Business
‘A Huge Win’: Woke Climate Cartel Goes Belly Up

From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Owen Klinsky
The Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) coalition — a United Nations–sponsored collection of financial services companies that have pledged to negate their portfolio’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner — suspended activities after investment firm BlackRock announced its departure from the group, according to a press release.
BlackRock, which manages more than $10 trillion and has been a leader in environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, announced its exit from NZAM Thursday, with its Vice-Chair Philipp Hildebrand saying the firm’s involvement in the environmental coalition “caused confusion regarding BlackRock’s practices and subjected us to legal inquiries from various public officials.” Now, NZAM has pressed pause altogether, halting operations while it conducts a review of its activities, an NZAM press release published Monday said.
JUST IN: The UN-backed Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) group has announced that it will be shutting down completely, following @BlackRock‘s departure. pic.twitter.com/o5htgvFEiH
— Will Hild (@WillHild) January 13, 2025
A slew of other financial services had left NZAM prior to BlackRock’s Thursday exit, including Goldman Sachs Group, Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. BlackRock’s exit came amid a broader corporate strategy shift away from ESG investing, with the firm only supporting about 4% of the 493 environmental and social investment proposals that shareholders put forward between the end of June 2023 and the end of June 2024, down from a rate of 47% in 2021.
BlackRock was a major supporter of ESG investing in years prior, with CEO Larry Fink saying in 2020 that “climate risk is investment risk” and that climate change would lead to a “fundamental reallocation of capital.”
“The destruction of NZAM is a huge win for consumers,” Will Hild, executive director of the conservative nonprofit Consumers’ Research, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Although there is a lot of work left to be done, what was effectively a cartel of asset managers has finally ceased taking the focus of businesses off of consumers, raising prices for everyday Americans everywhere from the gas pump to the grocery store.”
When reached for comment, NZAM referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to its press release.
Business
Trump announces “fair and reciprocal” tariffs, warning days of trade abuse are “over”

Quick Hit:
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum directing his administration to implement a “fair and reciprocal” trade policy, ensuring that foreign nations imposing high tariffs on American goods will face identical treatment. In a statement on Truth Social, Trump declared that the days of the U.S. being economically exploited are over, vowing to retaliate against trade policies that unfairly disadvantage American businesses.
Key Details:
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Trump wrote on Truth Social, “For purposes of fairness, I will charge a RECIPROCAL Tariff meaning, whatever Countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them—No more, no less!”
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The policy will consider Value-Added Tax (VAT) systems—widely used in Europe—as trade barriers equivalent to tariffs, with Trump arguing they are “far more punitive” and used to harm American exports.
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The administration will crack down on trade loopholes, including countries shipping goods through third-party nations to evade tariffs. “Sending merchandise, product, or anything by any other name through another Country, for purposes of unfairly harming America, will not be accepted,” Trump warned.
Diving Deeper:
Trump’s reciprocal tariff plan is designed to end decades of one-sided trade deals that he says have crippled American industries and workers. By enforcing equal tariffs on foreign nations, Trump is making it clear: If a country charges the U.S. high tariffs, they will face the same in return.
Trump specifically called out countries that manipulate Value-Added Tax (VAT) systems, arguing that these taxes function as hidden trade barriers designed to punish U.S. exports while protecting foreign industries. He declared, “For purposes of this United States Policy, we will consider Countries that use the VAT System, which is far more punitive than a Tariff, to be similar to that of a Tariff.”
Beyond traditional tariffs, Trump’s administration is also cracking down on non-monetary trade barriers, such as regulations designed to block American businesses from competing fairly overseas. He emphasized, “Provisions will be made for Nonmonetary Tariffs and Trade Barriers that some Countries charge in order to keep our product out of their domain or, if they do not even let U.S. businesses operate.”
Additionally, Trump warned against countries attempting to game the system by shipping goods through third-party nations to avoid tariffs. “Sending merchandise, product, or anything by any other name through another Country, for purposes of unfairly harming America, will not be accepted,” he stated.
Critics, including some business groups and investors, argue that tariffs could increase costs for U.S. consumers, but Trump’s supporters say securing fair trade is worth any short-term disruption. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon defended the approach, stating, “If it’s a little inflationary but it’s good for national security, so be it. I mean, get over it.”
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sidestepped questions about the policy but acknowledged that trade barriers could influence economic conditions, saying, “It’s not the Fed’s job to make or comment on tariff policy. That’s for elected people.”
armed forces
Trump admin reveals the federal government awarded over $100 million in contracts to Reuters

