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https://www.forexlive.com/news/trump-running-mate-vance-a-supporter-of-us-dollar-devaluation-make-it-easier-to-export-20240715/
https://archive.md/pGgA5
Donald J. Trump’s selection of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance to be his vice-presidential nominee pairs him with a kindred spirit on trade, taxes and a tough stance on China. But it is their shared affinity for a weak dollar that could have the most sweeping implications for the United States and the global economy.

“As your president, one would think that I would be thrilled with our very strong dollar,” Trump said in 2019, explaining that U.S. companies like Caterpillar and Boeing were struggling to compete. “I am not!”

It is not clear how Trump would go about weakening the dollar. His Treasury Department could try to sell dollars to buy foreign currency or try to persuade the Federal Reserve to just print more dollars.

“I know the strong dollar is sort of the sacred cow of the Washington consensus, but when I survey the American economy, and I see our mass consumption of mostly useless imports on the one hand, and our hollowed-out industrial base on the other hand, I wonder if the reserve currency status also has some downsides, and not just some upsides as well,” J.D. Vance said.

Mr. Powell responded by noting that the United States benefits from its reserve currency status, which makes it possible to buy goods all over the world with dollars. He also said there was not an obvious currency to replace it.

The 2024 Republican Party platform calls for keeping the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, but Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance could still try to weaken it if elected this year. Robert Lighthizer, Mr. Trump’s former trade adviser, who could be a candidate to be his next Treasury secretary, has been mulling ways to devalue the dollar if the former president wins, Politico reported this year.

Trump has called for imposing a 10 percent levy on all imports and a 60 percent duty on imports from China.

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After Donald Trump selected J.D. Vance for his running mate in 2024, more and more of his previous gripes with Trump keep popping up, much to the Republican Party’s dismay.

In two 2016 audios uncovered by CNN’s Andy Kaczynski, Vance appeared on a podcast to promote his book The Hillbilly Elegy and argued that Trump is a fraud who preyed on white voters’ fears to achieve victory.

“I don’t think he actually cares about folks,” said Vance on The Matt Jones Podcast in August 2016. “I think I’m going to vote third party because I can’t stomach Trump. I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place,” he told NPR that same month.

https://x.com/KFILE/status/1813212585010794840

Vance criticized Trump throughout his press tours at the time. “I’m definitely not gonna vote for Trump because I think that he’s projecting very complex problems onto simple villains,” Vance told CNN’s Jake Tapper before the 2016 election. “Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us,” he wrote in October 2016.

Vance built his early political brand on being a “Never Trump” Republican, and the receipts show it. He called Trump a total fraud in public and asked if Trump may be “America’s Hitler” in private. Before the election, in a since-deleted tweet, Vance claimed he would be writing in Evan McMullin, a former CIA officer who ran as an independent. In 2018, he revealed that he did in fact vote for a third-party candidate in 2016.

Since winning his Senate seat in 2022 with Trump’s backing, Vance has changed his tune, deleted tweets, and retracted his negative statements about the former president.

https://newrepublic.com/post/183892/audio-jd-vance-hated-trump

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According to post-assassination plot polling, Joe "Old Man Scranton" Biden is losing every swing state to Donald "The Ironman" Trump.
That's right.
Weekend at Bernie's part III: The Democrat Nominee is losing to The Man Who Can't Be Killed in every swing state
Every.
Single.
Swing.
State.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4774563-donald-trump-joe-biden-2024-election-swing-states/
Trump leading Biden in all 7 major swing states
Former President Trump is leading President Biden across seven major swing states, according to recent polling.

The new survey from The Times/SAY24 found Biden trailing Trump in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The closest races, according to the polls, were in Michigan and Pennsylvania. You may remember the latter from a recent event where a Democrat donor later registered as a Republican and tried to murder trump. It was on TV and the Internet. Not sure if you heard, but there was a lot of discussion about it. He missed his shot and the images that merged are historic.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/15/trump-shooter-motive

As mystery continues surrounding the possible motivations of the 20-year-old Pennsylvania man accused of trying to kill Donald Trump at a campaign rally, one former classmate of his has come forward to describe him as being “definitely conservative” while they were in school together.

“It makes me wonder why he would carry out an assassination attempt on the conservative candidate,” Max R Smith told the Philadelphia Inquirer of the shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks.

The FBI has not disclosed any details on a possible motive in connection with Saturday’s shooting, which killed one spectator, injured two others and wounded one of the former US president’s ears – before Crooks was shot to death himself by US Secret Service agents.

Agents were seen Monday canvassing Crooks’ neighborhood, knocking on people’s doors and asking them if they knew anything about him. They had previously seized several of his electronic devices in an effort to piece together some of his communications before the rally.

Smith’s recollection potentially adds contours to the emerging, complicated portrait of Crooks, who donated $15 as a 17-year-old to a progressive political action committee in early 2021 – and then registered to vote as a Republican months later at age 18, according to federal finance records and Pennsylvania voter data.

