Trump’s Speech, Tariffs, Town Halls, & The Cutest Rodent Ever

March 5, 2025

Hello, readers – happy Wednesday! Today, we’ll be talking about Trump’s State of the Union, tariffs, E.U. budgets, chaos in Serbia, the GOP avoiding town halls, a gun lawsuit, & the cutest animal of all time.

Here’s some good news: Volunteers say they have broken their record for the number of trees planted in a single day (1,100) in Great Avon Wood, near Bristol. Also, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced it will increase its giving over the next two years in response to what it calls a “crisis.”

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” – Michelangelo

The Man In Power Monologues

(Trump speech by Win McNamee via Getty Images)

Yesterday, Trump delivered the first Congressional address of his second term. The marathon and monotone address took a whopping hour and 40 minutes, breaking a record for the longest address to joint sessions of Congress in history. The speech was met with the expected responses of symbolic “resistance” from Democrats and worshipful applause from Republicans. At least Texas Democrat Al Green caused an entertaining stir by shouting and shaking his cane at the president, but he was dragged out of the room by the House sergeant at arms.

Against the backdrop of a concerning shift in the economy (see below), Trump doubled down on his trade war plans, promising, “Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them. Whatever they tax us, we tax them!” He had some other… interesting foreign policy promises, including a vow to acquire Greenland “one way or another” and a pledge to “reclaim” the Panama Canal – earlier yesterday, a consortium of firms led by BlackRock announced a $23 billion deal that will essentially give America control over the canal.

Trump spent most of the rest of his speech touting his various achievements in office. A few interesting tidbits include him reading a letter from Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy (who apparently wants to keep negotiating with Trump) and a promise to establish a “new office of shipbuilding” which will use tax benefits to strengthen America’s shipbuilding industry.

Trouble In Tariff-dise

U.S. stock markets spiraled yesterday as Trump’s tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China took effect. The Dow dipped by 1.55%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.2%, and the Nasdaq fell by 0.35% on Tuesday – Monday also saw markets contract when Trump publicly said there was “no room left” for tariff negotiations.

In response to the tariffs, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Trump of launching a trade war aimed at tanking his country’s economy, hit the president with his own Trump-ism (calling the tariffs “a very dumb thing to do”), and announced new duties on American imports. Canada’s retaliatory tariffs include 25% taxes on $30 billion (Canadian) worth of U.S. imports, with another $125 billion (Canadian) set to take effect in three weeks. Mexico held off on reacting immediately, but promised that it would announce retaliatory tariffs on Sunday if necessary.

China, which had its exports to the U.S. slapped with a 10% duty, responded exactly how we wrote it would yesterday. Beijing announced 15% tariffs on U.S. chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton, and 10% duties on soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruit, vegetables, and dairy.

Brussels Spends Big

(E.U. flags by Pierre Crom via Getty Images)

As it becomes increasingly clear that the Trump administration has no desire to spend money defending Europe or Ukraine, the E.U. is rebalancing its budgets to dredge up more military funding. Yesterday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a $840 billion defense budgeting plan that will quickly shore up the bloc’s defensive capabilities after the E.U.’s biggest ally left the union out to dry.
“I do not need to describe the grave nature of the threats that we face,” von der Leyen said in a statement. “We are in an era of rearmament.” Out of that $840 billion total, the new plan will squeeze out $150 billion in direct defense spending, and the rest of the money – $680 billion – will be produced by changing up some of the E.U.’s more stringent debt rules. I wish I could do that.

Something’s Rotten In Serbia

While Trump’s Congressional address grabbed headlines yesterday, something much more… colorful took place in Serbia’s legislature on Tuesday. Opposition lawmakers lit flares, fired tear gas, threw eggs, and got into fistfights inside the country’s parliament chambers to kick off the first day of parliament’s spring session, signalling their support for anti-corruption protests aimed at the incumbent government. Three members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) were injured in the scramble, including one pregnant woman.
The outburst of violence in Serbia’s parliament reflects the growing resistance to President Aleksandr Vucic’s rule. Protests against the Vucic government began when a railway station collapsed last November, killing 15 people. The Serbian public, which was already chafing under the Vucic regime’s 12-year rule, linked that tragedy to corruption within the government, and began staging ever-larger protests against the SNS. Prime Minister Milos Vucevic was expected to step down in yesterday’s parliamentary session, but it’s unclear whether he’ll choose to stay in office in the wake of the violence.

More Mixed Nuts

Avoid Those Voters!

House Speaker Mike Johnson is encouraging Republican lawmakers to skip town halls as they are populated with people protesting the Trump administration’s policies. “They’re professional protesters,” Johnson said. “So why would we give them a forum to do that right now?”
Johnson is echoing President Trump’s claim that “Paid ‘troublemakers’” are filling these town halls. Other senators have followed Trump’s lead after being unable to answer questions from their constituents about the ongoing cuts being made by Elon Musk and DOGE.

Protecting Las Pistolas

In 2021, the Mexican government filed a lawsuit accusing Smith & Wesson, Colt, and other gun companies of deliberately selling guns to dealers who then sell the guns that are often later recovered at crime scenes in Mexico, seeking up to $10 billion in damages. That case made its way to the Supreme Court yesterday, but Mexico’s chances aren’t looking good.
During oral arguments, both conservative and liberal justices seemed skeptical of the arguments made by Mexico, especially given the federal law intended to shield gun companies from liability. Mexico accuses the companies of “aiding and abetting” violations of U.S. law, but the justices weren’t convinced, and worried about the precedent it could set.

More Nuts In America

A Woolly Cute Development

U.S. biotechnology firm Colossal Biosciences is all aboard the woolly-mammoth-revival train, and apparently “Genetically-Engineered Woolly Mouse Station” is a stop. Colossal has long been trying to “de-extinct” the woolly mammoth back into existence, and the company has created genetically-engineered woolly mice to validate their gene-editing technology. Also, the mice are the cutest things you’ll see all week. You’re welcome.
The mice are completely healthy, and were created using Colossal’s in-house genome editing techniques. The company was able to directly genetically modify fertilised mouse eggs and edit embryonic mouse stem cells before injecting them into mouse embryos to create the woolly mice. “It does not accelerate anything but it’s a massive validating point,” said Colossal’s co-founder and CEO. Besides having super-cute fluffy coats, the mice have other cold-weather adaptations that the firm might edit into its woolly mammoths, including changes to a gene associated with the way mice metabolize fats.
While that’s cool, one expert warns that the woolly mammoth dream might still be far away. “Engineering a mammoth-like elephant presents a far greater challenge: the actual number of genes likely to be involved is far higher, the genes are less well understood – and still need to be identified – and the surrogate will be an animal that is not normally experimented upon,” she said.

More Loose Nuts