Donald Trump

Guardian -   Donald Trump took his frequent habit of describing himself as a “protector” of women further on Wednesday night in Wisconsin, when he declared he would protect them “whether the women like it or not” if he wins a second term in the White House. 

 Independent, UK - Former President Donald Trump lost $1.3bn in his net worth in a single day after his social media stock took a massive plunge.The Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of Truth Social, saw its share price decrease by 22.3 percent on Wednesday. That’s the company’s worst one-day loss since it went public in March, CNN noted.

The stock closed at above $51 on Tuesday, with Trump’s stake in the company valued at $5.9bn. That figure had dropped to $4.6bn by the end of Wednesday, a drop of $1.3bn.It remains unclear what caused the share price to drop, Trump Media hasn’t shared any major announcements that could explain the downturn. The share price has become a barometer for how some traders think the election will turn out.

Some Trump supporters

Meidasnews- Musk says everyday Americans must embrace the pain if Trump gets back in the Oval Office. Elon Musk has offered a sobering preview of Donald Trump’s economic plan for America if he is re-elected, revealing that a period of intentional “temporary hardship” is on the horizon for American households. Rather than cautioning against it, Musk described this hardship as necessary and inevitable, supporting Trump’s blueprint for restructuring the economy by slashing government programs. Musk’s remarks, shared in a Telephone Town Hall organized by his America PAC, indicate that he and Trump see economic pain to average Americans as a necessary cost of their policy goals.

“We have to reduce spending to live within our means. And that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity,” Musk stated in the call, fully endorsing the strain Trump’s policies would place on Americans. Musk’s words make it clear that the disruption is not an unintended side effect but an accepted—if not desired—outcome. The billionaire went further by responding to an X (formerly Twitter) user who anticipated a market downturn if Trump’s aggressive policies, including mass deportations and extreme deficit cuts, were enacted. The user predicted that with Trump and Musk in charge, the U.S. economy—dependent on debt and vulnerable to asset bubbles—would face a severe reaction before stabilizing under the intended austerity. Musk’s response was a simple acknowledgment: “Sounds about right.” 

What Bezos and Musk really want from Trump

Roll Call - Donald Trump has made many campaign promises, and replacing career bureaucrats with political loyalists is far from the loudest. The Republican nominee has drawn more attention for his pledges to round up and deport scores of immigrants, prosecute his rivals and deploy soldiers against the “enemy from within.” But the worry of civil servants shouldn’t be ignored, some Democratic lawmakers say. 

“The idea of turning federal civil servants into political loyalists is frightening, whether a president is Democratic or Republican,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who has helped lead the charge against a possible return of “Schedule F.”  Trump has vowed to revive that controversial plan, which he established during his presidency with an executive order. To rid the executive branch of “rogue bureaucrats,” he argues, he needs greater authority to hire and fire.

Issued in October 2020, the executive order defined Schedule F as a new employment category for federal workers in “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating” positions, stripping them of their civil service protections and making them easier to fire. The order, which was revoked by President Joe Biden days after he took office, could have affected tens of thousands of career civil servants, according to some estimates.

Trump wants to continue that push on “Day One” if he reclaims the White House, as part of his mission to “clean out the deep state,” according to his campaign website. While all presidents bring in their own class of political appointees to serve in top agency spots, he envisions a much broader “overhaul” aimed at removing “corrupt or poor-performing federal workers.”