Trump’s Big, Beautiful, New America (and World)
Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, I hope you have a Big, Beautiful Memorial Day weekend. The weather is what it is, so make the best of things. While banks and markets will be closed on Monday, with no regular mail delivery.
It’s always nice to have a three-day holiday but, at the risk of seeming preachy, don’t forget everyone who works in stores and restaurants that remain open. That, and all due respect to the infrastructure hardhats who literally keep the electric lines warm and the water pumps humming. Because we’re one Big, Ugly, Grid-Down Power Outage away from living in the 1850s, and I mean that; it’s closer than you might think.
Okay, enough intro. Now, let’s look ahead because, come Tuesday, it’s back to work. Let’s figure out how to make some Big, Beautiful Money.
Reshaping America and the World
First, we begin with something that ought to be obvious but is often obscured by all the media smoke and mirrors. That is, if we can’t build some serious wealth in the next couple of years, something is wrong. And why?
Because love him or not, and whether you wear a MAGA hat or not, President Trump is altering the landscape and rebuilding America – if not the world – in front of everyone’s eyes. So, get on the bus, Gus…
For example, Trump’s executive orders are creating winners and losers. You just have to figure out who is who.
Or look at that Big, Beautiful Tax Bill that the House of Reps just passed. It affects taxes, of course, like “no tax on tips” and much else within the code. It alters rates and credits, plus opens up new pathways for developing energy, critical materials, infrastructure, and a myriad of other things. It even changes firearms laws concerning suppressors. That’s what happens with Big, Beautiful Bills.
Meanwhile, and based on existing law, Trump’s Tariffs are reshaping global trade. Trump’s policies have already altered many channels in which massive levels of capital and investment flow back and forth. Whether it’s Canada and Mexico, or Europe and China, Trump’s tariff numbers are resetting valuations, marking everything to new levels, and shifting entire supply chains.
Overseas, Trump is reshaping long-term geopolitical relations with Europe, particularly with NATO and Russia. Then we have Trump’s initiatives in the Middle East, Africa, India-Pakistan, Asia in general, and China in particular.
Even Trump’s tweets on X (formerly Twitter), or on Truth Social, can move markets as we’ve recently seen with, say, Fannie May (FNMA), or no less than the entire nuclear power sector.
Through it all, Trump’s actions are creating counter-reactions, especially within the U.S. federal court system. Call it Big, Beautiful Lawfare, although I don’t mean that in an overly generous or complimentary way.
Some of the legal and judicial pushback is rooted in the basic economics of governance such as the ability, or not, of a U.S. President summarily to close federal bureaus and lay off large numbers of workers.
Other legal pushbacks are way more sociological and ideological, such as the President’s move to ban foreign students from Harvard. And on that beanball, wow… even I am astonished at how much Trump clearly doesn’t like my long-ago alma mater! As in, I attended the place when it was way less… umm… like it is now, if you get my drift.
We’re in early innings for much of this litigation, although some cases have hit the front door of the U.S. Supreme Court. And over time, these cases will redefine and reshape the Constitutional concept of “Executive Power,” and I mean for generations to follow, long after Trump has flown his final flight in the Big, Beautiful Boeing 747.
The takeaway here is that, through it all and via a wild mix of deliberation and raw political chaos, we’re witness to some sort of New America taking shape out there, if not a New World. And oh man, as noted above, there’s Big, Beautiful Money to be made!
Debt, Interest and the Fate of the Dollar
Believe it or not, though, some things are actually bigger than President Trump. Yes, I know… Take a breath. Sit down. Chill…
For example, consider the astronomical level of national debt, now up around $37 trillion, and there’s no way it will never get paid down. In fact, just interest alone on the debt is up over $1 trillion per year, which is more than the defense budget. And that interest payout comes right off the top of federal tax revenues.
That is, before Uncle Sam patches even one pothole on an interstate highway or buys the fuel for one flight of an F-35, he must (figuratively, if not literally) stroke checks against tax dollars to pay huge interest on big debt from past spending blowouts.
And no, that’s no way to build the future; and yes, the whole thing is truly a mess.
To be sure, a not-small whack of America’s national debt piled up during Trump’s first term, so the New York Yankee is not out of the shade on this. And now, from what we see of the proposed 2026 budget, President Trump, his administration, and Congress are on track to keep the federal spending machine powered to full throttle, with more deficits, debt and interest yet to come.
