Day 63: TrumpCare May Never Pass; More Russia Connections Uncovered
This week, Trump’s taking to social media to transform his Twitter followers into a grassroots movement to get the TrumpCare bill passed. FBI Director James Comey sets his sights on the Trump campaign as well, dropping the bombshell on Monday that the Bureau would be investigating possible Russian collusion.
TrumpCare Support Slow Going for Leadership
- Vote for TrumpCare delayed.
- Lack of support could push vote as late as Monday, according to Reuters.
- Investors are showing concern since a failed vote may be negative for pro-business agenda.
Early Thursday Trump asked his supporters via Twitter to contact their state reps to vote for his healthcare replacement. The plan still faces strong push back from Democrats and opposition from some Republicans.
The confusion and uncertainty about the bill has caused financial markets to slow down. Infrastructure spending and tax cuts are on the mind of Wall Street, and a failed healthcare bill could impact support for Trump’s future initiatives. Markets seem to be preparing for potential failure given last Tuesday’s sharp decline in stocks.
FBI: More collusion between Trump’s associates and Russian ops
- Monday, FBI Director James Comey announced his agency would be investigating Trump’s campaign for involvement with Russia.
- Intelligence may indicate contacts would approve timed releases of information to belittle Clinton campaign, according to CNN.
- Next steps may involve FBI gathering conclusive info surrounding possible collusion.
The FBI noted that communication they uncovered between Trump’s associates and the Russians has halted over the past few months. Their challenge will be to discover if the methods of communication have changed or ceased altogether.
This new investigation attempts to tie together previous revelations that the Russians were involved in the DNC email hack that appeared via Wikileaks. These types of investigations commonly use many highly classified programs, and the FBI is remaining tight-lipped about who they’re focusing on.
Trump-Era dollar will continue to fall
- The dollar seems to be slowing along with Trump’s fiscal projects and de-regulation, according to CNBC.
- Healthcare distractions have been muddying the waters on Trump’s financial plans.
- Trump has a history of preferring a devalued greenback.
Boris Schlossberg of BK Asset Management admitted this week that the “dollar bulls are stuck in a quagmire.” It’s a foreboding statement given the majority of the greenback’s biggest drop this year has happened since the FOMC’s recent rate increase. Supporting the dollar demise is Trump himself, whom Peter suspects of having an informal weak dollar policy:
“Donald Trump always talked about the overvalued dollar when he was a candidate. He didn’t always say, ‘the dollar is overvalued.’ He would say, ‘foreign currencies are undervalued,’ which is basically like saying the same thing only using different words … If he wants foreign currencies to appreciate, then by definition, he wants the dollar to depreciate.”