The Ugly

Former US Center for Disease Control staff warn of ‘a five-alarm fire’

NPR » The administration has restricted communications with domestic and global partners, and put strict limits on buying supplies and hiring people. Programs and divisions including those dedicated to injury prevention, sexual, reproductive and oral health and workplace hazard reduction have been decimated or eliminated by recent budget and staffing cuts.

“It’s a five-alarm fire,” says Dr. Anne Schuchat, a former acting director at CDC who retired in 2021 after working at the agency for 33 years. “The kinds of changes that are happening are going to take decades to recover from, and many people will die because of these interruptions.”

‘Don’t get in my way,’ the new acting head of FEMA warns in call with staff

AP » The new head of the federal agency tasked with responding to disasters across the country warned staff in a meeting Friday not to try to impede upcoming changes, saying that “I will run right over you” while also suggesting policy changes that would push more responsibilities to the states.

David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa, was named acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“Don’t get in my way if you’re those 20% of the people,” he said. “I know all the tricks.”

“Obfuscation. Delay. Undermining. If you’re one of those 20% of the people and you think those tactics and techniques are going to help you, they will not because I will run right over you,” he said. “I will achieve the president’s intent. I am as bent on achieving the president’s intent as I was on making sure that I did my duty when I took my Marines to Iraq.”

Trump’s Worldwide Trade and Tariff War

An incoherent American policy has allowed China to benefit from its focus and resolve

The Atlantic » Trump’s negotiating position will be the weaker one. Already in recent months, U.S. policy has appeared to vacillate, its strategy and goals uncertain, while Chinese leader Xi Jinping has held fast, presented an image of strength, and kept his larger geopolitical goals in focus. China has taken the opportunity of the chaos of Trump’s trade policy to draw other countries, including American allies, closer to itself.

None of this was the White House’s plan. When he imposed the tariffs, Trump seems to have expected that Xi would rush to negotiate their removal. Instead, the Chinese leader matched Trump tariff for tariff and hit back at the United States—for instance, with export restrictions on rare-earth metals that the American tech industry relies on. And Xi began making his own demands. China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement last month that Washington should remove all “unilateral” tariffs on China.

I’ll beat you less hard, but I will keep beating you, but only if you are nice and say thank you » Trump floats cutting tariffs on China to 80% ahead of weekend trade talks

AP » Trump on Friday floated cutting tariffs on China from 145% to 80% ahead of a weekend meeting among top US and Chinese trade officials as he looks to de-escalate the trade war.

Top US officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation in Switzerland in the first major talks between the two nations since Trump sparked a trade war with stiff tariffs on imports.

Global News

Trump’s tariffs are here to stay

Axios » The first significant trade accord of this Trump term affirms that the president is in dealmaking mode and wants to steer around the kinds of economic risks generated by his original announcement of large-scale reciprocal tariffs.

  • But U.K. imports will continue to carry a 10% tariff, up from a pre-Trump average of 1.3%. The president referred to that as the “lowest end” import tax.
  • The British were perhaps the best positioned among major economies to reach a quick deal with the Trump administration.
  • Things get harder from here, with bigger trading partners — China, Canada, and the European Union — facing deeper mutual hostility, bigger trade imbalances, and more complex disputes.

The Juvenile

The US House of Representatives voted to formalize Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

CNN » The bill, which lawmakers approved in a 211-206 vote, now moves to the Republican-led Senate for consideration. One Republican, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, voted with Democrats Thursday against the measure.

Bacon told CNN earlier this week that he would not vote for the bill, arguing that “it just seems juvenile.”

The Numbers

Amazingly, 43.5% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president today, while only 51.8% disapprove

G. Elliott Morris » Historically, a -8 rating only happened when presidents were presiding over tough economic times or scandals. Reagan was at -8 during the early 1980s recession, for example, and Biden was at -8 before peak inflation in 2022-2023, when it fell much further.