Wake Up Right - April 7, 2025

Wake Up Right
April 07, 2025

Welcome back, Wake Up Right fam. Let’s kick off the week with a healthy reminder:

The experts telling you Trump’s tariffs will cause prices to explode are the same people who told you inflation under Biden was no big deal and his economy was actually sunshine and rainbows.

Facts matter: In 2018, when Trump put 20% tariffs on China, prices rose by less than 1%.

Real talk: What you’re witnessing right now is a coordinated campaign by Democrats, the media, and corporate oligarchs to shake consumer (your) confidence and spark a recession.

This is an information war. “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”

🏀 UConn Huskies win women's NCAA title
💸 U.S. stocks shed $6.4 trillion in value on Thurs-Fri
🇨🇦 Canada lost 33K jobs in March, most since 2022
🇺🇸 US added 228K jobs in March, nearly double expectations

^Sources:^ESPN^,^WSJ^,^CBC^,^CNBC

The world reacts to Trump’s tariffs

World leaders are waking up to the reality that President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff plan was not a bluff — and over fifty countries have reached out to the White House over the weekend to make a deal.

The details: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick revealed on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday that about 50 nations have reached out to the U.S. to reach trade agreements in response to Trump’s tariffs, which began Friday but go into full effect tomorrow, April 8.

Trump reiterated Lutnick’s comments, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, saying: “Just so you understand the power of what I’m doing, every country is calling and is being very solicitous of us.”

Nation by nation: Over the weekend, reports indicated that many of the United States’ biggest trade partners are looking to cut a deal ASAP:

🇹🇼 Taiwan — which manufactures critical semiconductors used by the U.S., offered to reduce tariffs to zero and remove all trade barriers.
🇻🇳 Vietnam: Trump said he had a "productive call" with Vietnam — which manufactures top brands like Nike and Lululemon — on Friday and "wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO"
🇬🇧 U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly planning to admit he understands Trump's position and declare, "Globalization is over."
🇨🇳 China retaliated with 34% tariffs on all U.S. imports but has called for "equal-footed consultation" with Trump.
🇪🇺 EU: The European Union says it’s prepared to retaliate but prefers to negotiate a deal with Trump.
🇮🇳 India is reportedly not looking to retaliate against Trump's tariffs and instead seeks to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement.
🇹🇭 Thailand is reportedly offering to increase imports of U.S. energy, aircraft, and agricultural products.
🇮🇱 Israel: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Trump today to discuss tariffs [and other key issues]. Israel has already moved to cancel all tariffs on U.S. imports.
🌏️ Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia announced they would not retaliate against the U.S. tariffs.

Markets: U.S. stock futures [which preview how the market will act when it opens] suggest a 700-point fall for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after dropping by 2,231 points, or 5.5%, on Friday.

China's Hong Kong Stock Market opened 13.2% down, the steepest drop since 1997.

Will Trump postpone? Lutnick confirmed to CBS News that despite market reactions, "There's no postponing. They are definitely gonna stay in place."

The last word goes to Trump, who wrote on Truth Social this weekend: “We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before. Already, more than FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS OF INVESTMENT, and rising fast! THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

[Source: NY Post]

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Longtime Biden advisor spills the beans on cognitive decline

A new book reveals what Former White House chief Ron Klain reportedly witnessed behind the scenes — Joe Biden was “exhausted and out of it” ahead of his disastrous 2024 debate with Donald Trump.

Time out: To grasp the gravity of the revelations in this book, it’s important to remember that Klain was like Biden's consigliere [pardon my Godfather reference]. They go way back. Klain was VP Biden’s chief of staff during Barack Obama’s first term.

The details: In the book titled "Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History," author Chris Whipple reveals Klain’s experience coaching Biden for his debate with Trump:

Klain “was startled. He’d never seen him so exhausted and out of it. Biden was unaware of what was happening in his own campaign…I was struck by how out of touch with American politics he was.”

Mock debates: Biden’s team set up two mock debates to prepare for his debate with Trump. According to the book:

First mock debate: “The first was scheduled to last 90 minutes but Klain called it off after 45. The president’s voice was shot and so was his grasp of the subject.”
Second mock debate: “25 minutes into the second mock debate, the president was done for the day. ‘I’m just too tired to continue and I’m afraid of losing my voice here and I feel bad,’ he said. ‘I just need some sleep. I’ll be fine tomorrow.’ He went off to bed.”

He wasn’t fine. And in less than a month, he would drop out of the 2024 race and endorse his Vice President, Kamala Harris.

Real talk from G: Biden’s mental decline was the worst-kept secret in American politics, and it ultimately cost him his party’s nomination. But that’s not the story. These excerpts matter because they confirm that Biden’s inner circle — including Klain — knew he was impaired and repeatedly lied to the American people.

[Source: The Guardian]

✅ The Senate passed a budget blueprint encompassing many of President Trump’s legislative priorities, including a permanent extension of his 2017 tax cuts and $175 billion in new spending on border security. Read more.

🎱 A women's pool tournament championship in the U.K. featured two transgender athletes who defeated their female competition. Read more.

⛈️ Powerful storms swept through the South and Midwest last week, wreaking havoc and killing at least 16. Read more.

📱 President Trump granted TikTok a second 75-day extension to comply with a law that requires it to either sell its US operation or face a ban. Read more.

✊ Thousands of protesters gathered for various so-called “Hands Off!” rallies throughout the United States over the weekend to protest President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Read more.

🇬🇧 London police have charged actor Russel Brand with rape. Read more.

🚀 Poland will sign a $2 billion contract with the US to supply logistical support for Patriot missile-defense systems. Read more.

🏃‍♂️ A transgender athlete won first place in a varsity high jump competition in Oregon two years after finishing last against boys. Read more.

👿 A fundraiser for a Texas teen who fatally stabbed a high school track star has reached roughly $127,000, as he claims he acted in self-defense. Read more.

👨‍⚖️ A North Carolina appeals court ruled that 60,000+ voters who voted in the state’s Supreme Court election — which the Democrat won by just 700 votes — must verify that they were eligible to vote. Read more.

✅ The Supreme Court sided with the Trump admin, overturning a lower court judge who prevented him from freezing $65 million for DEI-related grants. Read more.

😴 Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain revealed that former President Joe Biden was "fatigued, befuddled and disengaged" before his debate with President Donald Trump in June, according to a new book. Read more.

Shop the Wake Up Right store!

About a month ago, I was at a butcher in my neighborhood and saw a diagram of a cow, with all the cuts of meat labeled. And that gave me an idea for a t-shirt:

DOGE Butcher Shop — but instead of the cow, we use a pig. And the cuts of meat in the diagram represent all the waste, fraud, and abuse being butchered by the Trump admin.

Over the last few weeks, I worked with a really talented graphic designer who brought it to life. And on Friday I got a sample in the mail and I’m happy to say, it came out better than I’d hoped.

Also, my wife told me I had to mention that the t-shirt it’s printed on is Custom Colors. Apparently, they’re well-known for high-quality materials. I just chose them because they are printed in the U.S. and made with 100 U.S. cotton.

If you love this newsletter and want to rep the Wake Up Right fam, you can do so with the link below!

Click here to check out the Wake Up Right Shop.