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It's expected to be appealed and overturned, but the Trump installed judge did her job of delaying the case until after the election.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-smith-c66d5ffb7ba86c1b991f95e89bdeba0c

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump in Florida dismissed the prosecution on Monday, siding with defense lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, which can be appealed and may be overruled by a higher court, brings at least for now a stunning and abrupt conclusion to a criminal case that at the time it was filed was widely regarded as the most perilous of all the legal threats the Republican former president confronted.

Though the case had long been stalled, and the prospect of a trial before the November election already was an unrealistic scenario, the judge’s order is a mammoth legal victory for Trump as he recovers from a weekend assassination attempt and prepares to accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee this week.

In one of four criminal cases against Trump, he had faced dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing FBI efforts to get them back. He had pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

Defense lawyers filed multiple challenges to the case, including a legally technical one that asserted that special counsel Jack Smith had been illegally appointed under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause because he was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, rather than being confirmed by Congress, and that his office was improperly funded by the Justice Department.

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Biden has a blueanon problem
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-response-donald-trump-shooting-assassination-attempt-blue-anon-1925328
As Biden Appeals for Unity, He Is Called Out for His 'Blue Anon' Problem

Joe Biden has faced scrutiny from a number of critics following his call for unity after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, with some arguing he is responsible for the current political climate and has garnered his own "Maga-like cult."

The U.S. President addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday, condemning the violence which took place on Saturday, when Trump's ear was shot during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Biden on Sunday said, "There's no place in America for this kind of violence—for any violence ever. Period, no exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalized

"You know the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated—it's time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that.

"Yes, we have deeply felt strong disagreements. The stakes in this election are enormously high. Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy, it's part of human nature. But politics must never be a literal battlefield, and God forbid, a killing field."

Biden critics quickly responded to the message.

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https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/15/us/trump-shooting-investigation#trump-shooting-conspiracy-theories

Four minutes after the first report of a shooting at a rally for Donald J. Trump on Saturday, an anonymous account on X posted, “Joe Biden’s antifa shot President Trump.”

Within half an hour, another account on X with links to the QAnon conspiracy theory claimed without proof that the attack against Mr. Trump had most likely been ordered by the Central Intelligence Agency. Shortly after that, the far-right activist Laura Loomer posted on X about some recent remarks that President Biden made about Mr. Trump and then wrote, “They tried to kill Trump.” She did not provide evidence.

An hour later, with official details of the assassination attempt still scant, the narrative that President Biden and his allies had engineered the attack on Mr. Trump was being amplified by Republican lawmakers, Russian sympathizers and even a Brazilian political scion. By the time 24 hours had elapsed, posts about the unverified claim had been viewed and shared millions of times.

The idea that President Biden was behind the shooting of Mr. Trump was perhaps the most dominant conspiracy theory to emerge after the attack in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. The unproven conjecture surfaced almost instantly, hardened into a narrative and then catapulted between platforms large and small, even as information about the incident was limited. It was a striking example of the speed, scale and stickiness of rumors on social media, which often calcify into accepted truth far more efficiently than efforts to debunk or pleas for restraint.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was convicted on Tuesday on all 16 criminal counts he faced including bribery at his corruption trial in Manhattan federal court, completing the once-powerful New Jersey Democrat's dramatic downfall.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/jury-reaches-verdict-us-senator-bob-menendezs-corruption-trial-2024-07-16/

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump says Ohio Sen. JD Vance will be his vice presidential pick.

He says on his Truth Social Network that, “After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio.”

https://apnews.com/article/trump-vice-president-vance-rubio-burgum-rnc-6cc438a8370a21b2631f5a53b06b71d0

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https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/verify/national-verify/jonathan-willis-trump-rally-sniper-fact-check/536-092a988c-9fa6-4d1f-948f-0f7ed60025e8
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/jonathan-willis-4chan-secret-service-sniper-fired/
After the attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life at a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, multiple people shared a post online claiming to be from a sniper working at the rally.

The viral post, which originally appeared on the online message board 4chan but spread to other social media platforms, says, “My name is Jonathan Willis, I’m the officer in the famous photo of the two snipers on the roof at Trump’s rally. I came here to inform the public that I had the assassin in my sights for at least 3 minutes, but the head of the secret service refused to give the order to take out the perp. 100% the top brass prevented me from killing the assassin before he took the shots at president Trump.”

Several VERIFY readers, including Alicia and Rob, asked us to look into the post’s legitimacy.
THE QUESTION

Is a viral post claiming to be from a sniper at Trump’s rally legitimate?
THE SOURCES

Secret Service spokesperson
Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson
Butler Police Department

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The widow of Corey Comperatore, the heroic volunteer firefighter killed while shielding his family during the shooting at a Trump campaign rally, said that the former president has not reached out to the grieving family.

The silence from Trump contrasts with an attempted call from President Biden, which the Comperatore family declined. Helen Comperatore, speaking from her home in Sarver, PA, told the New York Post in an exclusive interview, "I didn't talk to Biden. I didn't want to talk to him," adding, "My husband was a devout Republican and he would not have wanted me to talk to him."

