Philip DeFranco

America Rises Up In Massive Protests To Say “No Kings” #usa #america Tens of millions of people all across America and all around the world protested for No Kings Day. These are record setting crowds. Look at this footage… the people just go forever. In Los Angeles, they carried a massive copy of the US Constitution. In Florida, protesters marched to Mar-A-Lago. San Francisco formed a giant human banner that said no kings. Nashville endured the rain to protest. Chicago’s protest was so big that one reporter speculated that it could be the biggest protest in the city’s history. City officials in Boise announced that today’s protest is the largest gathering in the city’s entire history. Look at these photos! That’s like 1/3rd of Idaho out there! Even small towns in America have shown up in massive numbers from Little Rock, Arkansas to State College, Pennsylvania. Americans are absolutely upset with the ICE secret police, the use of the military on the people, the authoritarian crackdown on free speech, the camps, the corruption, and the general lawlessness that this regime conducts itself with. There were also huge protests in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and over 37 other countries for the American people’s struggle against tyranny. I want you to think about what it means that people in other countries are protesting for your freedom. As Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense: “the cause of America is in great measure the cause of all of mankind”. If American democracy and our human rights are killed by Trump, then nowhere is safe for democracy.

Trump Tariffs Worse Than Expected #usa #america Trump has put massive tariffs on every single country in the world. This is the largest sales tax increase in American history. There is a baseline 10% tariff on all goods regardless of country, but some countries have higher tariffs than others. Japan has a 24% tariff. The European Union got a 20% tariff, the UK 10%, Australia 10%, Switzerland 31%. China 34%, Vietnam 46%, India 26%, South Korea 25%, Israel 17%, the list goes on and on. The dollar has now collapsed in value and the stock market has totally tanked and it’s not even open, it’s tanking during after hours trading… So when the market opens tomorrow, it’s going to be a bloodbath. Economists say that trillions of dollars will be wiped from the US economy tomorrow. These are not reciprocal tariffs because Trump is counting VAT taxes as tariffs, and they simply aren’t tariffs. Because in reality, the EU’s tariffs are only slightly higher than the US’s default 2% tariff… so he’s counting the VAT to try to justify this. These tariffs are higher than the Smoot-Hawley tariffs which sent the US deeper into the great depression. And US GDP was already projected to fall by nearly 4% this past quarter, and that was before these tariffs. One expert said - For economists, the tariff spectacle currently coming out of the White House econ team is akin to watching NASA being taken over by astrologers and repurposing the International Space Station to charge magic healing crystals with moonbeams. It’s called Liberation Day because he’s liberating you from your disposable income.

Ukraine Changes War Forever With Drone Attack #usa #america Ukraine just changed war forever in what’s being called the “greatest special operation of all time”. This could be the atomic bomb event of our lifetime, as in there will be a very clear before or after point in history because of this. Yesterday, Ukraine destroyed 34% of Russia’s strategic bombers in a drone attack unlike any other. They did this by putting drones in shipping containers for wooden kit houses and then shipping them to areas near four airbases. Then when they activated it, the roofs of the containers opened and the drones flew out and hit the Russian bombers. It’s being said that the drones were controlled by AI rather than a person, but the Pentagon says it’s unsure. There was no air defense to shoot them down because typically you don’t have anti-air systems at an air base 3,000 miles into your own country. These drones are said to only cost around 4,000 each, to the untrained eye they look like a DJI drone that TikTokers use. The containers then self-destructed after all the drones had launched. Outside of the fact that Russia is going to have a harder time killing Ukrainian civilians, this is about as rough of a psychological attack as you can get. Imagine being a Russian leader right now - Every single shipping container in your country could be a weapon and every highway that they travel on is now a threat vector. You’re going to have to inspect all containers now, you’ll have to screen all drivers, you’ll have to monitor internal roads. This is going to slow down their supply chain to a grinding halt. Now people have been calling this a pearl harbor kind of attack but Ukrainians are pushing back on that characterization saying this wasn’t a nefarious sneak attack in an undeclared war. Others say Battle of Midway is a more appropriate comparison.

