Trudeau, Tariffs, Technology Exchanges, & Taking On Space Exploration
January 7, 2025
Hello, readers – happy Tuesday! Today, we’ll be talking about Trudeau’s resignation, Trump’s tariffs, technology for North Korea, free lunches in Indonesia, offshore drilling, the U.S. Steel/Nippon Steel saga, and NASA’s plans for the future.
Here’s some good news: Post Malone went to The Railyard bar in Houston on Christmas Eve, where he surprised a bartender there with a $20,000 tip. “He changed my life,” she said of the huge sum. Also, President Biden signed into law the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Location Act, which authorizes the first and only monument dedicated to American women’s history to be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
“Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.” – Dag Hammarskjöld
It’s Trudeau’s Time To Go

Yesterday, we wrote about yet another centrist government falling as right-wing populism looms over Austria. Today, it’s more of the same, but slightly more left-leaning and also across the Atlantic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation yesterday in the face of a ratings crisis, promising to give up power once his ruling Liberal Party decides on a successor. The Liberals will still control Canada for now, with hopes that Trudeau’s successor will find a way to right the ship before national elections are held on or before October 20.
Support for the Liberals has declined since late in the pandemic as inflation and interest rates have taken a toll on Canadians’ bank accounts. Canada’s Conservative Party has held a double-digit polling lead over the Liberals since July 25, 2023. As of December 30, the Tories are projected to have the support of 45% of voters, compared to the Liberals’ 16%. In between them is the left-leaning New Democratic Party, which had 21% support before the new year.
Trump’s Tariffs Take A Turn
In case you forgot, the incoming Trump administration has plans to institute sweeping tariffs on all goods imported into the U.S. Up until now, the President-elect has said that those tariffs will be as high as 10-20% on all imports. Yesterday, though, the Trump transition team appeared to change tack: Trump aides are now saying that the new government will only place the steep tariffs on specific sectors deemed crucial to national or economic security. That means a major shift in one of Trump’s key policy changes, though his team still hasn’t specified which sectors might be affected.
Since Trump began calling for the tariffs, economists have warned that such massive import controls would cause widespread price shocks for Americans. His plans also include 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, with an extra 10% on top for Chinese goods. Those tariffs are tied to migration and drug trafficking, with Trump promising to lift them if the countries crack down on those issues.
Two sources have told the Washington Post that the Trump team is currently eyeing tariffs on the key metals like iron, aluminum, and copper; medical supplies such as syringes, needles, and pharmaceutical materials; and also energy production materials such as batteries, rare earth minerals and solar panels. Trump, for his part has called WaPo’s reporting on the tariffs “just another example of Fake News,” so maybe we’ll all just have to deal with full import tariffs after all. Can’t wait!
Discover A Better Way To Hydrate This Year
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Trading Bombs For Boosters

- According to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russia is planning to send advanced space technology to North Korea. In statements delivered on his last diplomatic trip in office – a visit to South Korea – Blinken also boldly claimed that Moscow is planning to recognize Pyongyang as a nuclear power. In exchange, he explained, Russia will receive North Korean artillery ammunition for its war with Ukraine.
- “The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training,” Blinken said in a Seoul press conference. “Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang.” North Korea has been attempting to launch spy satellites into orbit and is already estimated to have a small (relatively speaking) arsenal of nuclear weapons.
You Get A Free Lunch! You Get A Free Lunch! Everyone Gets A Free Lunch!
- I’m no economist, but I do remember one thing from my high school econ classes (besides the amazing naps): there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Except, starting yesterday, that’s no longer true. At least in Indonesia. On Monday, the island nation launched its free meal program, which seeks to provide free lunches to Indonesia’s 90 million children and pregnant women.
- According to government estimates, 21.5% of Indonesian children under the age of five have had their growth stunted due to lack of malnutrition, highlighting the country’s stunning lack of access to nutritious food. The program, a key campaign promise of President Prabowo Subianto, is projected to cost the country roughly $28 billion over the next five years. So my econ teacher was right!
- This year, the government hopes to reach 19.47 million schoolchildren and pregnant women on a budget of $4.3 billion. That money will be used to purchase 6.7 million tons of rice, 1.2 million tons of chicken, 500,000 tons of beef, 1 million tons of fish, vegetables, and fruit, and 4 million kiloliters of milk, and will also fund the preparation and distribution of that food across 5,000 kitchens nationwide.
More Mixed Nuts
- Supporters of impeached South Korean president find inspiration in Trump (NBC)
- What is human metapneumovirus, are cases surging in China, and should we be worried? (Guardian)
- France’s former President Sarkozy stands trial over alleged campaign funding by Libya’s Gadhafi (AP)
- North Korea tests ballistic missile as Blinken visits South Korea (ABC)
Middle East Mixed Nuts
- Middle East crisis: Israeli forces ‘fired on World Food Programme convoy in Gaza’ (Guardian)
- Three Israelis killed in Palestinian shooting attack in West Bank (BBC)
Joe Biden, The Not-So-Lame-Duck
- President Biden scored a big win for environmentalists yesterday. He used the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which makes any presidential action under its authority permanent, to ban all future offshore oil and natural gas drilling on the East and West coasts, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska’s North Bering Sea.
- The decision, which blocks drilling in more than 625 million acres of U.S. oceans, has, unsurprisingly, angered President-elect Trump, but reversing the decision would likely require an act of Congress. The White House fact sheet says that with this move, “Biden will have conserved more lands and waters than any other U.S. president in history.”
Suing For Steel
- U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, which were hoping to merge before the deal was blocked by President Biden late last week, have sued to defend the $15 billion arrangement. The companies have accused the president of violating their due process rights and interfering with a good-faith regulatory review.
- “We remain confident that the transaction is the best path forward to secure the future of U. S. Steel – and we will vigorously defend our rights to achieve this objective,” U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel said in a joint statement. President Biden put a stop to the deal due to national security risks, saying, “Without domestic steel production and domestic steel workers, our nation is less strong and less secure.”
More Nuts In America
- Pope names like-minded ally Cardinal McElroy as Washington archbishop (ABC)
- US winter storm leaves four dead as millions hit by snow, ice and bitter cold (Guardian)
- Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles vows to block West Wing troublemakers (Axios)
- Trump and Republicans plot radical policy agenda in one ‘big, beautiful bill’ (Guardian)
- Trump’s lawyers ask judge to halt Friday’s hush money case sentencing while they appeal to block it (AP)
We REALLY Need To Go To The Moon
- Former astronaut Bill Nelson has served as the head of NASA for the vast majority of the Biden administration. With the president on the way out, Nelson has decided to hang up his astronaut helmet as well and has informed the media that he’ll be resigning on Inauguration Day. During his time at the helm of the space agency, Nelson oversaw the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and the first flight of NASA’s Artemis moon mission.
- Alongside those monumental successes, NASA has also experienced some low points under his leadership, including an incident at the ISS in which Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was forced to leave its two crewmembers stranded aboard the space station, and multiple delays for the Artemis program’s second and third launches. Despite those delays for Artemis, Nelson has urged the incoming administration to keep supporting the moon mission.
More Loose Nuts
- Skip Bayless offered former Fox Sports hairstylist $1.5 million for sex, lawsuit alleges (NBC)
- Zendaya and Tom Holland Are Engaged! (People)
- LG and Samsung are adding Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant to their TVs (The Verge)
- In ‘groundbreaking’ study, astronomers detect record number of stars in distant galaxy (USA Today)
- ‘Kiss and capture’: scientists offer new theory on how Pluto got its largest moon (Guardian)