Ben Berkowitz

The problem with Trump's tariff promises: not enough money Trump's promised debt reduction, deficit reduction, $2,000 dividend checks and farm bailouts with the money.

Dividend checks. Farm bailouts. Debt reduction. Deficit reduction. Tax elimination.

The administration says tariffs aren't really intended to generate revenue — but the money's still being pledged all over the place, much more than is actually coming in.

www.axios.com/2025/11/22/t...

Bessent says U.S. must trust China's word on trade deal It was only a month ago that Bessent said China couldn't be trusted.

Bessent, Oct. 15: China "can't be trusted"
Bessent, Nov. 15: "I think we have to go into this believing that President Xi will keep his word to President Trump"

www.axios.com/2025/11/16/u...

Trump administration's 50-year mortgage idea ditches a key advantage Buyers taking out a 50-year mortgage wouldn't actually save that much.

On a $500,000 home, assuming current average rates, taking out a 50-year mortgage instead of a 30-year loan would save you $5,000 in monthly payments over five years.

You'd also lose out on $27,000 in equity.

www.axios.com/2025/11/10/t...

Trump again promises $2,000 tariff dividend as SCOTUS decision looms He's brought the idea up before but never taken steps to execute it.

For at least the 3rd time in the last 4 months, the president is floating a $2,000 tariff dividend.

It's still not clear if the tariffs were even legal.

www.axios.com/2025/11/09/t...

Not until you bust out the towel graphic, then I know it's time to start writing.

October layoffs hit 22-year high as labor market wobbles, Challenger says Employers announced 153,074 layoffs in October.

* Most October layoffs since 2003
* Most Q4 layoffs since 2008
* Most YTD layoffs since 2020

* Least YTD hiring since 2011
* Least holiday seasonal hiring since 2012

The labor market has a problem.

www.axios.com/2025/11/06/l...

"The Axios Show": Palantir is "baller" and Wall St. analysts don't get it, Karp says "I don't know, I'm just modest over here."

New for @axios.com: Palantir CEO Alex Karp tells The Axios Show that his company is "baller" and that Wall Street analysts are:

* Biased against him
* Jealous of Palantir's success
* Using outdated models to understand companies

www.axios.com/2025/11/06/p...

You can tell a lot about a college by how aggressive they are with emails during application season.

I've gotten 49 emails in 60 days from @hofstrau.bsky.social.

My kid applied to 39 schools, and Hofstra's sent more emails than the other 38 combined.

Inflation slowed in September, government says in shutdown report It's the only major economic indicator expected to be released during the government shutdown.

Headline CPI was benign - but for the second month in a row, y/y coffee prices rose at a faster rate than any other line item in the basket, followed closely by beef.

www.axios.com/2025/10/24/i...

The tiny 5-star hotel room inside Volvo's new semi truck The VNL has just about everything — except a toilet.

Editor pro-tip: When a reporter asks you if she can go drive an 18-wheeler and then sleep in the back, you should of course say "yes."

www.axios.com/2025/10/01/v...

YouTube video by Axios Zelensky warns Putin, reacts to Trump reversal, apologizes to Ukrainian kids - The Axios Show, Ep. 2

This is an intimate interview with Ukrainian President Zelensky unlike any I've seen recently. Speaking with my colleague Barak Ravid, he was candid, emotional and very human. He's increasingly hopeful for his country.

WATCH The Axios Show: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kwZ...

Trump's new H-1B fee won't apply to existing visa holders Sunday, official says The $100,000 fee for the highly prized visa is intended to boost jobs for U.S. workers.

The new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas will NOT apply to existing visa holders when it goes into effect Sunday, per a White House official.

(Some lawyers and companies had warned existing holders to rush back to the U.S. today to avoid the fee.)

www.axios.com/2025/09/20/t...

Grocery prices rise at the fastest pace since 2022 as Trump tariffs bite On the campaign trail, Trump promised lower grocery prices.

One of President Trump's major campaign promises was to lower grocery prices.

By and large, they're higher than they were last month and last year, some categories by double digits.

My latest with @kellytyko.bsky.social

www.axios.com/2025/09/11/t...

Exclusive: U.S. should take a chunk of universities' patent revenue, Lutnick says The administration wants to capture potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in future upside from the work of scientists.