ICE and LA Go To War #usa #california ICE and Los Angeles have gone to war. With ICE reportedly starting it by using military style force against protesters which lead to even more protesters showing up. Yesterday they conducted multiple sweeps around LA which was the starting point for the clashes. ICE was wearing camouflaged military tactical gear with military-style rifles and were riding in MRAPs. They also had their faces covered with no name tags or badge numbers. They began throwing flashbangs, firing shotguns, shooting non-lethals at protesters, spraying pepper spray, and firing tons of tear gas. The LAPD then stepped in and declared the protest unlawful and began to disperse it. This is now the 4th city this week that ICE has encountered resistance from the people. It’s unclear how much of the resistance is about deportations and how much of it is about ICE acting like an occupying military force. The MRAPs that ICE is using were designed for Iraq and Afghanistan and the US military had to change how they used them because they found that locals often saw their presence as being very oppressive and that they instigated conflict. And you’re certainly seeing that same reaction here in the US, and the anonymity of these agents only escalates it further. The Acting ICE director released a video today telling those criticizing ICE that he is demanding that they stop. And a lot of people are saying that if ICE got rid of the masks, put their name tags back on, and dusted off the SUVs… that people would go back to ignoring them.

Trump’s Military Parade Was A Humiliation #usa #america No one went to Trump’s birthday parade and it’s incredibly humiliating for him and he humiliated America by having it. The No Kings Day protests were reportedly one of the largest mass protests in American history, and in contrast Trump sat alone at a party that no one came to. Some have said “what did he expect? He has the lowest approval rating in history for a President at this point.” The parade was so empty and quiet that you could hear the wheels on the Sherman tank squeaking. The birthday boy was also bored out of his mind, he practically fall asleep several times. In addition to that, our soldiers appear to be unable to march in lock step. Look at other countries compared to us, this is China. Russians online are mocking us, saying “what Trump imagined his parade would be vs what it was”. There is a debate amongst veterans who say “we’re trained to march so these soldiers intentionally did it poorly”, and that’s actually a talking point that both sides are using but with different objectives of course. While other veterans say that the US military doesn’t have ceremonial marching units so this was gonna look bad no matter what. Prior to yesterday’s parade, the Army had reportedly spent over 3 years planning festivals all across the nation to celebrate their 250th birthday where Americans could come and see items from the Army’s past and present. But it was overruled by Trump who decided that there would be no festivals and that the celebration would happen on his birthday and it would be a parade.

Iran Counterstrikes Israel #usa #america Iran has reportedly fired over 300 ballistic missiles at Israel after over 16 straight hours of Israeli bombardment of their military and nuclear program. The Iranian missiles are hitting downtown Tel Aviv and it’s unclear how many of them are being intercepted but we do know that the US is assisting Israel in air defense. At least 17 Israelis have been injured by Iran’s missiles. The IDF’s headquarters have reportedly been hit by several missiles as well as high rises and Israeli military bases. Iran’s foreign minister called the UN general secretary to say that Iran has a right to defend itself and then demanded the United Nations assist them in quote “confronting the warmongering zionist regime”. Israel maintains that they have a right to preemptive self-defense and that’s what this war with Iran is. Israel also says that Iran will pay an “unbearable price” for targeting their cities while Iran says that nowhere in Israel will be safe anymore. Iran says that it shot down an Israeli jet and captured its pilot, Israel denies this. Israel has already killed most of the control and the command officials in Iran and they have heavily damaged their nuclear program. There are reports of a leak at one of Iran’s nuclear sites. Over 100 Iranians have been killed and 400 more injured by Israel’s missiles. While this is all happening, the UN security council meeting is happening where everyone is urging them to deescalate. Iran will reportedly stop weapon shipments to Russia as it is now at war with Israel, making Ukraine the big winner here.