Newsweek contacted Trump's campaign via email on Monday for comment.

The shooting Saturday unfolded on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the 50-year-old Comperatore, former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, attended the Trump rally. Approximately six minutes into Trump's speech, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the crowd in the attempted presidential assassination.

In the ensuing chaos, Comperatore's final act was one of selfless heroism. "He just said, 'get down!' That was the last thing he said," Helen told the Post, her voice thick with emotion. "He's my hero."

The shooting left Trump with a minor ear injury and two others critically wounded. Secret Service personnel "neutralized" and killed the gunman on a nearby rooftop.

PA Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, praised Comperatore's sacrifice in a Sunday news conference. "We lost a fellow Pennsylvanian last night," Shapiro said. "Corey died a hero. He dove on his family to protect them."

The tragedy has sparked nationwide discussions on campaign security, gun control and political rhetoric. Biden spoke out following the assassination attempt from the Oval Office on Sunday, urging Americans to "lower the temperature" in an increasingly heated political climate.

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U.S. intelligence recently detected an Iranian plot against former President Donald Trump, U.S. officials tell CBS News — although intelligence officials haven't found any ties between Saturday's failed attempt on Trump's life by 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks and any foreign or domestic accomplice.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-plot-against-trump-detected/

Almost all mainstream news outlets appear to be reporting these exact same details simultaneously.

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Trump rally shooter identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20-year-old Pennsylvania man. Here's what we know so far.
By Nicole Sganga, Allison Elyse Gualtieri, Pat Milton

Updated on: July 14, 2024 / 5:05 PM EDT / CBS News

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/trump-rally-gunman-identified/

Who was the shooter?
In a statement, the FBI said:

"The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania. This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is encouraged to submit photos or videos online at FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI."

Federal investigators said the gunman was not carrying identification, so they analyzed his DNA to provide a biometric confirmation of his identity.

Crooks was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh suburb about an hour south of Butler. The town in Allegheny County is home to about 30,000 people and has one high school with about 1,300 students.

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Cool heads needed as political fringe dwellers spread disinformation after Trump shooting

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/14/cool-heads-needed-as-political-fringe-dwellers-spread-disinformation-after-trump-shooting

Cool heads needed as political fringe dwellers spread disinformation after Trump shooting

Partisans on the left and the right are weaponizing the attack and spreading lies faster than journalists can offer facts to counter them

Disinformation researcher Amanda Rogers has described the polarized, unhinged, conspiracy-driven noise in social media responses to the shooting of Donald Trump as “a self-sustaining spiral of shit”.

Rogers, a fellow at the progressive thinktank Century Foundation, has seen this before. But the scale is new and troubling, she said. Conversation on social media – and the mainstream media – is focused on the motivations of the shooter and the impact on the election, she said. Bad actors want to turn a moment like this into a broader call for violence. And they will spread lies to get there, she said.

“The fact that this is the perfect storm environment for dis-info from every single point on the political spectrum, is something that worries me immensely,” Rogers said. “Because it’s an accelerationist’s wet dream … But we need to have voices in the media that are speaking to the fact that this is a breaking situation. People need to calm down about speculation.”

Accelerationists are those on the political fringes – right and left – who want a civil war to burn the country to ash so they can start anew from the rubble. Notably, the term “Civil War” began trending in the wake of the Trump shooting.

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House LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus calls for action after murder of transgender teen

https://philasun.com/local/house-lgbtq-equality-caucus-calls-for-action-after-murder-of-transgender-teen/

HARRISBURG, Pa.–– After the murder of a 14-year-old transgender individual in Mercer County, members of the PA House LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus released the following statement:

“We mourn the death of Pauly Likens and refuse to stand idly by while LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians are targeted because of who they are. It’s unacceptable that current hate crime laws in our commonwealth are not applied to crimes motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

“As incidents of violent hate crimes continue to rise across the nation, we urge our colleagues in the state Senate to pass H.B. 1027 and send it to the governor’s desk. It’s far past time to update Pennsylvania’s hate crime statute so that charges may reflect the especially heinous nature of hate-based violence.”

Sponsored by state Reps. Dan Frankel and Napoleon Nelson, H.B. 1027 would amend PA’s Ethnic Intimidation Statute to ensure protections for victims targeted because of their race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, and disability, including autism. The bill would also provide victims with a civil cause of action against offenders.

The state House passed the legislation on a bipartisan vote in October of 2023, but it has yet to be considered by the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee.

“Not only has a light gone out with the loss of Pauly Likens, but the LGBTQ+ communities across our commonwealth are shaken and fearful,” Frankel (D-Allegheny) said. “The federal government and dozens of other states have acknowledged that these groups are targets for hate crimes, and they’ve provided tools to law enforcement accordingly. Who are we as a commonwealth if we refuse to protect vulnerable people?”