2 months ago
2
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for diverting resources to social issues over economic stability, warning against mission drift.
👥 Who’s Involved: Scott Bessent, IMF, World Bank, Chinese Communist Party.
Your free, daily feed from The National Pulse.
📍 Where & When: Washington, D.C., Institute of International Finance forum, Wednesday.
💬 Key Quote: “The IMF has been whistling past the graveyard,” Bessent said, referring to the organization’s focus on social issues at the expense of its core economic responsibilities.
⚠️ Impact: The IMF and World Bank face pressures to realign their missions. Economic forecasts have been affected by U.S. tariff policies, with U.S. growth expectations reduced.
IN FULL:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admonished the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday for prioritizing woke politics at the expense of economic stability. Speaking at the Institute of International Finance in Washington, he highlighted the IMF’s “mission creep,” warning that the agency “devotes disproportionate time and resources to work on climate change, gender, and social issues… crowding out its work on critical macroeconomic issues.”
“The IMF has been whistling past the graveyard,” the Trump official remarked.
Additionally, Bessent directed criticisms toward the World Bank, a United Nations (UN) specialized agency, advising it to control its spending and warning that its officials “should no longer expect blank checks for vapid, buzzword-centric marketing accompanied by half-hearted commitments to reform” for U.S. support.
The backdrop to Bessent’s comments is the IMF’s recent downgrade in U.S. economic growth projections, influenced by hostility to President Donald J. Trump’s tariff policy. The IMF reduced its forecast for U.S. growth in 2025 to 1.8 percent, down from an earlier estimate of 2.7 percent. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF’s chief economist, explicitly attributed the forecast change to the tariffs.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: President Donald J. Trump expressed concerns over the feasibility of conducting trials for millions of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally.
👥 Who’s Involved: Donald J. Trump, President of the United States; Joe Biden, former President; U.S. federal courts; migrants; suspected gang members.
Your free, daily feed from The National Pulse.
📍 Where & When: Remarks made in the Oval Office; reported on April 22.
💬 Key Quote: “We’re getting them out. I hope we get cooperation from the courts, because we have thousands of people that are ready to go out, and you can’t have a trial for all of these people,” Trump stated to reporters.
⚠️ Impact: Trump’s plans for mass deportation face challenges from federal courts, potentially affecting immigration enforcement and policy execution.
IN FULL:
President Donald J. Trump spoke about the challenges related to holding legal proceedings for potentially millions of migrants who have entered the United States illegally on Tuesday. He emphasized the improbability of providing court trials for every individual due to the sheer volume of cases. Trump stressed the need for expedited deportations to ensure national safety, suggesting that obstructive legal processes could lead to a perilous situation for the country.
“We’re getting them out. I hope we get cooperation from the courts, because we have thousands of people that are ready to go out, and you can’t have a trial for all of these people,” he said, pointing out that the current legal system isn’t designed to accommodate trials at such a large scale.
“A judge can’t say, ‘You know, you have to have a trial.’ The trial is going to take two years,” Trump warned. “No, we’re going to have a very dangerous country if we’re not allowed to do what we’re entitled to do. And I won an election based on the fact that we get them out.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he highlighted the double standards involved in allowing Biden to let in millions of migrants with no meaningful legal process, while requiring him to go through the courts every time he has to remove one.
“How can Biden let Millions of Criminals into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted, with no Legal authority to do so, yet I, in order to make up for this assault to our Nation, am expected to go through a lengthy Legal process, separately, for each and every Criminal Alien,” he demanded. “As usual, TWO DIFFERENT STANDARDS, only leading to the Complete and Total Destruction of the U.S.A.”
Court challenges against the Trump administration, particularly concerning immigration policy, have been a recurring feature of its opening months. Judges like the Barack Obama-appointed U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg have hindered efforts to utilize the Alien Enemies Act to remove migrants swiftly, making it harder to deport illegals linked to organized crime groups like MS-13.
President Trump promised a policy of mass deportations of illegal immigrants, particularly criminal aliens, on the 2024 campaign trail. Past polling suggests that a majority of Americans support the policy.
Jack Montgomery contributed to this report.
show less
English (US) ·