Millions Of Americans Protest Trump As He Destroys Economy #usa #america Millions of Americans have taken to the streets to protest the Trump administration, in the backdrop of this is a growing recession that Trump has intentionally caused and could end at any time. There are over 1,200 protests in all 50 states, and they are huge. Red state or blue state, it doesn’t seem to matter. Trump’s approval rating is currently at 43% and that is before these tariffs. The White House released this statement today: “President Trump won the second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today and he will play in the Championship round tomorrow.” Trump skipped the dignified transfer of four U.S. soldiers who died in Lithuania yesterday so that he could participate in this tournament. And CNBC is warning that Monday could be a 1987 "Black Monday" style stock market crash.

Trump Says Elon Is Crazy, Elon Calls For Impeachment #usa #america Trump says that Elon has gone crazy and is now threatening to cut SpaceX and Tesla’s contracts with the government. Elon then tweeted “Time to drop the really big bomb. Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” So first Trump tweeted- “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” Elon replied saying “This just gets better and better. go ahead and make my day” while retweeting that this would destroy the international space station. This would also cut off parts of the US military’s communications and take down almost all of Ukraine’s communications. Trump also said that Elon was “wearing thin” and that he asked him to leave. Elon says this is “an obvious lie. So sad.” Elon also appears to be threatening to start his own political party. And he issued a threat to Republicans saying “Some food for thought for Republicans: Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years” Elon also repeated that he is the reason Trump won again. Elon is now saying "In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately and Trump is saying he doesn't care that Elon has turned against him but he should have done it much earlier. Elon is also saying Trump should be impeached.

Trump Creating New Fighter Jet Because He “Doesn’t Believe In Stealth” #usa #america Trump is now designing fighter jets for the Air Force because he thinks stealth isn’t real and says that the fighters are ugly because of it. Earlier today, Trump gave a press conference and he said a few things about fighter jets. So to start he said “I'm not a huge believer in stealth, because stealth is basically a lot of it's designed into shape. And, you know, I'm I'm sure you maybe think. But also if if that's the case taken to figure it out pretty fast, I think. So you're going to design an ugly plane for stealth reasons. And then six months later they're going to figure out this, and then you're stuck with a plane now.” He also said that he's going to redesign the F-35 to the F-55 with a simple upgrade and it will have two engines instead of one because he doesn’t like single engines. One aviation researcher reacted to this saying - “Yes for sure, take a F-35 and simply add a second engine to it! And that happens when idiots talk about stuff they simply do not understand!” The F-35 is supposed to be in service until 2060, and it’s the most expensive plane ever created. The War Zone said that a dual engine F-35 might be of interest to people but that they would have to completely redesign the entire aircraft. They also expressed skepticism over the F-55 actually happening for a few reasons: “The U.S. Air Force is clearly struggling to afford the programs it already has on its books including the F-47.” And - There is also the very real possibility, and even some would argue a probability, that, with the F-55, Trump was describing an altogether non-existent program.” Noting the time Trump announced a delivery of F-52 and F-35 fighters to Norway but that he was confused, and what actually happened was the delivery of 52 F-35s to Norway.

US Economy Collapses, Enters Bear Market #usa #america The United States has now entered a bear market, which is very bad… The stock market is in full fledged collapse.But Trump made history today! He’s the 1st president since the S&P 500 was created in 1957 to inherit a bull market & turn in a loss of at least 5% at this point in his presidency. And Trump is basking in this honor because he reposted a TikTok today that says he’s intentionally crashing the stock market. The price of oil is falling which may seem great but it’s because investors believe the floor is about to fall out from under the economy… They believe that no one is going to be going anywhere. We saw the exact same thing in 2008 and 2020. Trump raged at Jerome Powell today, demanding the federal reserve lower interest rates. The Fed is essentially in charge of managing interest rates and other monetary policy. And Powell said “no”. He said that Trump’s tariffs will translate into higher inflation and slower economic growth, and that higher inflation could be a permanent feature of America going forward because of them. Economists say that another word for what Powell is describing here is stagflation. It’s really hard to get out of stagflation because not only do a ton of people not have jobs but the prices of things don’t come down to compensate for that because of high inflation. So you’re basically stuck in a permanent downturn and countries lose entire decades to this because you can’t stimulus check your way out of it like you can other recessions. But in worse news - the Nintendo Switch 2 preorders are now indefinitely delayed in the US due to Trump’s tariffs. And Bloomberg said today “the lasting fingerprint of Trump’s tariffs could be bigger than the failure to rapidly contain the fallout after Lehman collapsed” — which if you were not alive then is what made the Great Recession so great.

