Wednesday News: “Staflation” Looms as Trump’s “spectacularly foolish” Tariffs “sending prices higher”; “Trump’s [Interminable] Speech Reduced American Democracy to a MAGA Game Show”; “Trump turns Congress speech into a sordid campaign rally, igniting a Democrat fightback”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, March 5. As Robert Hubbell writes this morning: “As expected, Trump lied his way through his speech to the joint session of Congress…Two shocking facts about the speech: First, Elon Musk had the gall to show up at the speech. Second, in a bizarre exchange with Chief Justice John Roberts, Trump said the following to Roberts as the two men shook hands and Trump patted Roberts on the arm: Thank you. Thank you again. I won’t forget.” Also, see here for some fact checking of Trump’s many lies, exaggerations, distortions, etc.

• Half of world’s CO2 emissions come from 36 fossil fuel firms, study shows
• World’s biggest iceberg runs aground after long journey from Antarctica (“Scientists are studying whether the grounded A23a iceberg might help stir nutrients and make food more available for penguins and seals”)
• China announces plans for major renewable projects to tackle climate change
• U.S. Embassies Halt Air Quality Monitoring Abroad
• White House installs Trump loyalist to lead independent agency in push to reduce foreign aid (“Peter Marocco assigned as head of Inter-American Foundation after White House fires president and CEO” Totally f’ed up.)
• Trump Hails Letter From Zelenskiy But Holds Off on Minerals Deal
• Trump tells Congress he ‘appreciates’ Zelensky’s message on Ukraine peace
• Zelensky Offers Terms to Stop Fighting, Assuring U.S. That Ukraine Wants Peace
• This is American greatness only if you have a MAGA-nifying glass (“Rubio says Trump shows “courage” in “standing up for America.” Really?”)
• Trump, Ukraine, and the Meme-ing of Marco Rubio (“Why the Secretary of State’s stone-like posture during the Zelenskyy meltdown might have been exactly as telling as observed.” Rubio is one of the most pathetic Republicans out there, as bad as Lindsey Graham…)
• Vance Ignites Outrage in Britain With ‘Random Country’ Comment (What ever happened to this guy???)
• Arab leaders approve $53bn alternative to Trump’s Gaza plan
• DOGE Gets a Foreign Ally (“Hungary has found a receptive partner in its efforts to investigate USAID: the American government.” Orban is heinous.)
• German parties agree fiscal ‘bazooka’ to overhaul military and economy
• Trump softens tone on Zelenskyy but repeats threat to take over Greenland (“President praises letter from Ukraine’s leader backing peace talks and says US will get Greenland ‘one way or another’”)
• Trump to the people of Greenland: ‘We will make you rich’
• Greenland Prime Minister Issues Defiant Response To Trump’s ‘We’re Going To Get It’ Vow
• Trump doesn’t seem to know why he launched a giant trade war
• ‘He Finally Shot the Hostage’: Trump’s Trade War Is a Brutal Reality Check
• Trump’s trade war sparks broad backlash
• Tariff War Risks Sinking World Into New Great Depression, International Chamber of Commerce Warns
• Two hugely important questions about Trump’s trade war
• Trump’s tariff chaos, briefly explained
• Trump could scale back Canada, Mexico tariffs Wednesday, Lutnick says
• American Farmers Brace for Harm From Retaliatory Tariffs
• The Two-Headed Monster Stalking the Economy Has a Name: Stagflation
• Consumers are already tired of inflation. Tariffs are sending prices higher. (“If tariffs continue, Americans can expect to pay an extra 20 cents per gallon of gas, an additional 50 cents for each avocado and thousands more on new vehicles, almost immediately.”)
• Trump Says Tariffs Will Stop When Opioid Deaths Fall. They’ve Already Fallen.
• Trump’s Most Inexplicable Decision Yet (“The tariffs are real, and they are spectacularly foolish.”)
• Unfortunately for the U.S., Canadians Understand How Tariffs Work and Donald Trump Does Not
• Trump says a ‘little disturbance’ from tariffs is OK, as markets reel from trade war fears
• Trump’s Trade War Could Be His Biggest Economic Gamble
• In just five days, Trump has set the country back nearly 100 years
• As Measles Spreads, Kennedy Embraces Remedies Like Cod Liver Oil (Imbecile.)
• Trump admin moves to drop fight over emergency abortions, reversing Biden admin stance
• The IRS is drafting plans to cut as much as half of its 90,000-person workforce, AP sources say (That’s a MASSIVE giveaway to tax cheats, the super-rich, etc. And it will bankrupt our country.)
• AG Bondi faces heat from White House, Trump allies over Epstein files release
• USDA’s Purge of Climate Data is Illegal and Reckless, Doing Immediate Harm to Farmers, Lawsuit Alleges
• His Next Coup? (“Trump tried to steal the 2020 election. He shows no sign that he would accept a loss in 2026.”)
• How Did America Not See This Apocalypse Coming? (“Trump is doing what he promised on the campaign trail: wreaking economic havoc on America and destroying the rules-based international order. More than half of voters chose him anyway.”)
