PRIDE GOETH BEFORE:  The Dow Jones jumped more than 600 points late in yesterday on optimism that the Trump administration might make a trade deal with China. The day had started with China raising its tariff on US imports to a whopping 125 percent.

  There’s no official word that the US and China are talking.

  American businesses from the largest to the smallest are trying to figure out what to do. Small businesses in particular that sell cheap goods made in China like toys and kitchen tools even fear that dramatically higher prices will put them out of business. The US doesn’t make and could not make at acceptable prices a of things made in China.

  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who questioned the wisdom of tariffs before joining the Trump administration, has tried to pass off the cost of tariffs as a one-time “price adjustment” on the economy. That means higher prices.

  In was a week of dramatic ups and downs in markets, investors tried to guess and second-guess the thinking of the President. His aides have tried to paint him as a savvy deal maker who knows exactly what he’s doing … “The Art of the Deal.”

  Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik writes that, “The problem with portraying a negotiator as crazy like a fox is that sometimes the same behavior looks like the actions of someone who is crazy like a crazy person.”

  Trump had his annual presidential physical yesterday then flew once again to Florida to play golf.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

— The White House and government lawyers continue to defy the orders of a federal judge who said a legal resident from Maryland accidentally deported to prison in El Salvador must be brought home.

  Administration lawyers stonewalled a federal judge’s order to provide a written plan for freeing the man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. They repeatedly defied the judge’s requests for the most basic information. One of the lawyers said, “The defendants are not yet prepared to share that information,” and Judge Paula Xinis retorted, “That means they’ve done nothing.” 

  Xinis ordered that the lawyers must report every day on what’s being done to bring home Garcia.

— An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled yesterday that former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil  is eligible for deportation on the Trump administration complaint that his involvement in pro-Palestinian activism is a threat to U.S. foreign policy. The judge gave Khalil’s lawyers until April 23^rd to fight it.

—  Also on the immigration front, the administration is moving to revoke the social security numbers of some immigrants with legal status in order to get them to “self deport” … just leave the country. Loss of their social security number cuts off their financial life … no bank accounts, credit cards, or government benefits.

  The administration plans to do this by placing the immigrants on the “death master file,” which for years has been used to track dead people who should no longer receive benefits.

  The Washington Post reports that a Social Security executive who objected to putting living people on the dead list was marched out of his office and suspended.

— Five more law firms have bowed to sanctions imposed by President Trump and agreed to give free legal services to causes he supports.

  According to Trump’s announcement those causes are; “Assisting Veterans and other Public Servants, including, among others, members of the Military, Gold Star families, Law Enforcement, and First Responders; ensuring fairness in our Justice System; and combatting Antisemitism.”

— The Pentagon fired the commander of the US Space Force base in Greenland because she sent an email to subordinates distancing herself from the comments of Vice President JD Vance during his recent visit.

  Vance said in a broad address aimed at Denmark, “You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” and that, “You have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful land mass filled with incredible people.”

  Col. Susannah Meyers wrote in her email that, “I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the US administration discussed by Vice President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base.”

— ProPublica reports that scientists at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration … the weather people — are mopping their office floors and cleaning bathrooms because the Department of Government efficiency cancelled their janitorial contract.

— Immigration and Customs enforcement posted an online graphic saying, “If it crosses the U.S. border illegally, it’s our job to STOP IT,” then listing the offending items as, “PEOPLE, MONEY, PRODUCTS, IDEAS.” 

  They quickly took it down, a good idea.

— Comedian Bill Maher had dinner with President Trump this week. Maher said on his show last night, “Just for starters, he laughs. I’ve never seen him laugh in public, but he does, including at himself.”

THE SPIN RACK: Efforts to re-sentence and possibly release the parent-murdering Menendez brothers from a California prison may proceed, according to a Los Angeles County judge. The brothers have been in prison for 35 years. — The bankrupt Hooters restaurant chain is eliminating its weekly waitress bikini nights in an effort to make the restaurants more family friendly. 

BELOW THE FOLD: China is fighting back in the trade war posting teasing memes on the internet skewering America. One of them shows grossly obese Americans on an automobile production line and screwing together iPhones. Another is a cartoon of a Chinese-made red MAGA hat with a $77 price tag.

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