From LifeSiteNews
The Pentagon gave $9 million to Reuters for program called ‘large scale social deception’
President Donald Trump highlighted this morning the finding that the Department of Defense (DOD) paid the leftist media outlet Reuters $9 million for a program labeled “large scale social deception,” and he has demanded that they return the money.
“DOGE: Looks like Radical Left Reuters was paid $9,000,000 by the Department of Defense to study ‘large scale social deception.’ GIVE BACK THE MONEY, NOW!” wrote Trump on Truth Social.
Late Wednesday evening, Elon Musk shared a screenshot from USAspending.gov showing that the Department of Defense had indeed dispersed an award to Thomson Reuters Special Services LLC, the parent company of the media group Reuters, for a project labeled “active social engineering defense”(ASED) and “large scale social deception.”
Reuters was paid millions of dollars by the US government for “large scale social deception”.
That is literally what it says on the purchase order! They’re a total scam.
Just wow. https://t.co/GGxoVQSwN8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2025
A perusal of USAspending.gov shows that the U.S. government has awarded over $100 million in contracts to Reuters and confirms that the DOD awarded Reuters $9,147,532 under the “description” label ASED and “large scale social deception,” for a time period from 2018 to 2022, part of the period of Trump’s first term.
For comparison, other government contracts to Reuters include the DOD’s awarding of over $12 million under the description “mass effect,” the DHS awarding $5.1 million for “data analysis,” and the Department of Justice (DOJ) giving a few million for “risk mitigation services.”
A more detailed overview of the contract on highergov.com shows the description “SIMULATION TESTING AND MEASUREMENT LARGE SCALE DECEPTION” but does not further expand upon the activities the award intends to fund.
Most of those who commented on Musk’s X post blasted the finding as a straightforward exposure of government deception. One commentator questioned whether the description was purportedly meant to signify defense against “social deception,” as the contract description signified defense against social engineering.
Others pointed out that deception is a standard part of psychological operations, as admitted in an Army field manual, No. 3-13.4, “Army Support to Military Deception”:
Military deception is actions executed to deliberately mislead adversary military, paramilitary, or violent extremist organization decision makers, thereby causing the adversary to take specific actions (or inactions) that will contribute to the accomplishment of the friendly mission. Deception applies to all levels of warfare, across the range of military operations, and is conducted during all phases of military operations. When properly integrated with operations security and other information-related capabilities, deception can be a decisive tool in altering how the enemy views, analyzes, decides, and acts in response to friendly military operations.
Some commentators highlighted the fact that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has used American news media for propaganda purposes, most notably in a project known as “Operation Mockingbird.” At the time, the CIA admittedly hired at least 400 journalists to serve its aims, in part by writing “fake stories,” according to the journalist who exposed the scandal in 1977.
Stunningly, despite the millions it receives in government contracts, Reuters claims to be an “independent” and “stateless” news organization. It states on its website:
Independence is the essence of our reputation as a “stateless” global news organisation and fundamental to the trust that allows us to report impartially from all sides of a conflict or dispute. It is crucial to our ability to report on companies, institutions and individuals in the financial markets, many of whom are also our customers, without regard for anything other than accuracy, balance and the truth. Our independence stems not only from the structure of Reuters but also from our duty as journalists to avoid conflicts of interest or situations that could give rise to a perception of a conflict.
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