US Economy In Free Fall As Europe Considers Going Nuclear Over Tariffs #usa #america The Stock Market is crashing! The day is just beginning and it’s already lost over 2 trillion dollars worth of value. And the value of the dollar is falling too. The odds of a recession are rapidly rising. Bank of America now sees a “high risk” of recession. JPMorgan says that if Trump’s tariffs are sustained, they will push the US in a recession. And the trade war is just beginning. The EU says the door is open for last-ditch negotiations, but that they are readying countermeasures. Germany and France think that the strategy should be to hit the US so hard that Trump has to remove the tariffs. They’re reportedly considering using nuclear options which range from blocking US tech companies from the European market, taxing US banks, and stripping American companies of their intellectual property rights. France says that Trump is acting like he’s the “master of the world” and has urged European companies to halt all investment in the US. The Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that if countries retaliate to these tariffs, the US will escalate. But countries are already retaliating because they’re being hit with tariffs randomly, these are not “reciprocal” tariffs. The tariff rates that Trump presented yesterday are not actual tariff rates - South Korea does not have a 50% on the US, its tariff is 0.79%. The Trump Administration just took what a country’s trade deficit was last year and divided it by their exports - and then called that their tariff rate. But that’s not what a tariff is, that’s a trade balance. America has a trade deficit with basically everyone because Americans are rich and rich people buy things. We make up 30% of all global consumer spending despite being 4% of the population. You have a trade deficit with your grocery store, you buy from them and they don’t buy from you. It’s really not a big deal.

Trump Ignores Supreme Court Ruling #usa #america Trump is ignoring the Supreme Court now, some say he is potentially crossing the rubicon into dictator territory – and now, America’s institutions and the patriotism of elected Republicans will be tested. With Trump ignoring the Supreme Court’s order to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia, after they wrongly sent him to El Salvador’s torture prison. He claims that he has no power to bring him back because he’s in El Salvador’s custody and Bukele says he doesn’t have the power to return him to the US either – so who the hell has the power then? The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Trump must return Kilmar to the United States. But in the oval office today, Pam Bondi and Stephen Miller wrongly said that the court ruled in their favor – it did not. Even the government’s lawyers concede in court that the deportation of Kilmar was illegal. By defying this court order, the government is saying it can send a person to a foreign jurisdiction and then they’re just gone, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. And Trump said once again today that he plans to send US citizens to El Salvador’s torture prison and then got caught on a hot mic saying it privately. Some have called this the institutional event horizon - in that America either impeaches Trump and removes him for defying the Supreme Court or America very likely goes down a very dark path of purges, state and sectarian violence, terrorism, and the end of democracy as we know it.

California Threatens To Stop Paying Taxes As Trump Threatens To Cut Funding #usa #california Trump is preparing to cut funding to California because they don’t align with his political views and California is saying that they’ll stop paying federal taxes if that happens. No state has ever attempted to stop paying federal taxes but it’s also pretty unprecedented to withhold tax funds from a state. California is the 4th largest economy in the world, pays 100B more in taxes to the federal government than it gets back, and is the largest agricultural, manufacturing, culture, and tech state in the country. They are by far the most powerful state and 1 in 8 Americans is Californian. If California stopped paying federal taxes, red states would really struggle as they require California’s taxes in order to fund their states. Currently there is a growing secession movement in California. There is a ballot initiative that is collecting signatures to have Californians vote on whether to leave the US. And a poll taken in January of this year by YouGov shows that 61% of Californians believe the state would be better off if it seceded. They are not the only ones feeling this way, MGT infamously called for a national divorce. And polling shows 1 in 4 Americans would support blue states and red states becoming two different countries.