THE AXIOS SHOW exclusive:

After taking a stake in Intel and a cut of Nvidia's chip sales in China, the U.S. government may next target a share of the money generated by patents developed at major universities using federal funding, Howard Lutnick says

Trump floats lower tariffs on human hair, edible bugs in new list International trade isn't all about washing machines and cars and fancy dresses.

The White House said late Friday it may let trade partners negotiate lower tariffs on ... Hair? Parrots? Edible crickets?

www.axios.com/2025/09/06/t...

Trump, chairman of corporate America Less than a fifth of the way through his second presidency, the impact of his influence is only just starting to be seen.

Chairman of the board? No, chairman of ALL boards.

President Trump has assumed a quasi-authority to orchestrate how the private sector operates, broadly and at individual company levels. No one's stopping him, so he confidently plows ahead.

My latest for @axios.com

www.axios.com/2025/08/26/t...

I want to talk to you about your kids’ K-12 new school AI policies this year. For an @axios.com story. Please share this most with anyone. I’m at Megan.Morrone@Axios

New at Axios: Google debuts its Ai-infused Pixel 10 lineup as it looks to get a boost before Apple’s iPhone launch.

Data out this morning from the BLS shows import prices of edible vegetables have risen more than 5% in the last two months.

Scoop: White House hands down loyalty ratings for hundreds of companies The unusual scorecard fits this administration's habit of micromanaging companies and administering loyalty tests.

The White House is now scoring companies and trade associations on their loyalty to the administration's priorities, starting with support for the BBB.

Uber, DoorDash, Delta, United, AT&T, Cisco, and trade groups for steel and airlines among those topping the list.

www.axios.com/2025/08/15/w...

Veggie-flation strikes, with a warning for grocery prices No matter what the official data shows, consumers "feel" inflation when grocery prices rise.

ICYMI, the eye-popper in today's PPI: a 39% rise in wholesale fresh vegetable prices.

It's the largest month-on-month increase ever recorded in the summer (data to 1947), and one of the ten largest ever, regardless of season.

With the estimable @alexjamesfitz.com

www.axios.com/2025/08/14/i...

Trump admin claims Social Security, Medicare at risk if tariffs blocked Government lawyers said the U.S. could be on the hook to repay money it hasn't yet been paid.

The solicitor general of the United States says Social Security and Medicare could collapse if Trump's tariffs are struck down by a court — claiming the gov't would have to repay money it hasn't been paid from deals it hasn't finalized.

www.axios.com/2025/08/11/s...

Truth Social's Perplexity search comes with Trump-friendly media sources Increasingly, where you ask matters as much as what you ask.

Where you ask matters as much as what you ask.

Truth Social's new AI search tool, powered by Perplexity, appears to use a limited set of sources - Fox News, Epoch Times, Washington Times - to answer queries. The same questions on Perplexity's site use more sources.

www.axios.com/2025/08/06/t...

“.. While you can quibble with this or that estimate or figure, the order of magnitudes make it pretty clear that AI itself is not enough to buoy the economy, sales, or earnings ahead ..”

@axios.com
www.axios.com/newsletters/...

No one, and I mean no one, hits nails on heads all day long like the estimable Zach Basu. Read this and in 500 words you'll understand the entire world of the last week.

Trump's tariffs start August 1, no extensions, Lutnick says After a months-long pause, tariffs are expected to shoot higher on dozens of countries next Friday.

Commerce Sec. Lutnick insists the August 1 tariff deadline is real, no TACOs — and he projects they could generate $700 billion to $1 trillion a year in revenue, perhaps the highest figure yet from the administration.

www.axios.com/2025/07/27/t...

U.S. still looking at 10% baseline tariff, not higher, Lutnick says President Trump repeatedly suggested in recent days that baseline rates could go to 15% or even 20%.

Sec. Lutnick with a number of #timestamp comments on trade this morning:

* Baseline tariff rates will be 10%, not higher
* Aug. 1 is a hard deadline for new tariffs
* The USMCA will be renegotiated next year

www.axios.com/2025/07/20/t...

If I told you one year ago that a future president was going to:

* Impose 30% tariffs on the largest US trading partners
* Threaten to fire the Fed chair
* Provide weapons for a war against Russia

And stocks would close HIGHER on the news, would you have believed me?

Oh so it's gonna be that kind of week huh

Big @neilirwin.bsky.social scoop for @axios.com — the Federal Reserve has asked its inspector general to look into its $2.5 billion HQ renovation project, which has suddenly become a possible lever for the Trump administration to oust chair Jerome Powell.

www.axios.com/2025/07/14/t...