily disposed of the two cases, State Board of Election Commissioners v. Mississippi State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Howe, in unsigned orders. The court did not explain its decisions.
Lawyers call this process, which disposes of cases without holding an oral argument, GVR, which stands for grant, vacate, and remand.
The Supreme Court follows this procedure when it wants lower courts to reconsider their rulings using a new legal framework from a recent decision without delving deeply into the specifics of the cases.
North Dakota
In the North Dakota case, the Turtle Mountain Band, the Spirit Lake Tribe, and three Native American voters sued the state’s secretary of state after the state legislature redrew the boundaries of state legislative districts in 2021. The move took the number of majority-Indian districts in the northeastern section of the state from three down to one, and this, the tribes’ petition argued, constituted illegal dilution of Indian voting power.
They filed what’s called a private enforcement lawsuit against the secretary of state to enforce Section 2. They brought their legal action under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, a federal law that allows individuals to sue the government for civil rights violations.
Secretary of State Michael Howe urged the federal district court to dismiss the case, arguing that there was no implied right of action allowing enforcement of Section 2. The court did not rule on the issue because the plaintiffs also pleaded their case under Section 1983, which the court found yielded a cause of action to enforce Section 2. A cause of action is a set of facts that provides a legal basis for suing someone, the petition said.
The district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding that Section 2 created individual rights and that nothing in the section’s enforcement provisions was “incompatible with private enforcement.”
Howe appealed, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found for the state and reversed the district court. The appeals court found that Section 2 does not make provisions for an implied private right of action, and that private plaintiffs may not “instead maintain a private right of action for alleged violations of [Section] 2 through 42 U.S.C. [Section] 1983.”
In his brief, Howe urged the Supreme Court to reject the case, arguing that the Eighth Circuit ruled correctly.
Section 2 “did not unambiguously create an individual right against collective vote dilution,” and the section’s prohibition against dilution is not privately enforceable under Section 1983, he said.
The tribes said in their petition that the Eighth Circuit erred in finding that Section 2 was not privately enforceable and urged the Supreme Court to grant their petition.
The Supreme Court held in Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia (1996) that Section 2 and other sections of the Voting Rights Act are privately enforceable, the petition said.
Mississippi
In the Mississippi case, the NAACP challenged a map for state legislative districts drawn by the Mississippi Legislature after the 2020 census, the NAACP said in its brief.
The group argued that some of the new districts in the 2022 redistricting plan violated Section 2 and the U.S. Constitution, by cracking “large, cohesive Black populations.” Cracking is drawing districts that divide a population or constituency across several districts.
The NAACP argued that four Senate districts and three House districts violated Section 2. The plaintiffs cited Section 1983 and the implied right of action under Section 2 as bolstering their right to privately enforce Section 2, the brief said.
A district court panel of three Mississippi federal judges ruled that the redistricting plan violated Section 2. The court gave the legislature an opportunity to fix its legislative map and ordered special elections in specific districts.
The state said in its brief, which asked the Supreme Court not to take up the case, that the panel erred when it found that the private parties in the case may sue to enforce section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
That issue regarding private enforcement action is “unsettled and profoundly important” and has divided the regional courts of appeals. Section 2 does not, in “clear and unambiguous” terms, create a federal right to enforce the law under either an implied right of action or Section 1983.
The NAACP urged the Supreme Court to affirm the panel’s ruling.
Jackson’s Dissent
Jackson wrote a nearly identical dissent to both Supreme Court rulings.
“This case presents only the question of Section 2’s private enforceability, which our decision in Louisiana v. Callais … did not address,“ she said. ”Thus I see no basis for vacating the lower court’s judgment.”
Citing the Morse precedent from 1996, Jackson said she would affirm the lower court’s ruling in the Mississippi case, and reverse the lower court’s ruling in the North Dakota case.
Trump: May Have To Give Iran Another “Big Hit” – It Has “Two Or Three” Days To Come To Table
Update(1140ET): President Trump has on Tuesday while fielding questions from reporters repeated his line that Iran is ‘begging’ for a deal. “They’re begging to make a deal. I hope we don’t have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit. We may have to give them another big hit. You’ll know very soon.”