ICE Crashes Into Car, Shoots It, And Then Flees Scene?! #usa #america ICE is being accused of crashing into someone’s car, shooting at their car, and then fleeing the scene. The LAPD is investigating this as an assault with a deadly weapon and as a hit and run because they fled the scene. A suspect hasn’t been named because ICE wears masks without badges and name tags. This comes as the Los Angeles Unified School District is setting up an anti-ICE perimeter. The LA school police will set up a perimeter meant to block ICE from raiding schools and graduations. ICE will only be allowed access if they have a JUDICIAL warrant signed by a judge which ICE doesn’t really use. When asked what happens if ICE tries to do a raid anyways, the Superintendent said that the police will have a full fledged stand off with them. All school staff have received training on how to read a warrant and on how to interact with ICE to stop the kidnappings of America’s kids. The Superintendent says the law is on their side. This comes as ICE is breaking the law nationwide. They are reportedly going around public places and, without warrants or a reasonable suspicion of an immigration violation, demanding that people show papers. If this is true, this is a 4th amendment violation. It is illegal for ICE to do roving or suspicionless document checks. They, like all of law enforcement, need a warrant or a clear suspicion. So attorneys say that going to a Home Depot as they are and asking people to show their papers is unconstitutional. Someone’s skin color or occupation is not a valid reason for suspicion. Even the stinking moral carcass that is Stephen Miller knows this. And this is exactly how ICE managed to detain and attempted to deport a US Marshall last week.

Pope Leo XIV Is First American To Be Pope #usa #america A new pope has been elected! Pope Leo XIV. He is the first American to be elected Pope, he is from Chicago and he went to Villanova University and is a fan of the Chicago Cubs. He has been said to be a close confidant of Francis. Pope Leo supports allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to get communion. He is said to be supportive of LGBT, but less than Francis. He has also been critical of JD Vance and the Trump administration. He shared an article in February titled: JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others. But since the Pope is from Chicago that means no ketchup on hot dogs is now canonical law. Chicago got a pope before it got a QB to throw for 4,000 yards in a season.

America Could Lose World Cup and Olympics #usa #america No one is coming to America anymore and we might end up losing the world cup and the Olympics. Tourism fell by 12% last month, the most since COVID. Tourism from Germany and Denmark fell by over 30%. It's down by over 25% for Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Austria. Australia and France are down by 7%. On top of that air travel from Canada is down over 75% from last year, in addition to a 32% reduction in car travel from Canada. The founder of Kayak had a lot to say about this — “In just two months Trump has destroyed the reputation of the US, shown one way by diminished travel from the EU to the US. This is not only one more terrible blow to the US economy, it also represents reputation damage that could take generations to repair.” Another booking site found that 40% percent of Europeans have canceled their trips to America. Trump’s policy of randomly detaining tourists and sending them to random prisons or deporting them immediately upon arrival is bringing a complete halt to tourism according to travel companies. There are growing concerns about the US’s ability to host the Ryder cup in 2025, the World Cup in 2026 and the Olympics in 2028. Globally people are asking a lot of questions - Are players and fans going to be safe? Can the safety of the Iranian or Venezuelan teams be guaranteed? While others are remarking that no one is going to go given the possibility of being sent to a prison in El Salvador. FIFA has been downplaying the situation though, with one official saying "Time's on our side with that. I understand the policies of the administration. But I'm confident that once we get to the point where we need to get to, 16 months from now, we'll be fine."

Trump Is Reopening Alcatraz #usa #america Trump says he’s reopening Alcatraz, a prison island in San Francisco Bay, to lock up the most dangerous criminals. Alcatraz was closed in 1963 due to high operating costs, like really expensive - It was 3x more expensive than any other prison and it only held 300 people. This is because all food and supplies had to be dropped off by boat. The island also doesn’t have any fresh water, so nearly one million gallons had to be barged in every week. Due to the salt spray and water, the repairs needed were so expensive that the government determined it was cheaper to just build a new place than to repair it. Alcatraz is now a national park and a museum. And it’s going to cost millions if not billions of dollars to completely remodel, modernize and operate Alcatraz. Some have pointed out the absurdity of this all. We had DOGE because we supposedly couldn’t continue to fund cancer research, veteran’s healthcare, and libraries and museums but we suddenly have money to rebuild Alcatraz, have a military parade for Trump’s birthday, and now pay undocumented people $1,000 to self-deport. It’s just bizarre. And it’s not really clear why Trump has decided on this. We have maximum security prisons like ADX Florence, and unlike Alcatraz, no one has escaped from it.

