Trump’s Fed chair nominee. Trump nominated former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh today to succeed chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May. Warsh also previously served as an advisor to President George W. Bush. During his tenure at the Fed, he frequently argued for keeping interest rates high to stamp out inflation and was part of the bank’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. In recent months, he has publicly endorsed rate cuts.
Reported pause in Ukraine strikes. Trump said yesterday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to suspend attacks on some Ukrainian cities for a week due to extreme cold weather, following a personal appeal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media that the matter had been discussed during last week’s Abu Dhabi talks. The next round of direct talks is scheduled for this weekend in Abu Dhabi, though Zelenskyy said the situation in Iran could delay them.
Cuba threat designation. Trump declared in an executive order yesterday that Cuba’s policies are an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States and authorized tariffs on goods from any country selling oil to the island nation. Cuba’s previous main suppliers, Mexico and Venezuela, have paused shipments. Data company Kpler estimates that oil shortages could plunge the country into sharp rationing in a matter of weeks.
AstraZeneca’s China investment. The British pharmaceutical giant will invest $15 billion in China through 2030, it announced yesterday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Beijing. The visit also yielded cooperation agreements in areas like agriculture, law enforcement, and financial services, with China slashing tariffs on British whiskey.
Tariffs on Canadian planes. Trump announced yesterday he would decertify all Canadian planes and threatened to impose 50 percent tariffs on any sold to the United States, due to Canada’s failure to certify multiple types of U.S. jets. There are more than five thousand Canadian aircraft in regular use in the United States; unnamed industry officials told the New York Times that federal regulators had clarified to them that Trump’s directive referred only to new aircraft.
Food aid in Afghanistan. The United Nations and the Asian Development Bank announced a $100 million food aid program for Afghanistan yesterday in response to a deepening hunger crisis in the country. Around 2.5 million Afghans have been repatriated to the country from Iran and Pakistan over the past year as international aid budgets sagged. A UN World Food Program official said Afghanistan experienced its largest-ever rise in malnutrition last year.
Panama ruling on canal. Panama’s supreme court ruled yesterday that a contract allowing a Hong Kong company to operate two ports on the Panama Canal was unconstitutional. The ruling followed a government audit of the contract that began after Trump called for reducing Chinese influence in the canal last year. Hong Kong’s government criticized the ruling and urged its companies to review their investments in Panama.
European nuclear stance. European countries are in early talks about establishing a shared nuclear umbrella to complement their existing security agreements with the United States, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters yesterday. Germany is banned from developing its own nuclear weapon as part of agreements signed during the Cold War and German reunification. Those agreements do not prevent such discussions with allies like the United Kingdom (UK) and France, which have nuclear weapons.
