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- ☀️ Victory or death
☀️ Victory or death
PLUS: Tariffs, speech drama, and computer chips
Good morning! On this day in 1836, William Barret Travis and 200 other Texan soldiers died upon losing control of the Alamo to Mexican forces. Travis had written a letter ten days earlier pleading for backup (that never came) in which he declared "I shall never surrender or retreat" and vowed "Victory or Death." He was 26 years old.
TRADE
🗨️ 2Trade 2War: Angry Canadians
Looks like tariffs are back on the menu for imports from Canada and Mexico. Only not on cars. Well, some cars. And only for a month. The administration is considering other carveouts, too, like Canadian energy imports. But for now, most imported products from Canada and Mexico are stuck with a 25% import tax while those from China will pay 20%.
How? Doesn’t Congress set tax rates? Yes, but in some circumstances Congress lets the president do it. Trump used his powers under a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). This law allows the president to set new tariff rates during emergencies.
Why? The White House cited the flow of illegal drugs as the emergency in question. In particular, Mexico "has afforded safe havens" to drug cartels, while Canada hosts fentanyl "super labs," and China produces precursor chemicals used in fentanyl production.
Trump gave them a month to fix the situation in February. He clearly doesn’t think their efforts were enough.
Who pays tariffs? Businesses importing tariffed foreign goods pay the tax. The pro-tariff argument here is two-fold. One, that foreign manufacturers will be forced to lower their costs to remain competitive. Which means Americans won’t pay for this. Two, that high tariffs will incentivize those companies to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.
The anti-tariff side argues that Americans will pay the tariffs because U.S. businesses importing these goods will raise their prices to absorb the cost.
They also believe this hurts the U.S. economy by making everything from lumber to gasoline to aluminum cans to avocados more expensive.
No matter who’s right in the long term, one thing is for sure: the stock market is seeing red this week. And Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick admitted that tariffs will hurt for a "short” time. He also believes Trump will "work something out" with Canada and Mexico to stop this soon.
Canada’s not happy about this, eh. Our neighbors to the north have promised to slap retaliatory tariffs on their exports to the U.S. and have yanked American liquor off store shelves. But a trade war’s going to hurt Canada more than us. Just 1% of the U.S. economy comes from exports to Canada. On the flip side, 20% of Canada’s economy comes from exports to the U.S.
Mexico’s in the same boat. About 30% of its economy comes from exports to the U.S. The reverse number? Again, just 1%. Like Canada, Mexico has promised to retaliate with tariffs of its own.
China’s response went hard: “If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.”
GOVERNMENT
💰️ The Supreme Court on Wednesday forced the Trump administration to pay out up to $2 billion in foreign aid. Trump froze all foreign aid payments for 90 days when he took office and ordered a review of which programs align with U.S. foreign policy goals. The court's 5-4 ruling denied the government's request to block a lower court's ruling on the matter, clearing the way for the payments to resume. That likely only includes payments for work that's already been done — not the full $40 billion aid budget. But the lower court will decide on the specifics this week. Note that this doesn't undo Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
📉 The federal government's downsizing continues. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) plans to cut 80,000 jobs as part of a reorganization, which Sec. Doug Collins claimed wouldn't mean cuts to veteran healthcare. The Department of Defense (DoD) says the DOGE boys found $80 million in "wasteful spending." The General Services Administration (GSA) may or may not be selling hundreds of "non-core" federal buildings. Finally, almost 6,000 fired employees are back on (for now) at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) thanks to a workers' board.
🌍️ The U.S. will stop sharing its intelligence with Ukraine, according to CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Western intel has been critical in guiding Ukrainian missiles toward Russian targets. The news comes as Trump suspends military aid after last week's Oval Office meeting with President Zelenskyy imploded. Zelenskyy says he's ready to work out a deal with Trump now. And leaders from the United Kingdom and France are considering accompanying him on that next trip.
PRESIDENCY
💬 Trump gives speech: Republicans clap, Democrats don’t
We regret to inform you that the theater kids of Congress were at it again on Tuesday during Trump’s big, not-technically-a-state-of-the-Union speech. Things went off without a hitch for a solid two-and-a-half minutes before Rep. Al Green (D-TX) lit the fuse.
