Extra, Extra
Send Out the Troops: “U.S. intelligence has assessed that if the United States were to conduct a military strike against Iran, Tehran would retaliate by again attacking military bases in the region.” U.S. Moves Some Personnel From Key Air Base as Tensions Mount With Iran. (The same move was undertaken before the bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites.) Here’s the latest on the protests and the retaliation from CNN.
+ Export in a Storm: “The enormous trade surplus for the full year came despite efforts by President Trump to use tariffs to contain China’s factories. The tariffs reduced China’s trade surplus with the United States by 22 percent last year. But Chinese factories increased sales to other regions, in many cases bypassing American tariffs by shipping goods to the United States through Southeast Asia and elsewhere.” NYT (Gift Article): China Announces Record Trade Surplus as Its Exports Flood World Markets.
+ Visa Versa: “The State Department said Wednesday it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, whose nationals the Trump administration has deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.”
+ Grant Rant: We’ve made some good progress in the fight against drug overdoses in recent years, and we know from the boat bombings that the administration cares deeply about the drug issue. Oh, wait. Trump administration sends letter wiping out addiction, mental health grants.
+ Elon Story Short: “This is a moment when those with power can and should demand accountability. The stakes could not be any higher. If there is no red line around AI-generated sex abuse, then no line exists.” Charlie Warzel and Matteo Wong in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Elon Musk Cannot Get Away With This. For now, as I’ve argued, he’s not only getting away with it. Between massive funding rounds and new government contracts, he’s thriving with it.
+ Can You Jeer Me Now? “The first big outage of 2026 is here, as Verizon customers across the US … complain that service has been spotty or nonexistent starting at around noon ET.” (I wondered why I hadn’t received any political fundraising text spam for five straight minutes…)