Still, the bulk of America’s national debt accumulated ex-Trump, over multiple terms of many other presidents, many other Congresses, and many other years if not decades. America’s debt problem is a feature, not a bug, and on this sad point we may as well face the fact that the U.S. has a flawed and systemic overspending issue that Trump has inherited.
Deep down, America’s problem is rooted in an unsound, deformed, faux-solvent monetary system traceable to the Federal Reserve idea that originated in the early 1900s, and specifically to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Along these lines, I hope you subscribe to one or more newsletters under the masthead of our favorite macroeconomist Jim Rickards, starting with Strategic Intelligence.
Along these last lines, and just this past April, Jim, I, and several other editors from Paradigm Press went to the actual Ground Zero of the modern Fed idea, namely a place called Jekyll Island, in southeast Georgia. There, we held a series of brainstorming sessions and broadcast our thoughts to readers. We discussed the monetary problems ahead for the U.S. under Trump, and collectively presented numerous investment ideas that have already helped subscribers preserve wealth and make some Big, Beautiful Money.
To be blunt, Trump has a hard, heavy lift here, a proverbial Sisyphean task in terms of rolling a boulder up a hill. Can Trump even begin to fix things? Again, this question is the foundation for all of the future investment opportunities out there. As in, what will do well in a Trump-economy that is fast re-shaping? What to avoid? Jim, I and our colleagues have more than a few ideas for you.
And hey, unless you’re a true insider to the American banking and business economy, you’re on the outside. You dwell in investor-land, doing the best you can. Or to use another set of words, you’re out “where the dark fields of the Republic roll on under the night” (a line borrowed from F. Scott Fitzgerald and the last page of his novel, The Great Gatsby, now celebrating its 100th year in print).
Of course you want to do well, right? That’s why you’re reading this note. You want to save, invest, grow your nest egg, and build security for yourself, your family, and ideally have something left over when you finally head off to meet the Maker of All Things.
Meanwhile, at home and abroad the news offers us one ominous development after another. Just consider the recent downgrade of our U.S. government’s credit rating by the firm Moody’s, from so-called “Triple-A” to a lower level.
This last point gets technical, but it’s an issue that will absolutely raise future borrowing costs for the U.S. Treasury, which means that more and more tax receipts will flow out as interest, versus some mix of spending reduction and/or real investment by the government in true deliverables of articles or services. Oh, and the downgrade will raise interest rates for you too, if you borrow funds; although the flip side is that you might receive higher rates on savings.
I discussed this problem – the Moody’s downgrade – in a recent issue of a letter called Lifetime Income Report, which I co-edit with my long-time colleague and friend Zach Scheidt.
Every month, Zach and I discuss investment ideas, especially dividend-paying companies, as well as how to preserve wealth in the face of inflation. For example, in the most recent June issue, Zach discussed a high-tech opportunity, and I presented a couple of dividend ideas in the energy industry, as well as two precious metal mining plays.
And finally, while we’re discussing how to preserve and grow wealth in the years ahead, I’d be remiss not to mention the upcoming Rick Rule Investment Symposium in Boca Raton, Florida, from 7 – 11 July. Rick is a dear friend for many years, both personally and to Paradigm Press and innumerable subscribers. I assure you; we’ve made some Big, Beautiful Money by working with Big, Beautiful Rick.
At Rick’s conference, you’ll hear him and a host of other superb speakers, along with a highly curated room full of superb exhibitors. These companies range from firms that sell physical gold and silver (yes, you can buy metal and take it home!), to mining plays with gigantic upside potential in the Big, Beautiful Hard Assets Environment that’s coming down the rails like a high-speed locomotive. For details, check out the agenda and sign up here.
I’ll be there in Boca as an emcee and panelist, along with the above-mentioned Jim Rickards who is scheduled to give a major talk on geopolitics and the future of the dollar. And you might just meet several other Paradigm players, including The Daily Reckoning’s own Adam Sharp.
Other topics at the Rule Conference will include deep insight into gold and silver, energy and other hard asset investments, with many takeaway names. And if you can’t make it in person, proceedings will be available on a livestream webcast.
Okay, thank you for subscribing and reading. I’ll end here, on this Big, Beautiful Memorial Day weekend, as we anticipate all of the other Big, Beautiful Opportunities out there, if we understand the potential.
Have a great rest of the holiday… And on Tuesday, it’s back to work.
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