“Friends still get a kick out of a story about how Johnson once told Trump that he was praying for him, to which the then-president responded: ‘Thank you, Mike. Tell God I said hi.’” theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

$AAPL

(CNN) —Donald Trump’s valet Walt Nauta was told that if he was charged with lying to the FBI, the former president would pardon him when he won a second term in 2024, according to notes from an interview with a witness in the federal classified documents investigation.

CNN

“Tell me what case law you have to support that,” Merchan instructed Blanche.

“I don’t have any case law to support that. It’s just common sense, Your Honor,” Blanche replied.

LIVE UPDATES: In a hearing on whether Donald Trump violated his gag order, Judge Merchan seems to be moving toward putting the former president under oath. nbcnews.to/4daf6fZ

Merchan: Do you have any caselaw you want to hand up or any other arguments you'd like to make?

Blanche: This gag order: we are trying to comply with it. There is no doubt that Trump is being very careful with your Honor's Order.

Merchan: You are losing all credibility with

PANTHEON: S&P services #PMI employment index “plunged to 47.3, from 51.5 in March, and now is well below its average in the 2010s .. It signals a clear risk of an outright drop in private services payrolls, excluding the retail, wholesale, healthcare, utility and temporary help

McConnell ahead of an important vote him: 'Here's what I know to be true: American prosperity and security are the products of decades of American leadership. Our global interests come with global responsibilities. Healthy alliances lighten the burden of these responsibilities'

BRENDAN BUCK: “.. it has not been the Republican leadership that cut out the Freedom Caucus. The Freedom Caucus, by believing in the myth of its own power, made itself irrelevant ..”

Brendan Buck New York Times Opinion
nytimes.com/2024/04/22/opi…

As Christine Lagarde said on CNBC last week: “The American consumer CONSUMES.” 🇺🇸

Apr 23, 1985: New Coke was introduced. #80s 78 days later, Coca Cola Classic was brought back.

* S&P 500 now has best two-day gain in 2 months (since Feb 22-23)

Peter Schacknow CNBC $SPX

Trump just claimed that the police have shut down the streets around the courthouse for blocks & that his protesters can’t be here.

Just…not true. There is one pro-Trump person here & the main street along the courthouse is open to traffic.

$TSLA

❖ TESLA CURRENTLY DOWN EIGHT CONSECUTIVE DAYS, ON PACE FOR RECORD LOSING STREAK

• Would be lowest close since Jan. 20, 2023, when it closed at $133.42

• Currently down nine of the past 10 days

• Longest losing streak on record (Based on available data back to June

Is it going to be the 1970s — or the 1940s?

#CPI

Happy Disinfectant Injection Day to those who celebrate.

$AFRM $WMT

Master journalist Jeffrey Toobin sets the stage for Trump’s NYC criminal conspiracy trial as only he can: “For much of the tabloid’s history, it has specialized in investigations into the foibles of public personalities, including politicians. In 1987, the Enquirer published a

“.. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Prius with a Trump sticker on it, but I did see a Tesla Model S with a sticker that said ‘We Bought It Before He Was Crazy.’”

$TSLA ⁦Claude Taylor⁩ politicalflare.com/2024/04/tesla-…

An Upper East Side block in Manhattan at its prettiest when the spring flowers are in full bloom.