Tea at Trianon: Trump's Triumphant Return to American Prosperity

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, March 17, 2025

Trump's Triumphant Return to American Prosperity

From Amuse on X:

Perhaps the most tangible relief arrived on the economic front. Americans weary of Biden-era inflationary pressures finally began experiencing genuine reprieve. Consumer inflation notably eased in February, with core inflation reaching its lowest ebb in nearly four years, thanks in large measure to declining airfare prices—a boon just in time for spring travel. Wholesale inflation followed suit, dropping well below expectations and demonstrating a firm market confidence rekindled under Trump's stewardship.
Mortgage rates, a persistent thorn under previous administrations, fell to their lowest since December, stimulating a renewed vigor in the housing market. This fresh vitality was underscored by home purchase applications surging to their highest since January. Even the everyday cost-of-living items such as eggs, emblematic of inflation's strain, saw a remarkable 36.6% price drop since Trump's inauguration. Gasoline, another bellwether of economic stress, dropped below $3 per gallon across thirty-one states for the third consecutive week, while oil prices themselves fell nearly 15% under Trump's calculated economic maneuvers.
Border security, one of President Trump's hallmark policies, also demonstrated astonishing progress. Illegal crossings plunged to historically low levels, underscoring the effectiveness of Secretary Kristi Noem's strategies at the Department of Homeland Security. In merely his first fifty days, Trump's ICE agents made 32,809 arrests, nearly matching the entirety of Biden's final year. Remarkably, only seventy-seven "gotaways" were recorded in recent weeks—a stark 95% reduction from Biden-era averages. Most symbolically, migration through the perilous Darien Gap plummeted 99%, as would-be border crossers abandoned their journey in the face of Trump's resolute immigration stance.
On trade, President Trump again displayed keen strategic foresight. The implementation of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum reinvigorated domestic industries previously languishing under the weight of foreign dumping practices. The Steel Manufacturers Association heralded Trump's actions, proclaiming an end to America serving as a repository for subsidized, subpar foreign steel. This robust stance catalyzed manufacturing rejuvenation, exemplified vividly as Cra-Z-Art, GE Aerospace, Asahi Group Holdings, Angel Aligner, Pegatron Corp., Merck, Saica Group, Saint Gobain Ceramics, and LGM Pharma announced substantial investments and expansions across the United States, marking an emphatic shift from offshore dependence to domestic dynamism. (Read more.)