A Transition Plan, A War Plan, A Housing Plan, & A Reunion Plan

August 28, 2024

Hello, readers – happy Wednesday! Today, we’ll be talking about Trump’s transition team, Ukraine’s plans, U.S. & China relations, Australia’s immigration plan, Harris’ housing plan, Meta throwing shade at Biden, and the Oasis reunion.

Here’s some good news: The Biden administration released an additional $521 million to 30 states to help them install electric vehicle charging stations. Also, new research has found that living in a tree-filled neighborhood may benefit the heart more than regular exercise.

We wanted to thank our readers so much for your donations yesterday. It means a great deal to us to have your support and to hear how much you all enjoy Daily Pnut!

“Beauty is whatever gives joy.” – Edna St. Vincent Millay

Enemies-To-Lovers But Make It Political

(Trump & RFK Jr. by Tom Brenner via Getty Images)

Two former Democrats are joining the Donald Trump camp. Yesterday, Trump called on former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to join his transition team, which would help him select personnel and policy points if he wins a second term in office.

Gabbard attempted to run for president as a Democrat during the 2020 elections, but failed and left the party two years later. Kennedy, similarly, attempted to run as a Democrat this year, but switched to an independent bid earlier on in the election cycle. “As President Trump’s broad coalition of supporters and endorsers expands across partisan lines, we are proud that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard have been added to the Trump/Vance Transition team,” said a senior adviser for the Trump campaign. “We look forward to having their powerful voices on the team [as] we work to restore America’s greatness.”

The odd couple’s new coworkers include founder and former CEO of the WWE Linda McMahon, a Wall Street billionaire who also chairs the America First Policy Institute, JD Vance, and Trump’s two eldest sons. We don’t condone the use of drugs but talk about a nightmare blunt rotation.

Don’t Be Scared, We Have A Victory Plan!

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has a surprise for us. Should we celebrate? Nobody really knows. According to Zelensky, his troops’ incursion into Russia’s Kursk region is actually part of a secret “victory plan” that he will unveil when he meets with President Biden next month. He added that the success of the plan depends on the White House and whether it would give Ukraine “what is in this plan or not, [and] whether we will be free to use this plan, or not.” Sounds totally normal!

According to Ukraine’s top military commander, who spoke at the same event as Zelensky, Ukrainian forces now control 500 square miles of Russian territory. At the summit, Zelensky also revealed that Kyiv has also recently carried out its first-ever successful test of a Ukraine-made ballistic missile, though it hasn’t hesitated to strike Russia using Western-made ballistic missiles in the past, either.

Meanwhile, diplomacy doesn’t seem to be getting anyone anywhere. Earlier this week, Russia pummeled Ukraine with a massive wave of drone and missile strikes, sparking blackouts across the nation. “The topic of negotiations at the moment has pretty much lost its relevance,” said one Kremlin spokesperson, saying that peace talks will only resume once Ukrainian troops leave Russia.

Jake S., Take The Wheel

(Jake Sullivan & Wang Yi by Ng Han Guan via Getty Images)

Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, touched down in China yesterday for talks with diplomats from Beijing. He has meetings scheduled with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi through tomorrow, tackling issues including AI guardrails, the spread of fentanyl, and setting up regular U.S.-Chinese military summits.
Both sides seem open to conducting regular military-to-military meetings to ease global tensions which, if you haven’t noticed, are running pretty high. Sullivan has called for those talks to include officers down to the theater command level, which should help to lessen tensions over Taiwan.
Unfortunately, the U.S. is starting on the back foot. “The United States has continuously taken unreasonable measures against China in terms of tariffs, export controls, investment reviews and unilateral sanctions, which have seriously undermined China’s legitimate rights and interests,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement before the meetings were set to begin. Tell us how you really feel!

Please Stop Learning, It’s Hurting Our Economy

Brat summer? Sure. Migration crackdown summer? Apparently that, too. This week, Australia is joining in on the migration crackdown trend by putting a limit on the number of international students it allows into the country next year. The country is looking to rein in migration – which it says has caused a spike in housing prices – by…uhh, cracking down on college students?
“There’s about 10% more international students in our universities today than before the pandemic, and about 50% more in our private vocational and training providers,” said Australian Education Minister Jason Clare. To remedy the situation, the country will limit new international student enrollments at universities to 145,000. International enrollments at Australian vocational schools will be capped at 95,000.
International education is Australia’s fourth-most important export behind iron ore, gas, and coal. Universities across the country down under, unsurprisingly, seem worried about the new policy, as it might impact their future financials. Fun fact: the vast majority of international students in Australia come from China and India.

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Harris Has A Housing Plan

Vice President (and presidential candidate) Kamala Harris is dedicating some time (and cash) to advertising her plan to build 3 million new homes over four years in the hopes of helping alleviate the housing crisis. On top of increasing home construction, Harris is proposing the government provide as much as $25,000 in assistance to first-time buyers.
Local zoning often limits the supply of homes, so Harris’ plan would also increase the available funding to $40 billion to encourage local governments to do away with regulations that prevent additional construction. The ads target voters in swing states, and members of the campaign are also holding 20 events this week focused on housing issues.

Mark His Words

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee on Monday that his teams were “pressured” by the Biden administration to censor some content around the Covid-19 pandemic, “including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree.” A White House spokesperson responded to Zuckerberg’s letter, saying the administration was encouraging “responsible actions to protect public health and safety.”
The Zuck didn’t stop there, though. Zuckerberg also acknowledged that his platform temporarily demoted reporting from the New York Post alleging Biden family corruption while the story was being fact-checked, which he said he won’t do again. He then assured the committee that, unlike in 2020, he won’t make any contributions to help support “electoral infrastructure” because “some people believed this work benefited one party over the other.”

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Definitely Maybe Setting Aside Differences

But after all, they’re the band that made Wonderwall! Oasis has reunited after a 15-year break, with plans to embark on a multi-country tour. Their first stint on the road will be a 14-stop tour of the British Isles, though they plan to perform on “other continents outside of Europe later next year.”
The band broke up in 2009 after years of infighting between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. “People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer,” said Noel, the band’s guitarist and songwriter, in a statement following the breakup. In 2011, he told the AP that they decided to shut down the band after an incident where Liam was brandishing his guitar “like an axe … swinging this guitar around and he kind of you know, he took my face off with it, you know?”
Liam, of course, had his own things to say about the band in 2019. “The most important thing is about me and him being brothers,” he told the AP. “He thinks I’m desperate to get the band back together for money. But I didn’t join the band to make money. I joined the band to have fun and to see the world. I don’t know what his problem is. I think he just wanted to go away and do his solo career, get all the coin and be surrounded by all the yes men you can fire and hire whenever he wants. You can’t do that with me.” Either way, the brothers are back together again, and tickets to their U.K. tour go on sale on Saturday morning – but if their previous comments about one another are any indication, these might be tickets to a boxing match instead.

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