Flagship

Trump shifts focus to affordability

US President Donald Trump today kicks off a series of rallies focused on affordability, a shift that comes as polling showed that public trust in his economic leadership is waning. His party suffered in November elections partly thanks to concerns about inflation — worries he previously dismissed as a “hoax” — and advisers have pressed him to prioritize combating price rises, beginning with a gathering in Pennsylvania today. The US economy is booming, inequality is largely flat, and the poorest Americans have become relatively richer in recent years, but voters don’t seem to be feeling that progress — dollar stores are doing a roaring trade. One factor driving frustration may be a growing concentration of wealth among the over-70s.

Court likely to side with Trump on Fed

The US Supreme Court appeared likely to back President Donald Trump’s effort to fire the head of the Federal Trade Commission, a ruling that would overturn 90 years of precedent and threaten to further erode the independence of the Federal Reserve. The conservative-majority court is grappling with whether Trump can dismiss the leaders of independent government agencies over political or policy differences. A ruling is not expected until June, but investors are anxiously waiting to see if Trump would then win the power to fire the Fed chair: Though the central bank’s current leader is on his way out anyway, such an expansion of executive power would risk a longstanding US reputation for technocratic monetary policy.

Mexico weighs higher China tariffs

Mexico’s Congress will today begin voting on a government proposal to hike tariffs to 50% on Chinese goods, as it seeks to appease a White House that is threatening new trade restrictions. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum hopes the move will lead to a reprieve of US levies on steel and aluminum, while also boosting her country’s standing ahead of next year’s revision of a trilateral trade agreement with the US and Canada. However, on Monday US President Donald Trump threatened additional tariffs on Mexican goods over a long-running water dispute. Mexico is unlikely to be able to meet Trump’s demands as its farmers and cattle ranchers face a historic drought.

Europe rejects US security strategy

European leaders voiced anger over a new US strategy document that characterized the continent, a longtime American ally, as akin to a threat. As far back as his first term, US President Donald Trump has labelled the EU a rival on issues such as trade, and European officials had largely settled on a strategy of eschewing confrontation in favor of what they sometimes call “strategic maturity.” But last week’s National Security Strategy has rankled the bloc: the European Council president warned Washington against “political interference,” while a former senior official labelled the American stance “absolute ignorance.” As one leading Brussels-based journalist put it, “the attack is overt, and the interference unapologetic.”

Ukraine refuses land concessions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ruled out making territorial concessions to Russia, potentially torpedoing a US-backed ceasefire proposal and likely worsening relations with Washington. A land handover — a key Russian demand and featured in US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan — was rejected by Zelenskyy after meeting with European leaders Monday. Trump has cast Kyiv as the obstacle to peace, expressing greater openness to Moscow’s stance. Russia is seeing military as well as diplomatic success: Its forces captured around 200 square miles of territory in November. The advances are slow but gaining momentum, and Ukraine, short of manpower, can do little more than avoid collapse. “The future looks really, really grim,” one analyst told The New York Times.

Trump’s checkered peace record

Two agreements that US President Donald Trump has held up as proof of his peacemaker credentials have further unraveled, with critics saying the deals are all but dead. The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday accused Rwanda of violating its commitments to a pact signed just last week in Washington. Thailand, meanwhile, ordered the evacuation of more than 400,000 people from provinces near its border with Cambodia as fighting there intensified; the two nations signed a US-backed agreement in October. But in Gaza, the Trump-brokered ceasefire looked to be progressing, with Israel saying the second phase of the process would start soon, while Hamas said it was prepared to discuss “freezing or storing” its weapons, the Times of Israel reported.

Tensions flare in East Asia

Tensions flared once again in East Asia as countries there warned of increased Chinese aggression. South Korea on Tuesday scrambled fighter jets after saying that several Chinese and Russian aircraft entered its air defense zone, according to Yonhap. Meanwhile, Japan is accelerating plans for its largest military buildup in at least four decades, Bloomberg reported, as tensions mount between Beijing and Tokyo. At the heart of that effort is a “Missile Archipelago” near Taiwan where Japan is installing vast combat capabilities. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said last month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan — which Beijing claims as a renegade province — could spark a military response from Tokyo, leading to the countries’ worst diplomatic crisis in years.

In Washington, economic power no longer follows party lines. The old frameworks — left vs. right, House vs. Senate, Republican vs. Democrat — do not fully explain how it moves in the Capitol.

Today’s influence moves through a wide network, from traditional power brokers to ideological outliers, dealmakers, and policy entrepreneurs.

Join us on Dec. 10 for one-on-one conversations with leaders including Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.), Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), and Sen. Mark Warner (D–Va.), as we map the people moving capital, shaping policy, and redrawing the blueprint of economic power.

Dec. 10 | Washington, DC | Request Invitation

Questions shroud Warner-Netflix deal

Warner Bros. Discovery scored 16 nominations at the Golden Globes, a sign of its relevance and why Netflix and others are so keen to buy it. One Battle After Another received nine nominations, while Sinners and The White Lotus also did well. Netflix, which is lined up to buy the company’s studio and streaming assets, received 13 nominations of its own; the merger of the two would create a huge Hollywood force. The situation is complicated, though: Paramount Skydance is looking to gazump the sale, offering cash to shareholders in a hostile takeover, with US President Donald Trump suggesting there could be competition concerns about the Netflix deal.

Old songs top today’s music charts