News Vérité

President Trump met the press today as details were emerging about the memorandum of understanding (MOU) the U.S. and Iran have agreed to. Pressed about why he is accepting the deal, Trump confessed to worrying about becoming Herbert Hoover II. Hoover, of course, was president when the Great Depression began with the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and he subsequently received a substantial part of the blame for the ensuing economic turmoil. His successor, FDR, or Franklin Delano Roosevelt, did a good job of pinning everything on Hoover, and on Republicans in general, making Democrats the majority party until Ronald Reagan came along 50 years later. Trump told reporters at the Hôtel Royal in Évian-Les-Bains, France, site of the G7 Summit, that, if he continued the war/standoff with Iran, markets “would go down at levels that nobody ever saw before, maybe except for 1929. The one President I did not want to be was the late, great Herbert Hoover.” Hoover, of course, did little to solve the depression, but that was because it was largely initiated by the Bank of England’s raising interest rates, with the U.S. Federal Reserve following suit. The U.S. economy was highly leveraged — in massive debt,

President Trump got the results he envisioned when he unilaterally announced yesterday the completion of a peace deal with Iran that would open the Strait of Hormuz and do many other wonderful Trumpian things. Today oil is down, and stock markets are skyrocketing worldwide. The best part, of course, is that global attention is focused on Trump, who is in France this week for the G-7 summit. After Trump yesterday boldly announced that “we have peace for our time” (Neville Chamberlain’s phrase, borrowed here for emphasis), many commentators said, “The devil is in the details.” And that’s the interesting — and alarming — part. Neither the U.S. nor Iran has released any  details of the so-called “finalized” memorandum of understanding (MOU). Asked today at the G-7 Summit when the details would be released, Trump hemmed and hawed and then said it might be “sometime after the signing” on Friday. Natch, because there are no agreed-upon details, just Trump with more of his art-of -the-deal strategy in promulgating a “truthful hyperbole.” In other words, Trump hopes what he’s saying is in the agreement will actually be in the agreement when — and if — it is signed. And that “if” is

Michael Milken, once known as the “Junk Bond King” in the 1980s, has completely reshaped his career over the last few decades. Following his 1990 securities fraud conviction and subsequent prison time, he was barred from the securities industry for life (and was later pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020). Today, with an estimated net worth of around $6 billion, he operates as a prominent mega-philanthropist, think-tank chairman, and private investor. His current focus centers on three major areas: The Milken Institute & The “Davos of the West” Milken serves as the chairman of the Milken Institute, a highly influential economic think tank. Global Conferences: The institute hosts more than 250 events annually. Its flagship event, the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, is often dubbed the “Davos of the West Coast.” It brings together thousands of CEOs, hedge fund managers, tech leaders, and politicians to discuss global finance, tech, and public policy. The Economic Mobility Alliance: Launched recently through the Institute, this initiative coordinates multiple programs to streamline access to capital and foster economic growth for underserved communities. Medical Philanthropy & Public Health A prostate cancer survivor himself, Milken has dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars to