Trump Seizes LA Rebuild Control as Newsom Fails, South Korea Tariffs Jump, Confidence Plummets

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Hey Patriots! So Trump just took federal control of LA's wildfire rebuilding after a full year of California incompetence. And Newsom? Well, he's having an absolute meltdown. Today is Wednesday, January 28th, and this is O'Connor's Quick Strike. I'm John O'Connor. Three stories the legacy media won't cover or will completely twist beyond recognition delivered in about 20 minutes. No fluff, no BS, no filler.

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just the unvarnished truth peppered with my own take on what's really going on. Here's what we're hitting today. First, Trump steps in and takes over LA's wildfire rebuilding after Newsom and Bass leave families sitting in ruins for a year. And what his executive order really means for blue state leadership. Second, Trump hikes tariffs on South Korea back to 25 % because their legislator refuses to ratify the deal they already agreed to, sending a very clear message

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that America is done being pushed around. Third, consumer confidence collapses to its lowest level since 2014, lower than during COVID, while 82 economists insist the recovery is already here. We'll talk about why Americans aren't feeling it and what that says about the real state of the country. If you want the real state of America, not the fantasy version from the networks, you're in the right place. So let's get into it.

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President Trump signed an executive order to take over the rebuilding process for the Los Angeles wildfires. And when I say take over, I mean take over. The federal government is going to bypass California and LA's permitting process entirely and let builders self-certify that they are meeting health and safety standards. Now, why would Trump do this? Well, let me give you some context. The Palace AIDS and Eaton fire started on January 7th, 2025.

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That's over a year ago. Those fires killed 31 people and destroyed nearly 13,000 homes. 13,000. And you want to know how many homes have been rebuilt? Fewer than a dozen. As of one year later, January 7th, 2026, fewer than 12 homes had been rebuilt in Los Angeles County. Think about that. 13,000 homes destroyed, 12 rebuilt. That's less than one-tenth of 1%.

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About 900 homes are under construction and the city and county have issued roughly 1,625 permits in total. But here's the problem, that's still only about 12 to 16 % of the homes that were destroyed after an entire year. So Trump looked at this situation and said, enough is enough. His executive orders directs FEMA and the Small Business Administration to issue regulations that override California

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and LA's permitting requirements. Under the new system, builders won't have to navigate the nightmare of California bureaucracy. They will self-certify to federal officials that they are complying with health and safety standards. No more waiting six months for some bureaucrat to approve your plans. No more red tape. No more BS. And patriots, you can imagine how well this went over with good old Gavin Newsom. Newsom's office put out a statement

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And I want you to hear this because it's gold. They called Trump a clueless idiot for believing the federal government could issue local rebuilding permits. A clueless idiot. That's what the governor of California called the president of the United States. The statement went on to say, and I'm quoting here, with 1,625 plus home permits issued, hundreds of homes under construction, and permitting timelines at least twice as fast than before the fires.

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An executive order to rebuild Mars would do just as useful. Rebuild Mars? Newsom is comparing Trump's executive order to rebuilding Mars? And then, this is my favorite part, Newsom said, the feds need to release funding, not take over local permit approval speed. The main obstacle is communities not having the money to rebuild in all capital letters. Oh, so now it's about money, not permits.

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Funny because for the last year, Newsom has been telling everyone how fast the permitting process is going, how they've streamlined everything, how they were rebuilding at twice the speed of previous fires. Well, if it's going so fast, Gavin, why exactly have only 12 homes been rebuilt after a year? The real problem, it's both, permits and money. Newsom doesn't want to admit his state can't handle this.

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Trump's order also directs Kristi Noem and FEMA to audit California's Hazard Mitigation Grant funds. That's $3 billion supposed to prevent fires. Where did that money go? Didn't go towards clearing brush, maintaining water, or preventing fires. Trump's order specifically calls out failures. Useless fire hydrants, brush not maintained, dry local reservoirs, fire trucks out of service.

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and no staging of fire crews in anticipation of the high winds that had been predicted for days. That's in writing. Trump saying Newsom and Bass failed. He's right. Those fires didn't have to be catastrophic. If California managed forests, maintained water systems, staged crews before the winds, thousands of homes could have been saved. But they didn't. Too busy with climate change and gender pronouns to do basic governance.

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Trump noted Bass was traveling abroad when fire started, not even in the country when her city burned. Over 1,000 victims gathered on the anniversary to protest. Furious. Living in hotels for a year. Insurance lowballing them. City and state saying, be patient. They are done being patient. Trump stepping in to get something done. Patriots, what would you do if your house burned down and you spent a year waiting to rebuild?

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patient would you be? Trump's also expediting waivers to work around environmental and historic preservation laws blocking rebuilding. Because that's California. Jump through hoops. Environmental studies, historic reviews, endangered species assessments. Takes months to get started. Trump's saying, forget that. People need homes. We are not letting red tape stand in the way. California will probably sue.

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They will say Trump doesn't have authority, that he's overstepping, violating sovereignty. I hope they do. Then we will see a judge explain why California's bureaucracy is more important than families having a home. Bottom line, Trump saw thousands of families being failed and he acted. That's leadership, a president who cares about results instead of protecting bureaucracy. Newsom can call him a clueless idiot all he wants.

