WHITE SMOKE: The Catholic Cardinals yesterday chose their first American pope, Cardinal  Robert Francis Prevost, 69, who immediately took the papal name Leo XIV. He becomes the leader of about 1.4 billion Catholics, roughly 20 percent of the world’s population.

  In his first appearance on the balcony at the Vatican, Leo declared a desire for  “a united church, always seeking peace and justice.”

  Pope Leo is from Chicago but served for 20 years in Peru, where he was made a Bishop. He has been a leader of the Augustinians, whose members are called to live simply and minister to people in need. He speaks five languages, including Italian.

  He is considered to be somewhat of a liberal, or at least as liberal as a strict Catholic cleric can be. He has stood in opposition to the Christian power that the Trump administration has embraced. As a cardinal, the new pope criticized Vice President JD Vance’s claim that Christian theology could justify turning away migrants and strangers because it puts caring for family first.

  In his first address to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square, Leo said in Italian, “We must seek together how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive like this square with open arms.”

  Of course, the late night comedians were all over the Chicago connection. Adapting the voice of the new pope, Stephen Colbert said, “Just talked to God and not even he can help the White Sox.”

THE ADMINISTRATION:

— President Trump announced his first trade deal, an agreement that will roll back tariffs on some British exports, including cars and steel, while leaving other tariffs in place. Trump declared that the deal will be “so good for both countries.” 

— Reversing himself on Taxes, President Trump said he wants to create a new tax rate of 39.6 percent on incomes over $2.5 million a year. 

— Cameron Hamilton, he acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, was fired a day after he told members of Congress that the agency is vital to communities “in their greatest times of need” and should not be eliminated as President Trump has said he wants to do.

  FEMA provides disaster relief, both physical and financial after hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires. President Trump has said its functions should be handed off to the states.

  Hamilton defended FEMA only a day after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified before Congress that it should be eliminated.

— President Trump dumped his troubled nominee for US Attorney in Washington in favor of Fox News host and former district attorney Jeannine Pirro, who was one of the Fox personalities who spread the lie that the 2020 election was rigged. It’s a temporary assignment and Trump did not say whether he will nominate Pirro for the permanent job.

  The President wrote on his Truth Social that, “Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York.” That’s one of those things that Trump just makes up.

  Trump abandoned his appointment of conservative activist Ed Martin Jr., who has  no experience as a prosecutor and was a supporter of the January 6^th insurrectionists and the “Stop the Steal” movement. Backing the January 6^th defendants is a sore point on Capitol Hill where people had to run for their lives. 

— The President said he wants to get rid of President Biden’s Digital Equity Act, an effort to improve high-speed internet access in communities with poor access described by Trump as “racist” and “totally unconstitutional.” 

THE GIVING TREE: Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates announced that he and his ex-wife’s charitable foundation will spend down its $200 billion in assets over the next 20 years and shut down at the end of 2045. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been one of the most consequential in the world, supporting global health initiatives that may have saved millions of lives.

  Gates is a firm believer in using wealth to help the unfortunate. His foundation soldiers on as the Trump government cuts foreign food and health aid, possibly leading to the deaths of millions.

FLIGHT TIME: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled a plan yesterday to revamp the nation’s antiquated and failing air traffic control system by 2028. It’s something both Republican and Democratic majorities and administrations have failed to do. 

  Duffy’s plan calls for at least six new air traffic control centers replacing 1960s-era facilities; swapping out old-fashioned copper wiring for fiber-optic; wireless and satellite technology at 4,600 locations; and replacing 25,000 radios and more than 600 radar installations.

 That’s in the future, if ever. Meanwhile 69 flights have been cancelled already today at Newark’s troubled Liberty airport.  Yesterday at Liberty 45 flights were cancelled and 411 delayed as the FAA struggles to recover from a technological breakdown on April 28^th.

  The misery rippled through the system with 94 cancellations in Charlotte,  48 in Atlanta, and 46 at New York Kennedy.

THE SPIN RACK: Warfare between India and Pakistan has escalated since Indian airstrikes hit what were claimed to be terrorist sites in Pakistani territory. — A 61-year-old woman was killed in central Florida yesterday when an alligator tipped over her canoe and killed her after she and her husband fell in the water. Authorities said the gator was 11 feet 4 inches long. — Two men ages 39 and 32 were found guilty of cutting down Britain’s beloved Sycamore Gap tree in 2023, in what prosecutors called an  “act of deliberate and mindless criminal damage.” The two denied doing it but had video on their cellphones. The tree stood for more than 200 years in a dip in the landscape just feet from Hadrian’s wall.

BELOW THE FOLD:  Rapper Kanye West released a new song called “Heil Hitler.”

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