Trump Wants Red States To Invade Blue States?! #usa #america Trump is trying to get red states to invade blue states. The Administration is reportedly looking at having governors of red states order their national guard troops into blue states without their consent. Today ICE attempted a work place raid and watch what this elderly gentleman said to them. In Tucson, Arizona - protesters formed what I can only describe as Roman style military lines with shields. They shot them with paintballs and threw metal barricades at them causing ICE to retreat. Even more protests have broken out from sea to shining sea. We’re even seeing protests in North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Texas, Missouri, and Florida. This Saturday, tens of millions are expected to protest in nearly 2,000 cities for No Kings Day. Trump‘s disapproval rating is at a record high of 60% according to a new poll from AP. With only 39% of Americans thinking he’s doing a good job. But even he hates ICE. He said today that his immigration policy is taking away “very good, long time workers”… and then blamed Joe Biden for his own policy. Is Trump not actually the President or does he just have dementia? The Marines are expected to arrive in LA tomorrow, this comes as the national guard has been deployed in Texas, and Trump is looking at deploying the military to even more American cities. Fill the streets this Saturday so you don’t fill the prisons later

America Is Begging Europe To Buy Their Weapons Again #usa #europe US officials have objected to Europe’s push to rearm themselves. With Rubio telling European allies that they want them to keep buying American weapons. They also complained that the EU’s military spending project does not include American defense companies. This is entirely a problem of America’s own creation. They turned off aid to Ukraine, they eased pressure on Moscow, they insulted Europe multiple times and told them that we don’t share the same values anymore. They threatened to turn off the UK’s weapons, threatened to withdraw troops, and threatened to invade Canada and Greenland. They weakened NATO’s article 5, they spread a rumor about a kill switch inside of the F-35, and for Trump’s entire political career he complained about Europe buying too many American weapons and not having a defense industry of its own. And now that they’ve gotten what they supposedly wanted, they’re upset that Europe is making its own defense industry and not buying American weapons. Rubio told the Baltic nations that not buying American weapons would be seen as inappropriate. And the State Department said that "Transatlantic defense industrial cooperation makes the Alliance stronger". One official said “what exactly is the foreign policy of Washington?” To give you an idea of the chaos, incompetence, and overall disaster that is happening with America abroad: China has five different backchannels with the Trump Administration and they say that all of them are carrying different messages. Another example is that in December, Trump told Europe - if you buy more American gas, I won’t hit you with tariffs. So Europe bought more gas, and then Trump imposed tariffs anyway.

Trump Broke America’s Financial System #usa #america The US is now experiencing capital flight - this means people are taking their money out of the US and putting it into China, Europe, or Japan. The US dollar is weakening rapidly, the stock market is falling, and bond yields keep going up. When the dollar goes down in value and bond yields go up - that is a highly unusual and scary situation that signals that there is a loss in confidence in the US. This will make it prohibitively expensive for the government to borrow money, which is not exactly something you want when you’re entering into a recession and you’re passing a budget that will add seven trillion to the debt. Historically in times of crisis, the opposite happens and people put their money into the US because it’s stable – There is rule of law, the President can’t fire the head of the Federal Reserve, and generally speaking all policy in the US happens within the 40 yard lines. And so then traditionally nations and investors buy US debt, which the US then uses to stimulate the economy - and since Americans account for over 30% of all consumer spending, this then raises all ships and puts an end to the crisis. But investors just don’t believe in the US anymore, economists say that Trump has broken the country and its finances, and Noah Smith wrote that the world is treating the US like a developing nation. Trump is defying several court orders, he’s threatening to fire Powell again, and he’s enacting extremist policies across the entire nation…. People are taking their money and going elsewhere. The world has subsidized America’s way of life for a really long time and it’s all coming crashing down.