Government borrowing costs rise anew, adding to pressure on global policymakers
www.reuters.com

... A selloff in global bond markets deepened on Tuesday, reflecting investor angst over inflation and government debt levels that stand to inflict fresh pain on consumers and businesses.

Japan's 10-year yield hit 3% for the first time since 1996 as the rout hit bond prices, driving up yields, in major economies around the globe. Yields hit their highest in 15 years in Germany and their highest since 2008 in the UK. In the U.S., the 10-year yield rose 3.8 basis points to 4.796%, putting it in range of its highest level since 2023.

Some of the world's leading economies, notably the U.S., have sharply increased their debt loads in recent years through deficit spending, with the U.S. debt hitting $40 trillion -- a shift investors warn is likely structural rather than episodic and will be difficult to remedy without tough choices at the national level. Meanwhile wars from Russia-Ukraine to the Middle East have sent oil and gas prices higher, adding to pressure on interest rates and the cost of living.

"This is likely primarily a U.S.-specific story, though global currents are amplifying it," said David Krakauer, vice president of portfolio management at Mercer Advisors.

"The core drivers are largely domestic: deficit spending, the cost of servicing a rising debt load, and shifting Treasury auction dynamics," in which price-sensitive buyers such as hedge funds and other private firms have in part supplanted price-insensitive official buyers such as central banks.

Governments are jittery. The U.S. Treasury stepped into markets last month in a bid to cap a rise in borrowing costs, which can spill over to higher loan rates for everything from household mortgages to business loans. Yields on 30-year Treasuries are close to the highest in 19 years. ...

Noem dismisses criticism of 'right people' voting for 'right leaders' remark (February 2026)
thehill.com

... Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem waved off criticism of recent comments she made about ensuring "we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country," calling the remarks "commonsense." ...

Army secretary frequently warned White House about Hegseth before his departure
abcnews.com

... Army Secretary Dan Driscoll's resignation follows a strained relationship with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and repeated warnings to the White House, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, about what has been described as Hegseth's widespread and seemingly indiscriminate firing of senior military officers, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Driscoll also warned the White House about unprecedented efforts by Hegseth to block others from advancing into the military's highest ranks after they had been thoroughly vetted, the sources said. ...

And it fits right in with his "special strain of internal ugliness" ( drudge.com )

Trump just said he "certainly wouldn't sign" an immigration bill his White House helped write (June 2018)
www.vox.com

... Trump might have torpedoed a bill that even immigration hardliners in his administration like Stephen Miller were trying to pass.

Members of President Trump's White House -- including immigration hardliners like Stephen Miller -- have been hard at work with Republicans in the House of Representatives on crafting a "compromise" immigration bill for the House to vote on next week.

Trump himself may just have torpedoed it. ...

The "more moderate" bill was explicitly designed to adhere to the "four pillars" that Trump mandated in January be a part of any immigration deal: money for the "wall" he wants to build on the US-Mexico border; elimination of the diversity visa lottery; curbing family-based immigration (which the Trump administration refers to as "chain migration"); and a way for the immigrants currently facing the loss of their protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to apply for formal legal status in the US.

It also gives the Trump administration what it's been demanding more recently, as it's turned its attention to trying to reduce the number of asylum seekers (especially Central Americans, and especially families) coming into the US without papers: It drastically raises the bar for the initial screening that allows someone to stay in the US and pursue an asylum case; it allows the US to turn back any asylum seeker who's come through Mexico and tell them to seek asylum there instead; and it allows children to be detained indefinitely by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (which the Trump administration claims is the only alternative to separating them from their parents at the border).

As late as Wednesday, the White House was helping Republican leadership sell the deal to conservatives in the House.

Stephen Miller, the biggest immigration hardliner in Trump's White House, went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby one of the House's most influential conservative caucuses, the Republican Study Committee. ...

An excerpt from the Border Patrol Union webpage that was deleted during fmr Pres Trump's first term:
web.archive.org

- - - Walls and fences are temporary solutions that focus on the symptom (illegal immigration) rather than the problem (employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens). ...

OpEd: Odd that Lake Ontario would be what finally turns the public against Trump
thehill.com

... According to a YouGov poll, only 19 percent of Americans support Trump's maneuver, an obviously petty snub of our friendly neighbor to the north. Before declaring the negative polling "better late than never," however, it is worth pointing out that the naysayers might have jumped on the wrong legal bandwagon. This is one executive order that finds Trump on relatively legitimate legal footing -- which makes the public outrage almost tragic. ...

Hegseth removes 6 Army officers from promotion list
thehill.com

... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spiked the names of at least six Army officers from a list for promotions to two-star generals, a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Hill on Tuesday. ...

Venezuela's Oil Revival Is Slower Than the U.S. Hoped (August 24, 2026)
oilprice.com

...ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips remain reluctant to return to Venezuela, with negotiations slowed by demands for attractive fiscal terms and concerns over political and legal stability.

Smaller U.S. players are moving faster, with SLB and Hunt Oil signing agreements and Pacific Coast Energy pursuing an $800-million-backed expansion.

Venezuela's history of nationalizations remains a major deterrent, reinforced by a new $2-billion ownership dispute over oilfields potentially being transferred to Pacific Coast. ...

President Trump Job Approval - Inflation
www.realclearpolling.com

...

RCP Average 7/17 - 8/31
Approve: 28.1
Disapprove: 68.7
Spread: -40.6

...

House adopts measure condemning socialism ahead of November
www.cnbc.com

... The House of Representatives voted 220-192 to adopt a resolution to condemn socialism as early as Tuesday, an election-year gambit intended to force an uncomfortable vote for Democrats as far-left candidates win Democratic primaries across the country. ...

Putin pledges support to Iran, rallies leaders to challenge U.S.
www.spokesman.com

'Who knows if it will survive': Experts question how long Trump's Venezuela oil deal will last
www.politico.com

... Oil company executives and Venezuela experts are looking skeptically at the Trump administration's $100 billion plan to boost Venezuelan oil production, raising questions about whether the deal will yield significant oil any time soon " or ever.

Under the deal the White House announced Monday, the United States would receive a 35 percent stake in oil company North American Blue Energy Partners to drill for oil in Venezuela, the latest instance of the Trump administration taking shares in a private business. As part of the deal, the U.S. would have "preferential access" to 20 percent of the oil the company produces at cost.

The partnership, if successful, would kick-start oil production in Venezuela, something President Donald Trump has wanted since his administration plucked Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro from power in January. Trump and the GOP are promoting increased imports of Venezuelan crude into the United States as a possible balm for the high fuel prices that have plagued voters since the U.S. launched its attacks against Iran in late February.

Oil executives are warning, however, that the fields targeted for production will take years to develop and expressed little confidence that the deal the White House announced with a company few are familiar with would lead to much. ...

[many more concerns expressed in the article ...]