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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Tariff news: “President Donald Trump said Monday that 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada would start Tuesday, sparking renewed fears of a North American trade war that already showed signs of pushing up inflation and hindering growth.”
* The more Trump spoke, the more markets slid: “Stock markets saw heavy selling Monday afternoon following comments from President Donald Trump indicating previously threatened trade duties were set to be imposed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 800 points, or 1.8%. The S&P 500 fell 2.1% and was set for its worst day of the year.”
* It sounds like Enrich told inconvenient truths: “An official at the federal foreign aid agency targeted by the Trump administration with layoffs, cuts and funding obstacles was placed on leave Sunday after saying those moves will lead to ‘preventable death’ and threats to U.S. security. In a memo to staff, including those placed on leave or laid off, Nick Enrich said the U.S. Agency for International Development has not implemented ‘lifesaving humanitarian assistance’ under a temporary waiver to the pause on foreign aid issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.”
* Hampton Dellinger’s case: “A federal judge in Washington on Saturday blocked President Trump from ousting the leader of a federal watchdog agency, saying that the effort to remove the official without due cause had violated the law. In an order on Saturday evening, Judge Amy Berman Jackson granted a permanent injunction against the government, allowing Hampton Dellinger to remain the head of the Office of Special Counsel, which protects federal whistle-blowers.”
* Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland: “The head of the Pentagon’s sprawling health care system resigned abruptly Friday a week after the Trump administration purged several top military officers, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, who had overseen the Defense Health Agency, has been replaced, according to a statement issued by Stephen Ferrara, the acting assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.”
* Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins: “The board of Virginia Military Institute voted on Friday against extending the contract of Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, the college’s first Black superintendent. The school’s board of visitors, which voted 10-6 not to extend General Wins’s contract, did not give an official reason for the decision, which was made after a closed session that lasted more than two hours.”
* U.S. policy toward Mexico: “It was the first call U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held with Mexico’s top military officials, and it wasn’t going well. Hegseth told the officials that if Mexico didn’t deal with the collusion between the country’s government and drug cartels, the U.S. military was prepared to take unilateral action, according to people briefed on the Jan. 31 call. Mexico’s top brass who were on that call were shocked and angered, feeling he was suggesting U.S. military action inside Mexico, these people said.”
* A very scary prospect: “Foreign adversaries including Russia and China have recently directed their intelligence services to ramp up recruiting of US federal employees working in national security, targeting those who have been fired or feel they could be soon, according to four people familiar with recent US intelligence on the issue and a document reviewed by CNN.”
See you tomorrow.