Wake Up Right - February 14, 2025

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Wake Up Right
February 14, 2025

Happy Valentine’s Day, Wake Up Right fam! Today, the holiday is grossly commercialized [aren’t they all?], but its origin is kinda beautiful — and tragic.

The story goes: Around 270 AD, Roman Emperor Claudius II — known as Claudius the Cruel — outlawed all marriages and engagements because he felt men were unwilling to join his army because of their strong attachments to their wives and families.

St. Valentine defied Claudius' degree and continued to perform marriages. But when he was caught, the cruel emperor had him put to death by beating and had his head cut from his body. The sentence was carried out on February 14.

According to legend, St. Valentine left a farewell note for the prison keeper's daughter and signed it "From Your Valentine." 

  • ✅ RFK Jr. confirmed to lead Health & Human Services

  • 🚸 Border crossings are down 90% from last year

  • 🏠️ Mortgage rates eased for the 4th consecutive week

  • 🎂 Frederick Douglass was born on this day in 1818

  • 💵 75,000 federal workers have taken Trump's buyout offer

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Art of the International Deal

President Donald Trump laid out his plan to impose reciprocal tariffs on countries that charge a higher percentage on U.S. goods — aiming to correct decades of imbalance with U.S. trade partners and offset the federal deficit.

The details: Trump signed a memorandum yesterday, tasking Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to evaluate "remedies" to create "fair and reciprocal" trade tariffs within 180 days. Trump said:

  • “[W]hatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less... In almost all cases, they're charging us vastly more than we charge them. Those days are over."

Tit for tat: The plan is for the United States to create customized tariffs on each of our trade partners that match the tariffs they impose on American companies.

  • Trump added: “In other words, they charge us a tax on tariffs, we charge them the exact same tax. Very simple.”

For example: The White House released a fact sheet that outlines examples of the imbalances American companies currently face:

  • Brazil charges an 18% tariff on ethanol. U.S. is 2.5%

  • India charges a 39% tariff on agricultural goods. U.S. is 5%

  • EU imposes a 10% tariff on cars. U.S. is only 2.5%

Zoom out: Across 132 countries and more than 600,000 product lines, American exporters face higher tariffs than foreign imports 2/3 of the time.

Debt balance: Trump believes these tariffs will help the United States reduce our federal budget deficit and ultimately help us chip away at our ballooning national debt.

Let’s speak like adults: Allowing foreign countries to tariff our goods while we don’t reciprocate imbalances the “free market capitalism” ideal that many conservatives advocate for. American companies already have to compete with slave labor in China and elsewhere — tariffs exacerbate the disadvantage. And in the end, U.S. companies look to foreign goods because they’re so much cheaper than making them at home.

Big picture: Note that these reciprocal tariffs do not go into place for at least six months. This is Trump’s “Art of the International Deal.” He’s putting our trade partners on notice, allowing them to get right on their own.

In other words: We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.

SCOTUS has already rebuked the universal injunctions being used to stop Trump

Across the country, activist judges from the corners of left-wing cities are issuing “universal injunctions” that force the executive branch to pause its efforts to implement President Donald Trump’s policies — but the Supreme Court has already ruled that these moves are “legally and historically dubious.”

Explainer: "Nationwide" or "Universal" injunctions prohibit the Executive Branch from applying a law or policy nationally — as opposed to in just the state where the lawsuit is brought.

The details: Since taking office just four weeks ago, President Trump has seen dozens of his executive orders and memorandums challenged by federal courts and temporarily paused. A few examples:

  • A judge forced Trump to continue funding child sex changes

  • Two separate judges blocked Trump's freeze on federal aid

  • A judge banned Trump’s federal buyout program [this was already reversed]

Elon Musk, who has been leading Trump’s effort to cut government waste, wrote on X yesterday in response to this wave of judicial activism:

  • “If ANY judge ANYWHERE can stop EVERY Presidential action EVERYWHERE, we do NOT live in a democracy.”