• Fact-checking 26 suspect claims in Trump’s address to Congress
• Trump asks for funding for mass deportations and repeats debunked claims
• Trump’s big night deepens America’s bitter internal schisms
• Trump Insults and Berates His Way to Longest Address Ever
• Trump’s Speech Reduced American Democracy to a MAGA Game Show
• A classic Trump speech, rich in showmanship and at odds with reality
• Trump turns Congress speech into a sordid campaign rally, igniting a Democrat fightback (“In a long and menacing – but also boring – speech to Congress, Trump mocked his opponents. Across the aisle the resistance was stirring”)
• In Address to Congress, Trump Pleasures Himself and His Base (“His overlong address to Congress showed he has no capacity for self-restraint”)
• ‘It Was 90-Plus Minutes of Bad Moments’: 9 Opinion Writers on Trump’s Address to Congress
• The State of Himself
• Donald Trump’s Speech to Congress Was a Proud Showcase of His Own Chaos (“The president has gutted the government, triggered a trade war and mused about annexing entire nations. This is not a country that, as Trump claimed, is in its ‘greatest era.'”)
• Trump’s Big Speech Aimed to Distract From What His Presidency Has Really Wrought
• “You Have No Mandate!” Congressional Democrats Protest Trump’s Speech
• Trump’s big speech to Congress signaled more chaos ahead (“Trump signaled more tariffs, more DOGE, and a continued war against ‘wokeness.'” Sick, sick sh**)
• ‘We’re doomed’: 9 columnists on Trump’s address to Congress
• Donald Trump Does Not Have a “Mandate” for Any of This
• Some DOGE Staffers Are Drawing Six-Figure Government Salaries (How is that legal???)
• Hegseth Cuts Pentagon Work on Preventing Civilian Harm (Disgusting.)
• Demonstrators across 50 states look to unify a disparate opposition to Trump and his sweeping agenda (Instead of using adjectives like “extreme” or “radical,” the AP goes with “sweeping.” Hmmm…)
• Trump Abruptly Walks Back His Directive To Fire Thousands Of Federal Employees
• GSA prepares to sell over 400 federal properties
• People Are Paying Millions to Dine With Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago (MASSIVELY corrupt.)
• Elissa Slotkin assails Trump’s early actions, offers Democrats a way to fight back
• The Democrats’ response to Trump is splintered — but getting better (“In front of one of the biggest audiences they’ll get, the party seems to have a message, but is unsure of how to say it.”)
• Democrats Are Acting Too Normal (“In her response to Trump’s address, Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin failed to capture the hallucinatory nature of our national politics.”)
• Several House Democrats walk out of Trump speech mid-address
• Democratic Rep. Al Green removed after disrupting Trump’s speech
• The Post’s Beacon of Inspiration (“As Jeff Bezos pushes The Washington Post to the right, publisher Will Lewis quietly met with a conservative editor last month, Status has learned. “)
• The L.A. Times adds AI-generated counterpoints to its opinion pieces and guess what, there are problems
• MAGA Newspaper Owner’s AI Bot Defends KKK (The L.A. Times is a disaster.)
• Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not)
• Elon Musk urges Trump to ‘think about’ pardoning George Floyd’s murderer (Musk is so, so horrible.)
• Bowser signals D.C. will paint over BLM Plaza after GOP threatens funding
• Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine reacts to President Trump’s joint address to Congress
• Virginia Democratic Leaders on the SOTU Speech: “Trump spent two hours spewing lies and stoking bigotry and division” While “Republicans are falling in line behind this wannabe strongman and a billionaire oligarch”
• Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA08), Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) Explain Why They Will NOT Be Attending Trump’s SOTU: “I’m not going to listen to that garbage”; “These are not normal times”
• VA: Laid-off federal workers attend Trump’s speech as senators’ guests (“Guests of Democratic elected officials share concerns after either losing their jobs, or leaving them because of President Donald Trump’s attitude toward the government workforce.” See what the RTD does here? Using the vague words “Trump’s attitude toward” instead of “Trump’s assault on” – very telling, very cowardly, very bad “journalism”)
• Rep. Jen Kiggans asks Department of Defense to limit veteran workforce cuts in new letter (Kiggans simply isn’t serious – she votes in lockstep with Trump is the bottom line.)
• Editorial: Firearm violence center is needed to curb gun violence in Virginia (“Gov. Youngkin should sign the bill establishing the Virginia Center for Firearm Violence Intervention and Prevention to compile data and forge strategies to curb gun violence.”)
• Curious Commonwealth asks: Why is Virginia a Dillon Rule state?
• Feds to Virginia schools: End race-based policies or risk losing funds
• VA Dems: “As Donald Trump’s Tariffs Cause Costs to Skyrocket for Virginia Families, Glenn Youngkin and Winsome Earle-Sears Remain Silent” (Also: “Virginia Impacts of Trump’s First Month in Office”)
• In This Year’s VA House of Delegates Elections, Model Finds “Dem +4 popular vote would be 57-43 majority” (Currently, Dems hold a narrow, 51-49 majority; all 100 seats are on the ballot in November.)
• Virginia House “Emergency Committee” is hitting the road
• Virginia spurned Trump three times. Why do its pols idolize him? (“How a Trump loyalty test among Republicans limits the Virginia GOP’s future”)
• Appomattox elections board seeks to close precincts that serve Black voters (WILDLY unacceptable!)
• ICE enforcement rattles Northern Virginia neighborhoods
• ‘March 4th Democracy’ brings hundreds to Richmond in defense of women’s rights
• Youngkin commutes sentence of ex-officer who fatally shot unarmed man (“Youngkin commuted the sentence Sunday night, writing that the three years of incarceration went beyond the state’s sentencing guidelines.”)
• Norfolk’s Commonwealth’s Attorney condemns bill that would prevent federal funding for sanctuary cities
• Blacksburg church hosts service to show support for people in Ukraine
• Board Favors Grandfathering Data Center Resolution
• Hundreds protest Trump policies in downtown Richmond
• CHKD to once again offer gender-affirming care for minors
• CWG Live updates: Midday downpours with a chance of strong winds; more wind tomorrow