His threat to give them another “big hit” was coupled with the assertion that he was just one hour away from ordering new attacks on Iran Monday, but was asked by Gulf allies to given diplomacy just a little longer:
Trump: “I was an hour away” from striking Iran on Monday.
There was also the below moment where he again talked timeline, saying he’s ready to resume military action in a few ‘days’ if Iran doesn’t comply:
Reporter: How many days does Iran have to come to the table?
Trump: Two or three days. Maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Maybe early next week. A limited period of time. pic.twitter.com/yAAfv2jR20
Iran for its part says it stands ready to “confront aggression” and remains in a high state of military alert.
Also, tensions with nearby Gulf states are still soaring, and amid reports that drones have recently been launched from Iraqi territory – likely the work of Shia paramilitary organizations which are closely allied with Iran.
(Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates’ Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that a drone that caused a fire at its nuclear power plant on Sunday had been launched from Iraq.
Emirati officials have said the UAE has the full right to respond to such “terrorist attacks”. https://t.co/Skv8LEkkRy
In a huge and unexpected announcement, amid stalled US-Iran peace talks – which have proven a failure and illusive thus far, NATO now says it could deploy military assets to forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Per breaking newswires Tuesday late morning:
NATO TO CONSIDER HORMUZ DEPLOYMENT IF STRAIT NOT OPEN BY JULY
President Trump has continuously chastised the NATO alliance for being largely bankrolled by Washington but at the same time fence-sitting when it comes to forming a coalition to patrol and reopen the vital energy transit waterway. Oil plummeted on the initial headline, seeing in it a positive for the potential that crude transit in the Persian Gulf could again be opened up soon:
NATO is discussing the possibility of helping ships pass through the blocked Strait of Hormuz if the waterway isn’t reopened by early July, according to a senior official in the military alliance.
The idea has support from several members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but doesn’t yet have the necessary unanimous support, said a diplomat from a NATO country. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity. Leaders from NATO countries will meet in Ankara July 7-8.
But July feels very far away at this point, and anything could happen between now and then, as Washington continues to threaten renewed military action, and Iran says it remains on high alert.
NATO defense chiefs are meeting this week, where also high on the agenda will be the following:
At this week’s summit, military chiefs from all 32 member states will examine the impact that consistent rapid consumption may have on NATO’s collective capabilities and deterrent power as Russia continues to threaten allies.
For the better part of the last year, Wall Street has behaved like a teenager who just discovered Red Bull and leverage at the same time. Anything remotely tied to artificial intelligence has soared into the financial stratosphere.
Startups with no revenue, no profits, and occasionally no actual product are raising millions or billions because their founders can say the words “large language model”. Public company CEOs now jam “AI” into earnings calls with the same shamelessness that “trendy” gastropubs have when being the 4th “new” place on the block to not just offer a good ole’ fashioned cheeseburger, but the breathtaking innovation of a truffle aioli smashburger.
Meanwhile, looming over all of this market hysteria was Berkshire Hathaway and its absurd cash pile. More than $390 billion sitting on the sidelines while markets rocketed higher. The question became an obsession. What were Warren Buffett and his successor Greg Abel waiting for?
Surely this cash hoard was being preserved for some grand masterstroke. Maybe Berkshire would make a massive AI acquisition. Maybe it would take a huge stake in some futuristic robotics company whose product sounds vaguely dystopian. Maybe Buffett would emerge from Omaha wearing a black turtleneck and announce BerkshireGPT.
Nope. None of these. The filing arrived yesterday and Wall Street discovered that the answer was Macy’s: a company most people associate with buying last minute wedding gifts and wandering through perfume fog thick enough to qualify as weather.
In an era when investors are paying breathtaking multiples for companies promising that AI will revolutionize enterprise workflows, Berkshire appears to have strolled calmly into a department store hoping to get harassed by the Vancome lady.
It is notable to write about because it feels so aggressively out of sync with the cultural moment.
