New Deal, New Pope, New Surgeon General
And new sentiments from a billionaire. Today's Smartt Takes
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Alright, let’s get into it
The Pope — an American not named Donald Trump
White smoke! A new Pope! Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, has been chosen as the new Pope! The first U.S. Pope in the church’s history! He’s 69, was born in Chicago, went to Villanova University, and is also a Peruvian citizen, where he spent a lot of time. He’s a Virgo, and we don’t have a birth time yet!
Tick Tock Astrology Time!: (Skip if you don’t give a sh*t!)
Real quick: I absolutely looove the fact that he is the first Pope since the late 1800s to choose the name Pope Leo. Leo in astrology is all about your Sun, yourself. He has his Pluto in Leo - representing his personal power, and 2-3 other Leo placements (again, no birth time— need to call Chicago!).
Mars in the sky right now is in Leo, opposite from Pluto in Aquarius.
Pluto in Aquarius, opposing his natal Pluto in Leo, suggests a fundamental and permanent shift in his power. (Since, you know, he’ll serve for life as a Pope unless he chooses to resign.)
I love it!
What we know: At 69, Prevost is a “youth,” and is seen as a balanced alternative between the growing ideological divide of the church — yep, progressives vs conservatives.
Truly a battle in both church and in state.
His views: Leo XIV’s current views aren’t super clear, though he does appear to be more aligned with progressives in terms of views on immigrants, humanity and the environment (e.g., does not agree with JD Vance that the Catholic doctrine supports deportation).
But he appears to be more aligned with conservatives regarding his stance on gay marriage, women in higher roles in the church, and gender ideology. Though, not much has been reported on it since 2016, so that could have changed.
Leo XIV has also rebuked/called out both Trump and Vance on his Twitter account, so we’ll see how those relationships unfold, once Trump finds that out.
Per yesterday’s newsletter though, we should probably keep him far away from Vance.
UPDATE: Literally since I wrote this: Republicans have become upset by Leo XIV’s social media, and are calling him Marxist, saying he should have never been elected.
Unfortunately for them, they have absolutely zero say in the Pope, nor were they invited to the Papal Conclave.
Ladies & Gents, we have a deal!
The first!
On Thursday, the U.K and the U.S. negotiated a trade deal between the two countries. While the details of said deal are being fleshed out, we know that it allows for:
“increased market access for American exports” such as beef, ethanol, and “virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers.”
The 10% reciprocal tariff will also be unchanged.
The countries are negotiating an “alternative arrangement” on steel & aluminum tariffs.
Hilariously, the White House fact sheet notes that the deal was made today, on Victory Day. Which is now a federal holiday, though you still have to go to work.
Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to keep all parties happy
and he’s not even a Libra!
The question is, can he do it? Let’s investigate.
Truth Social:
Reality:
😬 Needless to say…there’s some issues to work out.
The long and short of it is that Trump has big visions for what he wants included in the “big beautiful bill.” But, in order to achieve those goals, you gotta be able to find the money elsewhere.
Which is what Republicans thought they did when they passed a controversial budget resolution that, among other things, cut $880 billion from Medicaid.
Based on the vote, it had seemed like House Republicans were mostly aligned on this — only two R’s voted against it.
As they’ve been fine-tuning legislation and preparing for a vote, however, it seems like moderate House Republicans got cold feet.
Just as a new report from the Congressional Budget Office estimated that millions of Americans would lose Medicaid coverage if the House Republican proposal is passed.
Now, they’re pushing Speaker Johnson to find spending cuts elsewhere.
But they’re not the only ones Johnson has to answer to. He’s dealing with the deficit-hawks, who straight up won’t approve legislation (e.g., Trump’s litany of tax cuts) that would add to the deficit. As 32 of them wrote in a letter to Johnson on Wednesday.
This puts moderate Republicans and Johnson between a rock and a hard place if they want to effectuate allll of Trump’s tax plans.
Moderate Republicans are struggling with whether to attach their name to a bill that may or may not pass; but also, as we know, Congress is afraid to upset the president in the event he will dox them or endorse their opponents.
Johnson is also trying to achieve unity by appeasing the various factions of the party, without upsetting DJT.
A vote is tentatively planned for next week. So, we’ll have to see how this unfolds (and which faction of the party Trump has more leverage over) :)
Being an influencer really gets you into any room these days… including the White House
Remember on Sunday how I said that Pluto in retrograde would require Trump to review his 1:1 relationships and there would likely be a reevaluation of his appointments/Cabinet?
Well, it’s been 4 days and we’ve already had one firing, two withdrawals, and one new nomination.
Again, this astrologer does know her subjects. :)
Alas, we are here not to applaud Smartt Takes, but to discuss his new Surgeon General nomination: MAHA influencer, Casey Means.
MAHA is thrilled. MAGA is not. Trump told the press today that he doesn’t know her, or much about her, but that “Bobby [RFK Jr] recommended her.”
Per conservative activist Laura Loomer, MAGA is not happy:
Loomer doubled down, referring to Means as a “WOO WOO WOMAN,” suggesting Marco Rubio take the Surgeon General job.
As if he needs another role!
Nicole Shanahan, who ran as Kennedy’s VP, also had some choice wordsss for the announcement.
Can’t wait to find out if RFK is being controlled by someone!
To be frank: Shanahan likely doesn’t have much influence.
Loomer, however, does. She’s already pressured Trump to fire a decent amount of people across various agencies. And she was the one who called him out for the original Surgeon General pick.
Trump hasn’t responded to the criticism, so we’ll have to see how it plays out.
Just because they’re both billionaires doesn’t mean Bill Gates is a Musk fan
Today, Bill Gates announced that he will give away virtually all of his wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years. The Gates Foundation is a massive charitable giving institution that was pivotal in ‘exporting’ global health and becoming philanthropists across the globe.
In an interview with the NYT, he then announced that he would be permanently shutting down the Gates Foundation (25 years old today) on December 31, 2045. Right as Pluto exits Aquarius, which rules humanitarian themes and also his 8th house of money, finances & transformation. Crazy sh*t.
Gates was no holds barred when discussing the administration, specifically Mr. Elon Musk and his cuts to USAID. Saying, “he put it [USAID budget] in a wood chipper, because he didn’t go to a party that weekend.”
Tbh, Smartt Takes has zero idea what this means. If anyone would like to elaborate, please do :)
Notably, Gates acknowledged that Musk is attached to the Giving Pledge— a pledge where people donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. But, given the pledge stipulations, he could technically wait until he dies to fulfill his pledge.
"In the meantime, the world’s richest man has been involved in the deaths of the world’s poorest children.” - Gates
Shots fckn fired.
Trump calls for Russia-Ukraine 30 day ceasefire on day of 72 hr ceasefire
Russia and Ukraine began a planned 3-day ceasefire today, but Trump took to, where else, Truth Social to call for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.
He threatened additional sanctions if “the pause in fighting isn’t respected.” The admin seems increasingly frustrated with Russia’s stubbornness.
The new policy seems to be “VLADIMIR STOP!!”
which I just can’t help but hear in the voice of “PIPER, NO!”
if you don’t get this, go watch White Lotus S3 (or this interview w Parker Posey)
Yesterday, VP Vance also said “Russia is asking for too much,” which is completely different from the “this war is Ukraine’s fault” tone earlier this year.
No word from Putin, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia is ready for a full ceasefire starting “right now.” That said, according to Kyiv, Russia already broke the 3-day ceasefire agreement.
Vladimir stop!!
Alright, that’s it from me! We’ll be back tomorrow in advance of the de minimis exemption expiration, and the U.S.’s talks with China, among other things.
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