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Trump's actually helping people. Newsom let his state burn. All right, next story. And this one shows you that Trump is not messing around when it comes to trade deals. On Monday, President Trump announced that he's hiking tariffs on South Korea from 15 % back to 25%. And the reason? South Korea's legislature hasn't ratified the trade deal that Trump and South Korean President Lee agreed to last year.

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Let me give you the background here. Last July, Trump and Lee reached a trade deal. South Korea agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States, $150 billion in shipbuilding, and $200 billion in strategic industries. In exchange, Trump lowered tariffs on South Korean goods from 25 % down to 15%. Then, in October, Trump visited South Korea during his Asia trip, and they reaffirmed the deal.

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everything was set. The White House and South Korea even released a joint fact sheet in November laying out all the terms. But here's the problem. South Korea's legislature, their National Assembly, hasn't passed the deal. It's been sitting there since November and they haven't voted on it. So Trump did what Trump does. He put out a statement on Truth Social on Monday saying, and I'm quoting, South Korea's legislature

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is not living up to its deal with the United States. President Lee and I reached a great deal for both countries on July 30th, 2025, and we reaffirmed these terms while I was in Korea on October 29th, 2025. Why hasn't the Korean legislature approved it? And then he dropped the hammer. Because the Korean legislature hasn't enacted our historic trade agreement, which is their prerogative,

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I am hereby increasing South Korean tariffs on auto, lumber, pharma, and all other reciprocal tariffs from 15 % to 25%. Now, South Korea's response? Panic. Absolute panic. Hyundai and Kia stocks dropped as much as 6 % on Tuesday morning before recovering slightly. Hyundai Mobus, that's Hyundai's part supplier, dropped also 5%.

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And South Korea's government scrambled to respond. They held an emergency meeting on Tuesday. South Korea's presidential spokesperson said they hadn't received any official notification from the U.S. government yet. And they were convening a countermeasures meeting to figure out what to do. They are also sending their trade minister and industry minister to Washington as soon as possible to meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and try to work this out. In other words,

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They are freaking out because they know Trump is serious. Patriots, let me ask you, if you made a deal, shook hands, announced it publicly, then they didn't follow through. Wouldn't you be mad? Trump and Lee made a deal. South Korea agreed. Now their legislature is sitting on it for months. Trump's saying, no, you don't get to lower tariffs unless you honor the deal. Unreasonable or just basic accountability?

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South Korea is a major trading partner. We import nearly 150 billion from them yearly. Cars, electronics, pharma, lumber. It's a big deal for them. When Trump says tariffs go to 25%, they take it seriously because if enacted, it'll hurt their economy badly. Now, some people are going to say, well, Trump has threatened terrorists before and didn't follow through.

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He threatened Canada over an Ontario anti-tariff ad. He threatened European countries over Greenland. He even threatened 100 % tariffs on Canada just last week. And none of those happened. So is this just another threat? Here's my take, Patriots. Trump uses tariffs as leverage. Sometimes he follows through, sometimes he doesn't. It depends on whether this other side comes to the table and negotiates. With South Korea,

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I think he's serious. Because this isn't about some minor dispute. This is about a major trade agreement that South Korea agreed to and then failed to ratify. And Trump is sending a message, not just to South Korea, but to every country we have a trade deal with. If you make a deal with the United States, you honor it, or there will be consequences. Now, the Supreme Court is still considering the legality of Trump's tariffs.

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There are lawsuits challenging whether he has the authority to impose tariffs unilaterally without congressional approval. But here's the reality. Trump has been imposing tariffs for over a year now, and the courts haven't stopped him yet. So until the Supreme Court actually rules against him, he's going to keep using tariffs as a tool of American foreign policy. And you know what? I think he's right to do it. Because for—

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For American presidents have let other countries take advantage of us on trade. They have let companies outsource jobs. They have let foreign governments subsidize their industries and dump cheap goods into our markets. Trump is the first president in generations who is actually willing to fight back. And yes, that means some short-term pain. It means higher prices on some goods. It means stock markets get jittery. But in the long run,

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In the long run, it means better deals for American workers. It means more jobs coming back to the United States. It means other countries actually respecting our agreements instead of assuming they can just ignore them. So, yeah, South Korea's stock market took a hit. And yeah, they are scrambling to send officials to Washington to negotiate. Good, that's how it should work. That's what leverage looks like.

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And if South Korea's legislature wants to avoid those 25 % tariffs, all they have to do is vote on the deal they are already agreed to. Pretty simple, right? One. All right, patriots, so I don't always cover rosy stories for Trump, so I'm sure my inbox will be full of hate messages for this story, though I do get a kick out of some of your messages. But before you tune this story out,

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Wait until the end to make sure you see and understand the full scope of this story. Yesterday, the conference board released their consumer confidence index for January. And we need to talk about what this number really means. Consumer confidence dropped to 84.5, the lowest level since May, 2014. That's over 11 years. And here's what's shocking. That's lower than COVID, lower than the pandemic lockdowns.

