Europe Credit Lures Investors Turning Away From US, Says Aptior
Investors are turning to European distressed credits as they diversify away from the US amid concerns over Donald Trump's trade war and its potential impact on the economy, according to investment firm Aptior Capital.
European high-yield debt appeals to hedge fund clients, known as limited partners, because of the market's size, said Rudi Singh, Aptior's founder and chief investment officer, although the approach to companies might have to be different than in the US because the capital structures are much smaller.
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Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
American presidents have long used autopens. Just ask Trump.
Donald Trump has repeatedly slammed Joe Biden's use of an autopen during his presidency, going so far as to center its usage in a broad investigation Trump announced Wednesday into his predecessor. But politicians on both sides of the aisle are deeply familiar with the tool. The autopen — also referred to as the robot pen — replicates an individual's signature using a writing utensil, rather than a scanned and printed version of it. The tool, which resembles a small printer with a long arm that allows users to attach a pen to the center, has a long history of use in American politics. The device was first patented in 1803, according to the Shapell Manuscript Foundation, an independent research organization that collects original manuscripts and historical documents. Iterations of the autopen have been used by presidents as far back as Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that 'I could not, now therefore, live without' the device he used to duplicate letters. 'The Autopen has long been a tool for the world's most influential leaders, allowing them to more effectively apply their time and attention to important issues without compromising the impact of personalized correspondence," according to The Autopen Co., which sells the machines. U.S. leaders on both sides of the aisle have used the autopen for decades — and have faced criticism for their use of the tool. During Lyndon Johnson's administration, the autopen was featured in The National Enquirer for an article headlined 'One of the Best Kept Secrets in Washington: The Robot That Sits In For The President.' Even Trump himself has said he used autopens, but 'only for very unimportant papers.' 'We may use it, as an example, to send some young person a letter because it's nice,' Trump said in March, according to The Associated Press. 'You know, we get thousands and thousands of letters, letters of support for young people, from people that aren't feeling well, etcetera. But to sign pardons and all of the things that he signed with an autopen is disgraceful.' In 2004, George W. Bush's secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, faced criticism from some veterans for using an autopen to sign condolence letters to families of troops killed in the Iraq War. In 2011, Barack Obama used an autopen to sign a Patriot Act extension — becoming the first known, apparent use of the tool by a president for legislation — and used it subsequently in his administration. The move resulted in Republicans questioning the constitutionality of Obama's decision, though Bush's Office of Legal Counsel, which is part of the Department of Justice, had already concluded the use of autopens was constitutional. 'The President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law,' the office's 2005 ruling stated. "Rather, the President may sign a bill within the meaning of Article I, Section 7 by directing a subordinate to affix the President's signature to such a bill, for example by autopen.' There is no specific law governing a president's use of an autopen. But the ruling from the Department of Justice hasn't stopped Trump from accusing Biden and his team of illegally using the tool, alleging that Biden's team used an autopen to sign documents without Biden's permission or knowledge. Trump has also claimed that Biden's round of pardons — including 'preemptive pardons' of Jan. 6 investigators, his son Hunter Biden and Anthony Fauci — were illegal and are 'void' and 'vacant.' However, most legal scholars are in agreement that pardons cannot be overturned once granted. In 1869, a federal court ruled, 'The law undoubtedly is, that when a pardon is complete, there is no power to revoke it, any more than there is power to revoke any other completed act.' Biden has denied the claims that any decision was ever made or issued in his name without his approval or knowledge. Trump and other Republican accusers have provided no evidence that aides used an autopen without the former president's approval. 'Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,' Biden told POLITICO in a statement. 'I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false. This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.'
