Coffee Talk with Tiff

August 6, 2025 12:54 pm EDT Tiff Editorial (Open Thread) Comments Off on Coffee Talk with Tiff
Coffee. Photo by Jonathan Thursfield.

It’s Wednesday…

President Shitshow’s public schedule for…

Wednesday, August 6 2025
9:00 AM
In-Town Pool Call Time
In-Town Pool
4:30 PM
The President makes an Announcement
Oval Office White House
Press Pool

Googling President Makes an Announcement pulled up a few sources saying it was likely about slapping tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Because obviously, the best way to punish India… is by making life more expensive for Americans. Genius-level strategy, truly.

For the first time in Trump 2.0 the admin has published information on an upcoming announcement prior to the announcement!

From the White House…

08/06/2025:

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Addresses Threats to the United States by the Government of the Russian Federation

ADDRESSING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order imposing tariffs on India in response to its continued purchase of Russian Federation oil, and establishing a process for the potential imposition of similar tariffs on other countries that directly or indirectly import oil from the Russian Federation.

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Addresses Threats to the United States by the Government of the Russian Federation. 08/06/2025.
  • The President found that India is currently importing Russian Federation oil. Accordingly, to address the national emergency stemming from the Government of the Russian Federation’s actions taken against Ukraine, he is imposing an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, effective August 27, due to India’s direct or indirect importation of Russian Federation oil.
    • This tariff is in addition to any other duties, fees, taxes, exactions, and charges applicable to such imports, unless subject to existing or future actions under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
    • This tariff is also in addition to any tariff applicable under Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025, as amended, but the additional 25% tariff imposed by this order shall not apply to articles set forth in Annex II to Executive Order 14257.
  • The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, and other senior officials, will determine whether other countries directly or indirectly import Russian Federation oil and recommend further actions to the President as needed.

COUNTERING THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION’S THREAT TO U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN POLICY: The Russian Federation’s actions in Ukraine pose an ongoing threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, necessitating stronger measures to address the national emergency.

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Addresses Threats to the United States by the Government of the Russian Federation. 08/06/2025.
  • India’s importation of Russian Federation oil undermines U.S. efforts to counter Russia’s harmful activities.
  • India’s subsequent reselling of this oil on the open market, often at significant profit, further enables the Russian Federation’s economy to fund its aggression.
  • By imposing a 25% tariff, President Trump aims to deter countries from supporting the Russian Federation’s economy through oil imports and impose serious economic consequences on the Russian Federation for its ongoing aggressions.

PUTTING AMERICA FIRST: President Trump has been consistent that he will not tolerate Russian Federation aggression.

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Addresses Threats to the United States by the Government of the Russian Federation. 08/06/2025.
  • President Trump has been transparent that the Russian Federation would not be facing these actions if they were to “get a deal where people stop getting killed.”
  • President Trump has also been upfront that India would face tariffs for buying Russian Federation oil: “India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits …. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.”
  • President Trump remains committed to pursuing peace, and these actions aim to pressure the Russian Federation toward a resolution that ends the conflict and saves lives.

Here’s the deal: this is what sanctions are for—not tariffs dressed up as tough-guy economics. Tariffs are just a tax on American consumers, plain and simple. They’re not going to stop India from buying Russian oil (spoiler: India doesn’t care), but they will make it more expensive for U.S. businesses to buy the stuff they actually need to make things here. So instead of targeting the problem, we’re just making American products pricier and pretending that’s some kind of geopolitical masterstroke. Genius. What could possibly go wrong?

It’s also being reported that another thing that could be announced is that Apple will invest more morning into the US supply side of their business.

New York Times (gift link) 08/06/2025:

The White House said in a statement that the pledge was a “significant acceleration” of Apple’s plan for more production in the United States and that the company had promised Mr. Trump to invest $600 billion domestically over the next four years.

Mr. Trump’s announcement, which was reported earlier by Bloomberg, will include the creation of what the White House is calling the American Manufacturing Program, which will focus on bringing more of Apple’s supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the United States.

The company said in February that it planned to spend $500 billion and hire 20,000 people in the United States over the next four years and open a factory in Texas to make the machines that power the company’s push into artificial intelligence. The company made similar, smaller pledges during the Biden administration and Mr. Trump’s first term, though it has not yet followed through on some of those promises.

New York Times (gift link) 08/06/2025.

In other news saved in my twitter bookmarks.

According to my source in Tennessee she doesn’t have to vacate her senate seat to run for governor. That means if she wins she could vacate and appoint her replacement.

NBC News confirmed what my Tennessee source said: If Blackburn were to win, she would have to vacate her seat to which she was re-elected in November. As governor, she would have the ability to appoint her temporary successor before a special election to fill the seat. Blackburn is the third sitting senator to announce a run for governor this year after Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville and Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet.

I can’t find information on whether she can run for both congress and the governorship at the same time. The news articles I saw don’t mention it. I will continue to try and google my way through it…

One of the front runners to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Kevin “Asshat” Hassett this morning said that the BLS data peeps attempted to sway the election for former President Obama back in 2012.

He says that the really “big beautiful” GDP “number” Obama got before the election likely helped him win.

Narrator: Commerce is responsible for the GDP number, not the BLS.

I looked it up.

First, the jobs report that came out just before the election of 2012.

BLS.gov (11/02/2012):

BEA.gov (10/26/2012):

Google says final growth for 2012 was 2.3%.

The Gang of Morons are meeting today at the residence of J.D. Vance or is it JD, um, anyway, they are meeting there to discuss #EpsteinFileGate.

CNN’s article is paywalled.

Virginia Giuffre’s family offered a statement.

Show more =’s “We understand that Vice President JD Vance will hold a strategy session this evening at his residence with administration officials. Missing from this group is, of course, any survivor of the vicious crimes of convicted perjurer and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Their voices must be heard, above all. We also call upon the House subcommittee to invite survivors to testify.  As Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s siblings, we offer to represent her in her stead and we hope the administration takes our call to action seriously. Any information that may be released by the government should take into account the survivors who wish to remain anonymous, for their safety and well-being. They should be consulted first. We reiterate that Ghislaine Maxwell should have remained in a maximum security prison and does not deserve the luxuries currently afforded her.”  — Sky and Amanda Roberts and Danny and Lanette Wilson.

I don’t normally share things, I can’t read; but let’s talk about the headline.

I honestly don’t know how this is supposed to be bad. It sounds like pretty standard voter outreach—exactly the kind of thing government agencies routinely do. I’d check the article, but RealClearPolitics and my PC have irreconcilable differences. From what I can see, though, this feels like one of the dumbest attempts at a “gotcha” yet. And maybe, maybe, they’re not trying to paint it as shady… but let’s be real: if Press Barbie’s signal-boosting it, odds are she thinks registering first-time voters and people with disabilities is some kind of voter fraud plot.en story.

I’ll read it, after I’m done with the article and let you know in the comments (when I can eventually get back into the website) about the context of the article itself.

This is an open thread

About the opinions in this article…

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About Tiff 3284 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.