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The conference board's chief economist, Dana Peterson, said, collapsed in January. Collapsed. All five components deteriorated. Jobs, income expectations, future business conditions, everything dropped simultaneously. Now, Patriots, here's what you need to understand. Last week, I told you about the survey of 82 economists who said Trump's policies are working. Recession fears are off the table.

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GDP growth doubling from predictions, job creation up 31%. So if Trump's been in office for a year and the economy is improving according to the data, why are Americans still so pessimistic? Because economic recovery takes time, especially when you're digging out from four years of Biden's destruction. Think about it. Biden spent four years driving inflation through the roof.

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Your grocery bill doubled, your rent skyrocketed, your savings got crushed. That kind of damage doesn't disappear in 12 months just because Trump's back. The expectations index dropped to 65.1. The conference board says anything below 80 signals recession fears. So while economists see Trump's policies working and growth accelerating, everyday Americans are saying, I'm not feeling it in my wallet yet.

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And you know what? That's understandable. Trump's policies are working. The data proves it. But when you've been getting hammered for four years, it takes more than one year to feel the recovery. Look at the details. Jobs. Plentiful fell from 27.5 % to 23.9%. Jobs hard to get rose from 19.1 % to 20.8%.

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Only 15.7 % expect their incomes to rise, down from 18.8 % in December. Views on current business conditions dwindle to just barely positive at 0.1%. We are 1 % away from people saying things are bad than good. Patriots, this is the lag between policy and perception. Trump's terrorists are bringing jobs back.

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But those factories take time to build. Trump's tax cuts are boosting growth, but that takes time to reach your paycheck. Trump's deregulation is helping businesses, but hiring takes time. Meanwhile, Americans are still dealing with Biden's inflation. Prices that doubled aren't coming back down. They are just stabilizing. Your rent that went up 40 percent? It's not dropping. It's just stopping. Your grocery bill that tripled?

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Still high, just not getting worse. That's why economists are see recovery while Americans feel stuck. The economists look at trends, growth accelerating, jobs increasing, recession fears fading. Americans look at their bank account, still struggling to afford what they could four years ago. This isn't an indictment of Trump's policies. The 82 economists prove his policies work. This is proof of how deep

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Biden's damage went. This is how long it takes to recover from an economic catastrophe. The good news? Trump's not backing down. I think we all know this. The policies are working. The data shows it. Americans just need more time to feel it. And Trump's got three more years to make sure they do. But understandably, really one year before the midterms. Patriots, let me ask you.

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Do you feel confident about the economy? Things getting better? Or working harder just to stay in the same place? That's what these numbers tell us. Americans are exhausted, tired of being told the economy is great when they can't afford groceries, tired of being gaslit. And here's what the legacy media won't say. This isn't Trump's fault. He's been president a year. You don't turn around Biden's disaster in 12 months, especially fighting Democrats

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every step of the way. This is the hangover from four years of reckless spending and inflation, and hopefully Americans know it. Will things get better? I do think so. Trump understands what drives growth, energy independence, deregulation, tax cuts, jobs, but it takes time. Meanwhile, working families are hurting. They deserve better than being told everything's fine when it clearly isn't.

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So there you have it, Patriots. Three stories showing you exactly where we are. Story one. Trump takes federal control of LA wildfire rebuilding after a year of California incompetence. 13,000 homes destroyed, less than a dozen rebuilt. Trump bypassing California's bureaucracy, letting builders self-certify. Newsome calls Trump clueless, but fire victims are begging for help. Trump also auditing three

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billion in fire prevention funds. Where did that money go? Story two. Trump hiked South Korea's tariffs from 15 % back to 25 % because their legislature won't ratify the deal they agreed to in July. Hyundai and Kia stocks drop. South Korea's scrambling, sending negotiators to DC. Message to the world, make a deal with America, honor it. Story three.

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Consumer confidence collapsed to 84.5, lowest since 2014, lower than COVID. All five components down, expectations index at 65.1, well below the recession threshold. Last week I told you about 82 economists saying Trump's policies are working, recession fears off the table, GDP doubling, jobs up.

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But Americans aren't feeling it yet because recovery from Biden's damages takes time. This isn't Trump's failure. It's proof of how deep Biden's damage went. Here's the pattern. Trump takes action when others fail. California incompetent? Trump steps in. South Korea breaking deals? Trump holds them accountable. Economies still hurting from Biden? Trump's policies working but recovery takes time. This is what accountability looks like.

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For a year, California let fire victims sit in ruins. For months, South Korea dragged feed on their deal. For four years, Biden destroyed the economy. And one year isn't enough to undo that damage. Trump's saying, enough. And the establishment's furious. Newsome calling Trump names. South Korea panicking. Legacy media won't admit Trump's economic policies are working. But patriots, who do you trust?

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that politicians who failed for years or Trump who's actually doing something. California proves blue state governance fails. South Korea proves Trump won't be pushed around. Consumer confidence proves Biden's damages run deep. But Trump's policies are working. Recovery takes time, but it's happening. Well, this is O'Connor's Quick Strike, and I'm John O'Connor. I will see you on Friday. Continue to hold the line, Patriots.