Understanding the US - Again

[A_Gupta]

From Talkingpointsmemo, John Light writes:

Republican Party Fights With Itself Over Selling Out To AI Billionaires

Someone in Trump’s coalition desperately wants to ban states from regulating AI, legal practicalities of such a policy be damned.

Other loud voices in Trump’s coalition see the effort as the tech-mogul power grab that it is.

For months now, these two factions have been engaged in a tug of war.

The latest chapter unfolded this month, when news began circulating that an executive order was being drafted that would crush state-level attempts at AI regulation. Among other things, it “would direct the Justice Department to sue states that pass laws regulating artificial intelligence,” according to the Washington Post, which published one early report on the draft. An autopsy of the rumors by the Verge cast the draft as the work of — and a massive power grab by — the South African-born venture capitalist David Sacks, Trump’s special advisor for AI and crypto. Around the same time, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) told Punchbowl that lawmakers were considering sticking a preemption of state AI laws in the National Defense Authorization Act.

Trump’s populist constituency freaked out (as did many Democrats). During a podcast discussion, MAGA legal bombthrower Mike Davis and Steve Bannon unloaded on the efforts, denouncing the “tech bros” behind them. “I’m a capitalist,” Bannon said at one point. “This is not capitalism. This is corporatism and crony capitalism.”

The rift emerged in almost exactly the same way when, in June, congressional Republicans inserted a similar preemption provision into Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, then, virtually unanimously, disowned it, with Republicans joining Democrats to strip it out.

The draft executive order is now, reportedly, on hold. But the tension between Trump’s power-hungry, Curtis Yarvin-pilled tech backers and his right-wing, nationalist, intermittently populist base remains an important and sometimes amusing fault line in a movement that, at least for now, is increasingly fractured.

[A_Gupta]

How the US treats Singapore, with which it has a trade surplus as well as a Free Trade Agreement since 2004:
The US helped with the S’pore ‘miracle’. Now, it’s calling in the favour, says Trump’s new envoy Anjani Sinha
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/us-helped-por ... 00327.html

The US goods trade surplus with Singapore was US$1.9 billion, while the services trade surplus was US$25.1 billion in 2024, as per the US Trade Representative’s office.

The higher US tariffs are dampening global economic prospects, including Singapore’s gross domestic product growth, which is expected to ease into a range of 1 per cent to 3 per cent in 2026 after expanding at around 4 per cent in 2025 and 4.4 per cent in 2024.

The United States is calling in a favour from friends like Singapore as President Donald Trump tries to rebalance the American economy and restore “fairness” to the international trading system.

Mr Trump’s ambassador to Singapore, Dr Anjani Kumar Sinha, offered that explanation when asked how the US President’s 10 per cent baseline tariff on the Republic – in spite of a free trade agreement since 2004 – aligns with the broader goals of the US-Singapore relationship.

“Over many decades, American taxpayers and service members have underwritten regional security, playing an important role in making Singapore’s economic miracle possible,” Dr Sinha said in an e-mail interview with The Straits Times.
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“Now, we are asking our friends to help us rebalance the economy. That’s the framework, and I am confident the US-Singapore business and economic relationship will continue to grow,” he said.
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“President Trump’s trade agenda is focused on restoring balance and fairness to the international trading system and protecting US national security,” Dr Sinha said.