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
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Musk and Trump Still Agree on One Thing
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Far be it from me to judge anyone enjoying the feud between Donald Trump and his benefactor Elon Musk over Trump's signature legislation, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But in the conflict between the president and the world's richest man, the public is the most likely loser. Four days ago, Musk described the bill as 'disgusting,' 'pork-filled,' and an 'abomination.' He also suggested that Trump was ungrateful, claiming that Republicans would have lost the 2024 election without all the money he had spent supporting GOP candidates. Trump fired back in a post on his network, Truth Social, saying, 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts.' Musk then accused Trump of being in 'the Epstein files,' referring to the late financier and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, whom both men have ties to. Musk later deleted that post, as well as another calling for Trump's impeachment. If all this seems painfully stupid, it is, and it was all made possible by the erosion of American democracy. The underlying issues, however, are significant despite the surreal nature of the exchange. As it happens, Trump and Musk's dueling criticisms are each, in their own ways, at least partially valid. The bill is an abomination, although not because it's 'pork-filled.' And much of Musk's wealth does come from the federal government, which he has spent the past few months trying to dismantle while preserving his own subsidies. According to Axios, among other things, Musk was angry that the bill cuts the electric-vehicle tax credit, which will hurt the bottom line of his electric-car company, Tesla. But neither billionaire—one the president of the United States and the other a major financial benefactor to the president's party—opposes the bill for what makes it a monstrosity: that it redistributes taxpayer dollars to the richest people in the country by slashing benefits for the middle class, the poor, and everyone in between. The ability of a few wealthy people to manipulate the system to this extent—leaving two tycoons who possess the emotional register of toddlers with the power to impoverish most of the country, to their own benefit, speaks ill of the health of American democracy, regardless of the outcome. Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' would make the largest cuts to food assistance for the poor in history, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, eliminating $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at a time when inflation is still straining family budgets. Some 15 million Americans would become uninsured because of the bill's cuts to Medicaid, also the largest reductions to that program in history, and because of cuts to the Affordable Care Act. The CBPP estimates that about '22 million people, including 3 million small business owners and self-employed workers, will see their health coverage costs skyrocket or lose coverage altogether.' Not everyone would suffer, however, as the bill does offer significant tax cuts to the wealthiest people in America while adding trillions of dollars to the national debt. Whatever meager benefits there are to everyone else would likely be eaten up by the increase in the cost of food and health care caused by the benefit cuts. [Charlie Warzel: The Super Bowl of internet beefs] For all the insults flying between Trump and Musk, they are both fine with taking from those who have little and giving generously to those who have more than they could ever need. For years, commentators have talked about how Trump reshaped the Republican Party in the populist mold. Indeed, Trumpism has seen Republicans abandon many of their publicly held commitments. The GOP says it champions fiscal discipline while growing the debt at every opportunity. It talks about individual merit while endorsing discrimination against groups based on gender, race, national origin, and sexual orientation. It blathers about free speech while using state power to engage in the most sweeping national-censorship campaign since the Red Scare. Republicans warn us about the 'weaponization' of the legal system while seeking to prosecute critics for political crimes and deporting apparently innocent people to Gulags without a shred of due process. The GOP venerates Christianity while engaging in the kind of performative cruelty early Christians associated with paganism. It preaches family values while destroying families it refuses to recognize as such. Yet the one bridge that connects Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush to Donald Trump is slashing public services while showering tax cuts on the rich. This is the Republican Party's most sacred, fundamental value, the one it almost never betrays. Whatever else Trump and Musk may fight about, they are faithful to that. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's father to attend pro-Kremlin event in Russia hosted by far-right ideologue
Errol Musk, the father of U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, has arrived in Moscow to attend the Forum of the Future 2050, a pro-Kremlin event scheduled for June 9-10, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on June 8. The report comes amid a high-profile public conflict between Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest businessman, and his former ally, U.S. President Donald Trump. In May, Musk announced he would step down as an advisor to Trump and as the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Since then, he has emerged as a major critic of the president. The pro-Kremlin event will be hosted by the Tsargrad Institute and led by far-right Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin. "I am eager to meet everyone. As far as I know, Russians are among the most intelligent people on the planet. It would be foolish not to ask their opinion on all sorts of issues," Errol Musk was quoted as saying by the Russian state news agency TASS. Among the forum's panels are sessions titled "Russian Space: The Race for Mars" and "The Battle for Hearts and Minds: The Ideology of Sovereign Russia." According to Kommersant, scheduled speakers include Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, and prominent state TV anchor Ekaterina Andreeva. Errol Musk, a former South African businessman and politician, has publicly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him "a strong leader" and saying that "it would be foolish not to admire Putin" in an April interview with BBC Russia. Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support Us Errol's attendance at the far-right event comes amid growing scrutiny of his son, Elon Musk, whose role as the head of SpaceX and the Starlink satellite network places him at the center of both U.S. defense operations and Ukraine's battlefield communications. SpaceX holds billions in Pentagon and NASA contracts, including a $1.8-billion agreement with the U.S. intelligence community to build a classified spy satellite system. Despite initially aiding Ukraine by providing Starlink terminals to stabilize battlefield communications, Elon Musk has increasingly echoed Kremlin-aligned narratives. He has suggested that President Volodymyr Zelensky lacks public support in Ukraine and has repeatedly called U.S. aid a driver of a "never-ending draft meat grinder." Those statements have been warmly received by Russian officials, military bloggers, and state media outlets, which have praised Musk as a voice of reason and a critic of Western involvement in the war. Dmitry Novikov, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's international affairs committee, said on June 6 that Moscow is ready to grant political asylum to Musk following his public dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump. Read also: US expects Russia's retaliation for Operation Spiderweb to continue soon We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