Right now entire hedge funds are building investment theses around the possibility that artificial intelligence may someday help your refrigerator compose emails and then there is Berkshire, quietly behaving like an investor that ignores market spectacle and focuses instead on underlying value. While others chase whatever appears most exciting in the moment, Berkshire tends to concentrate on businesses and assets that are durable, understandable, and often overlooked.
Berkshire likely was attracted to Macy’s because it combined several characteristics long associated with Buffett-style investing: a deeply discounted valuation trading near book value and at a low forward earnings multiple, substantial underlying real estate assets including the flagship Herald Square property, strong cash generation and shareholder returns through free cash flow and dividends, and a credible turnaround strategy focused on closing weaker stores while reinvesting in stronger locations.
Berkshire also likely recognized the enduring value of Macy’s higher-performing brands, particularly Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, which provide growth and profitability beyond the traditional department store business. In fact, a lot of the reasons Berkshire bought Macy’s remind me of another retail stock that I think is similarly as attractive to own right now.
And this isn’t to say Berkshire is anti-technology. The company increased its stake in Alphabet and clearly understands where the economy is headed. But Berkshire has spent decades avoiding one of the central mistakes in modern investing: confusing a compelling narrative with a compelling investment. A transformative future does not automatically justify any price. Investors learned that during the dot-com bubble, when companies with weak earnings and questionable business models were treated as inevitable paths to wealth. Many eventually discovered that enthusiasm alone is not a substitute for sustainable economics. They will learn this again with the AI bubble.
That is what makes the Macy’s move so interesting. It suggests that Berkshire still sees value in businesses the market has largely dismissed as boring, outdated, or finished. Macy’s possesses valuable real estate, broad brand recognition, and consistent cash generation — qualities that can become easy to overlook in markets dominated by growth narratives. Perhaps most importantly, expectations surrounding the company have become so low that stability itself can exceed investor assumptions.
That may be the broader lesson for investors. Markets often become fixated on whatever appears revolutionary while overlooking companies that quietly generate profits in less glamorous industries. Investors naturally want exposure to the future, but there can also be opportunity in businesses that continue to serve enduring consumer needs and produce reliable cash flow.
Investors should also be careful about dismissing Berkshire Hathaway simply because it appears old-fashioned in an era defined by speed and disruption. Yet Berkshire has continued to compound wealth across market cycles while many trend-driven strategies have struggled to deliver lasting results.
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The lesson is not that investors should rush to buy Macy’s. It is that when disciplined long-term investors begin allocating capital to areas the broader market has written off, it is worth paying attention. Wall Street is often drawn to what is new and exciting. Berkshire has historically succeeded by identifying value where others stopped looking.
Another lesson is that patience remains one of the most underappreciated advantages in investing. Modern markets reward constant activity, rapid reactions, and short-term narratives, but Buffett’s track record has repeatedly demonstrated the power of allowing investments time to mature. Companies facing temporary pessimism or cyclical weakness are often abandoned long before their underlying economics can recover. Berkshire’s approach suggests that long-term value is frequently created not through constant trading, but through disciplined conviction and the willingness to endure periods of unpopularity.
There is also a lesson about temperament. Successful investing is often less about predicting the future perfectly and more about avoiding emotional decision-making when sentiment becomes extreme. During periods of market excitement, investors can feel pressure to chase momentum and follow consensus thinking. Conversely, when industries fall out of favor, fear and pessimism can create opportunities for investors willing to evaluate businesses on fundamentals rather than headlines. Berkshire’s history reflects an investment philosophy grounded in rationality and discipline rather than market emotion.
Finally, Berkshire’s strategy highlights the importance of understanding the difference between a good company and a good stock at a particular price. Even strong businesses can become poor investments when expectations become unrealistic, while unpopular companies can sometimes offer attractive risk-reward profiles if expectations fall too far. The broader lesson is not that every overlooked stock represents hidden value, but that investors benefit from questioning consensus assumptions. Markets are highly efficient much of the time, but periods of excessive optimism and excessive pessimism continue to create opportunities for patient, disciplined capital allocators.
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