Green stood and began waving his cane and shouting at the president. After ignoring warnings from House Speaker Mike Johnson, Green got the boot and was removed from the chamber. So that’s a first. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) has already introduced a resolution to censure Green.
Censure is a formal slap on the wrist last given in 2023 to the dork who pulled the fire alarm to delay a vote.
More than a dozen other Democrats, seemingly jealous that their pal Al didn’t have to sit through a record 100-minute speech, later decided to join him. They stood up mid-speech and walked out, removing their jackets as they left to reveal t-shirts with messages like “RESIST.”
Not wanting to let Democrats get all the attention, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) tweeted her approval: “Jasmine Crockett and Maxwell Frost just left. I love when the trash takes itself out.”
There was a bit of policy, too. Trump assured Americans that he's working hard to get egg prices back down. He also re-upped his idea to sell $5 million golden visas, giving preferred immigration status to "the most successful job creating people from all over the world." He covered all the standard bases, too, emphasizing his plan to reopen closed energy plants and ease Biden-era restrictions on new oil and gas leases.
On the fiscal side, he doubled down on his promise to balance the budget while also promising to cut taxes on tips and overtime wages.
Of course, there was also the kid with brain cancer who was made an honorary Secret Service agent…
Related: Vice President JD Vance visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday. He said Trump hopes to build the entire border wall by the time his term ends in early 2029.
POLITICS
🏙️ Politician could maybe be convinced to run for president
Breaking news: A politician wants to run for office. 2024 Democratic VP nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he would "consider" running for president in 2028 if he thinks there's something he “could offer.” He also confirmed that he doesn’t really talk to his former running mate anymore. Walz called his relationship with Harris merely “professional.” As for policy, he believes his party needs better messaging to reach the middle class.
Tragedy struck Congress early Wednesday when Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-TX) passed away suddenly just two months after taking office at the age of 70. He had some sort of medical emergency Tuesday afternoon but was able to attend Trump’s speech that evening. Turner's seat will be filled via a special election later this year.
Democratic mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York City took a tongue lashing from Republican members of the House on Wednesday. The group was summoned to testify on their so-called "sanctuary city" policies in which they refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Republicans grilled them, saying their "pro-criminal alien" policies make America's cities less safe for both residents and police — claims the mayors rejected.
Meanwhile, the White House is backing off its threats to seize control over the city government of Washington, D.C. after "constructive conversations" with Mayor Muriel Bowser.
TRIVIA
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has achieved what most thought impossible: an approval rating of 6%. This guy passed “unpopular” about 10 miles back and just kept cruising. Needless to say, he’s not looking good for reelection. Most big city mayors, Johnson included, are Democrats. But not all. What is the most populous U.S. city with a Republican mayor?
Hint: His city is the core of the nation’s fourth-largest metro area.
BRIEFS
● The itty bitty Pacific island nation of Nauru wants you. The island has just eight square miles of land, 12,000 residents, and next to no economy. Now you can join their ranks with full citizenship for the low, low price of $105,000.
● A key figure in the 2021 Abbey Gate terrorist attack has been extradited from Pakistan to the U.S. He appeared in court on Wednesday. The bombing killed 13 U.S. servicemembers and 160 civilians as U.S. forces withdrew from the country.
● Trump has issued a "last warning" to Hamas to release the remaining hostages it holds in Gaza, adding that “not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don't do as I say." The threat comes as the White House holds direct talks with the terror group.
● TSMC will invest $100 billion in the U.S. to expand domestic manufacturing of high-end computer chips. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is the world's most valuable chip company, which the U.S. views as key to its national security.
QUOTE
$8 million, to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.
ANSWER
It’s kinda of cheating since Mayor Eric Johnson only became a Republican in 2023 after winning re-election, but Dallas is our answer. The biggest city with a mayor who was actually elected as a Republican is right next door in Fort Worth. Other large cities with Republican mayors include Miami, Oklahoma City, Omaha, and… uh… Fresno?