The Supreme Court agrees with him: In 2018, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s nationwide injunction on President Trump’s travel ban during his first term. In the majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas warned:

  • “District courts… have begun imposing universal injunctions without considering their authority to grant such sweeping relief.”

  • “These injunctions are… encouraging forum shopping, and making every case a national emergency for the courts and for the Executive Branch.”

  • “In sum, universal injunctions are legally and historically dubious.”

  • “I am skeptical that district courts have the authority to enter universal injunctions. These injunctions did not emerge until a century and a half after the founding. And they appear to be inconsistent with longstanding limits on equitable relief and the power of Article III courts. If their popularity continues, this Court must address their legality.”

Big picture: It’s clear that the federal courts today are doing everything Justice Thomas warned of in 2018. And many, if not all, of these rulings will likely need to go to the Supreme Court to be remedied. But in the meantime, Democrats are delaying the will of the American people who voted for Trump to enact the policies being blocked.

[Source: SCOTUS]

🤡 A Biden-appointed federal judge, Brendan A. Hurson, issued a temporary restraining order, forcing the Trump administration to continue funding hospitals that perform child sex changes. Read more. His office phone number is 410-962-0782 if you’d like to politely voice your displeasure.

🇩🇪 An Islamic extremist from Afghanistan plowed his car through a trade union rally in Munich yesterday, injuring at least 30 people. Read more.

🤝 Secretary of State Marco Rubio expects Ukraine to strike a deal to repay U.S. military and economic aid with rare earth minerals mined in the country. Read more.

🚀 A Texas county approved holding an election to make SpaceX's launch site its down city called Starbase. Read more.

🏈 The New York Jets have officially parted ways with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Read more.

🔎 A top DOGE staffer arrived at the IRS yesterday to begin a review of the tax-collecting agency's operation. Read more. AUDIT THE IRS! LOVE IT.

☣️ Ukraine claims a Russian drone struck the containment shell protecting the radioactive reactor at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Read more.

🗽 NYC Mayor Eric Adams promised to allow ICE to operate on Rikers Island following a meeting with border czar Tom Homan. Read more.

💬 Sen. John Fetterman responds to fellow Democrats and media saying Trump is causing a constitutional crisis: "There isn’t a constitutional crisis, and all of these things — it’s just a lot of noise." Read more.

👿 ICE arrested an illegal alien, Jose Fernando-Perez, who raped six children in Massachusetts after the state refused to cooperate with immigration detainers over two years ago. Read more.

💔 Kanye West and Bianca Censori are reportedly divorcing just 11 days after her naked stunt at the Grammys. Read more.

💸 New EPA head Lee Zeldin discovered that in the final days of the Biden regime, the agency funneled $20 billion in taxpayer funds into "an outside financial institution" and was "purposefully designed to obligate all the money in a rush job with reduced oversight." Read more.

🎥 Trump has to put CNN's Kaitlan Collins in time out when she rudely interrupts. Watch.

🎥 CNN anchor has to save liberal guest after Scott Jennings OWNS her. Watch.

🎥 Liberals in the audience audibly GASP when Clay Travis says men see Dems as "pu**ies." Watch.

🎥 Trump annihilates Mitch McConnell: he's a bitter guy. Watch.

🎥 Kayaker gets swallowed by a whale and then spits him out. Watch.

🎥 RFK Jr. is asked if he can bench press more than Pete Hegseth. Watch.

🎥 RFK Jr. being sworn in as HHS Secretary: God sent me President Trump. Watch.

🎥 Joe Rogan is waking up to "the darkest of conspiracy theories." Watch. [Full interview with Mike Benz here.]

🎥 Former Twitter CEO: The algorithms are definitively programming us. Watch.

Redirecting...

📺 RFK Jr. wants to ban drug ads on TV. But if Congress rewards Big Pharma, thats not happening... See what Trump & RFK are up against. *

🎥 Go long: Watch RFK Jr. sit down with Fox News' Laura Inhaham for his first interview since becoming HHS Sec. Watch. [It’s just the first 8 minutes]

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