JUST TALKING:  Before flying off to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, President Trump suggested that he’s been talking to China’s Xi Xinping about his tariffs that have roiled the world economy. Trump said, “I spoke to him numerous times,” …

THE RUSSIA HOUSE:  If Donald Trump stops a war with his post on Truth Social, he would be the first in the history of social media to hook up with a dictator over the internet. In the meantime, he pouted on …

CHINA SYNDROME: Market futures slipped this morning as China rebuffed President Trump’s suggestion that they are in discussions with the US about tariffs and trade. A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said today, “Any claims about progress in China-U.S. economic and …

SOCIAL MEDIA ECONOMIST: Stocks rebounded yesterday after President Trump said he has no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for being slow to cut interest rates.   Investors were also encouraged by Trump’s announcement that the 145 percent tariffs on …

THE SOCIAL MEDIA ECONOMIST: The death of pope Francis yesterday overshadowed what would have been the US news of the day … all three major stock indexes closed down sharply after President Trump in a social media post called Federal Reserve …

CONVOCATION: Less than 24 hours after offering Easter blessings and meeting with Vice President JD Vance, Pope Francis died this morning in Rome at age 88, the Vatican announced.    Originally from Argentina, Francis was the first Jesuit and Latin American pope. …

DUE PROCESS: Maryland Sen. Senator Chris Van Hollen met yesterday in a hotel lobby with  Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland resident wrongfully deported to prison in El Salvador last month.    Van Hollen, a Democratic a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, shared …

THE TARIFF ECONOMY: Stocks took another swan dive yesterday following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that President Trump’s global trade war might cause inflation, slow economic growth, and bring unemployment.   With Trump’s up and down, on-again off-again tariffs on imports, “Markets …

DEPORTATION SHOWDOWN: A federal judge rebuked the Trump administration for doing “nothing” to arrange the return a Maryland man wrongly flown to prison in El Salvador, and set in motion what could be a constitutional clash between the courts and the …

HARVARD HOLDS SWAY: Harvard University rejected demands by the Trump administration to make changes in academics and administration under threat of losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. It’s the first of at least seven universities to tell Trump to …