While exports to the US keep sinking, China’s shipments to Southeast Asia are booming—thanks in no small part to the art of “transshipment,” where goods take a scenic detour through places like Vietnam before quietly finding their way to American shores.

So, in classic trade-war theater, Donald Copperfield slapped a 40% tariff on anything that so much as sneezes near a transshipment route—though no one can quite define what that means—while still leaving loopholes big enough to sail a container ship through. Vietnam keeps cashing in, China keeps dodging, and the “America First” chip tariffs somehow managed to tank the only American company manufacturing in the US while making foreign rivals richer.

🤵 The Macro Butler Weekly Digest 🤵

🌐 As the World Braces for Trump’s War, August Is When Emperors Flex, Markets Vex, and the World Loses Its Mind. 🌐

Read more here: https://themacrobutler.substack.com/p/ad-bellum-trump-parare

Of course, no one on Earth wants war—except the usual deep-state Malthusians who profit from bloodshed while preaching depopulation.

Germany now flirts with mandatory service for a conflict that was never truly its own, because apparently duty is hereditary. Meanwhile, nearly 60% of Germans—like over half of Brits—say they wouldn’t fight for their country. Truly, the spirit of national sacrifice burns bright.

https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/germany-poll-attacked/2025/08/05/id/1221307/

Pistorius, the warmonger in command in Berlin, dreams of 260,000 active-duty troops, because apparently 180,000 isn’t nearly enough to satisfy the new martial appetite. The “minimum” target is 203,000, with reserves swelling from 60,000 to 200,000—just in case the war machine needs a quick top-up to the meat grinder. And if all goes according to plan, mandatory conscription in 2026 will arrive right on schedule, as the war cycle heats up as written in stone tablets.


https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-army-need-260000-troops-andre-wustner/

In war, the people always lose. Those pulling the trigger share more in common with each other than with the neocons watching safely from their towers.

Sun Tzu’s warning still stands: no nation gains from prolonged war—it only bleeds strength, wealth, and spirit

Listen to a summary of The Macro Butler weekly newsletter via podcast on Substack; YouTube; Rumble & TikTok.

https://themacrobutler.substack.com/p/ad-bellum-trump-parare-podcast

The Macro Butler just had a ‘tariff-ically’ good chat with Asharq Bloomberg TV Dubai, spilling the tea on how “tariffying” the world might inflate the world right into a bust. Meanwhile, China and the BRICS are happily turning tariffs and sanctions into a game of “you trade with me, I trade with you”—because, let’s face it, Uncle Sam’s not exactly winning any “Most Reliable Trading Partner” awards these days.

https://themacrobutler.substack.com/p/interview-with-asharq-bloomberg-tv-989

While Donald Copperfield crows about the "booming" U.S. economy and grovels for rate cuts from the “Chief Banker In Chief’, retailers are boarding up shops faster than you can say "bankruptcy." Over 120 million square feet of retail space has been shuttered in 2025—making the pandemic-era closings look like a warm-up. Coresight Research reports a whopping 5,822 stores closed by June 27, blowing past last year’s 3,496 for the same period.

https://www.newsweek.com/store-closures-exceed-2024-levels-2096509

The so-called “retail apocalypse” isn’t just back—it’s breaking pandemic records with a smug grin.
July saw Chapter 11 commercial bankruptcies leap 78% year-over-year to 911, with total commercial filings hitting 2,997—up 26%—according to Epiq’s Aug. 5 report. Month-over-month, Chapter 11s spiked another 46%, because apparently bankruptcy court is the new hot spot. Even the freight sector joined in—20 carriers went belly-up in Q2 alone—leaving lenders stuck with over $1 million in unsecured IOUs. And in the grand tradition of political theater, lawmakers are busy squabbling over tweaks to Subchapter V and Chapter 13 debt limits, as if rearranging deck chairs will stop this ship from sinking.

In a nusthell, retail’s in free fall—stores are shuttering and bankruptcies are soaring, but D.C. is too busy fiddling with forever bankers' wars while the mall burns.

Anyone who’s read a history book knows August is when emperors flex, markets panic, and sanity takes a holiday—so forgive the “peace talks” fluff about the Alaska summit while the real show unfolds in Asia, where dramatic footage shows two Chinese navy ships colliding while chasing a Philippine patrol boat near Scarborough Shoal, the latest flare-up in one of the region’s hottest geopolitical flashpoints.

The clash is just the latest in a string of high-stakes confrontations in the South China Sea, a powder keg hissing ever louder as the West deploys proxy states like the Philippines and Japan to needle the Middle Kingdom’s mercantilist rise.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250811-chinese-vessels-collide-while-pursuing-philippine-boat-in-south-china-sea-manila

The Philippines, ever the loyal puppet of the American empire in Asia, now looks set to become the first Asian member of the North Atlantic “Terror” Organization #NATO —just in time for its pivot from trying to depopulate Russia to setting its sights on China.

https://www.news18.com/videos/world/us-pitches-anti-china-shield-with-manila-china-preps-military-city-shadows-nato-warship-4k-9456637.html

Because nothing says “solving homelessness and crime” like turning the nation’s capital into a military playground, the Manipulator In Chief has decided to deploy the National Guard—because, of course, what else could possibly fix things?

This “national security” move isn’t about protecting the people—it’s about shielding the political elite. Just like ancient Rome’s Praetorian Guard, now the National Guard’s loyalty lies with whoever’s in power, not the public.
History shows us how this ends: rulers replaced by those wielding real muscle, while democracy becomes a mere performance.

https://www.dailyhistory.org/What_was_the_role_of_the_Praetorian_Guard_in_Roman_History

A similar scenario unfolded in America’s early days. In late 1860 and early 1861, fears ran high that secessionist militias or Confederate sympathizers might attack Washington, seize federal buildings, or even capture Lincoln before his inauguration. To counter this, federal troops were discreetly deployed to guard the Capitol, the White House, and key bridges. When Lincoln was inaugurated in March 1861, his administration took office under the watch of a heavily militarized capital. Following the November 1860 election, several Southern states declared secession, rejecting Lincoln’s leadership. The Battle of Fort Sumter in April, just a month after the inauguration, ignited the Civil War.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fort-sumter

The U.S. is so divided that both sides see each other as existential enemies—not just politicians. Governors are openly defying Washington.

So what’s the solution? Militarize the capital—because nothing says “stable democracy” like tanks on the streets.

Foreign investors see this as a red flag, but hey, for now, the U.S. still looks safer than Europe’s mess. Longer-term investors will seek safer havens in tangible assets and more stable regions.

This move conveniently comes amid outrage over the unreleased Epstein list and bipartisan trips to Israel.

The real reason? Protecting the political elite from the chaos they helped create.

Militarizing your capital is a confession of weakness. Once that Rubicon is crossed, only a political reset can restore balance.

While Donald Copperfield parades his delusions of economic glory and pressures the ‘Central Banker In Chief’ to slash rates, even exploiting homelessness as a pretext to militarize the U.S. capital, the unyielding verdict of the numbers—unlike the lies of politicians—declares a harsher reality: the homeless epidemic is not merely persisting, it is growing.

On any given night, 771,700 Americans—23 out of every 10,000—sleep on the streets, a number surging over the past three years. Seventy percent carry criminal records, two-thirds have used illegal drugs, nearly half battle mental illness, and 13% are veterans. This is not a crisis to pity—it is a disorder to control.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/02/living-in-shelters.html