March 25 2025

Trump Officials Discussed Military Plans on Unsecure Group Chat, Journalist Included

Colleges See Record Freshman Class Amid Financial, Political Chaos

White-Collar Job Losses Rise as AI Shifts Economy

23andMe Users Struggle to Delete Genetic Data After Bankruptcy Filing

Trump Slaps 25% Tariff on Nations Buying Venezuela’s Oil

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FLASH…Boeing Gets $50b Lifeline in Pentagon Deal to Build F-47 Manned Next-Gen Jet Fighter…

Source: WSJ

Trump Officials Discussed Military Plans on Unsecure Group Chat, Journalist Included

Top officials in the Trump administration discussed highly sensitive military planning using an unclassified chat application that mistakenly included a journalist, the White House acknowledged Monday, a development that swiftly drew criticism from Democrats and Washington’s national security establishment. Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said the message thread revealed in an extraordinary report by the Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, “appears to be authentic,” and that administration officials were “reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.” The “inadvertent number” belonged to Goldberg, whose article details a robust policy discussion that occurred in the lead-up to a March 15 military operation targeting Yemen’s Houthi militants. Goldberg reported being added to the group chat, which occurred on the encrypted messaging platform Signal, by President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz. Other participants appeared to include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and several other senior aides, the Atlantic article says.

Editors note: based on the anti-Europe content of the texts, it could be a “false flag;” intentional leak meant to signal US displeasure with Europe OR it could be real and Jeffrey Goldberg (initials “JG”) could have been mistaken for US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Source: WaPo

Colleges See Record Freshman Class Amid Financial, Political Chaos

Colleges are expecting what could be the largest freshman class ever this fall at a moment of extraordinary turmoil, as campuses face financial pressures from the federal government and political conflict over diversity and other cultural issues. Admissions processes, upended by the Supreme Court decision to ban affirmative action, have been revamped. Budget pressures and worries about financial aid and tuition loom for colleges and families alike. Campuses have been grappling with protests and the sanctity of academic freedom. And that was before President Trump’s return to power. After he took office in January, his administration almost immediately began a campaign to close the Education Department and stop billions of dollars from flowing to colleges. On campuses, universities are shutting down laboratories and confronting civil rights investigations over antisemitism. As about 3.9 million students earn their high school diplomas and many of them head to college, the changes could affect their experiences in big and small ways. The United States has close to 4,000 degree-granting colleges and universities that offer everything from associate’s degrees in nursing to doctorates in history. Schools are trying to maintain diversity by stepping up financial aid and recruitment, particularly in rural areas. Several universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard, are offering free tuition for students whose families earn $200,000 and below.

Editor note: if birthrates are declining and there’s fewer kids, a record freshman class size can only mean higher college attendance rates.

Source: NYT

White-Collar Job Losses Rise as AI Shifts Economy

When Starbucks announced last month that it was laying off more than 1,000 corporate employees, it highlighted a disturbing trend for white-collar workers: Over the past few years, they have seen a steeper rise in unemployment than other groups, and slower wage growth. It also added fuel to a debate that has preoccupied economists for much of that time: Are the recent job losses merely a temporary development? Or do they signal something more ominous and irreversible? After sitting below 4 percent for more than two years, the overall unemployment rate has topped that threshold since May. Economists say that the job market remains strong by historical standards and that much of the recent weakening appears connected to the economic impact of the pandemic. Companies hired aggressively amid surging demand, then shifted to layoffs once the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates. Many of these companies have sought to make their operations leaner under pressure from investors. But amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence and President Trump’s targeting of federal agencies, which disproportionately support white-collar jobs, some wonder if a permanent decline for knowledge work has begun. “We’re seeing a meaningful transition in the way work is done in the white-collar world,” said Carl Tannenbaum, the chief economist of Northern Trust. “I tell people a wave is coming.” Overall, the latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show that the unemployment rate for college grads has risen 30 percent since bottoming out in September 2022 (to 2.6 percent from 2 percent), versus about 18 percent for all workers (to 4 percent from 3.4 percent). An analysis by Julia Pollak, chief economist of ZipRecruiter, shows that unemployment has been most elevated among those with bachelor’s degrees or some college but no degree, while unemployment has been steady or falling at the very top and bottom of the education ladder — for those with advanced degrees or without a high school diploma. And artificial intelligence could reduce that need further by increasing the automation of white-collar jobs. A recent academic paper found that software developers who used an A.I. coding assistant improved a key measure of productivity by more than 25 percent, and that the productivity gains appeared to be largest among the least experienced developers. The result suggested that adopting A.I. could reduce the wage premium enjoyed by more experienced coders, since it would erode their productivity advantages over novices.Source: NYT

23andMe Users Struggle to Delete Genetic Data After Bankruptcy Filing

An array of 23andMe customers rushed to its website Monday, seeking to delete their genetic data from the DNA-testing company after its bankruptcy filing. They faced long wait times or error messages and had to make repeated attempts to receive confirmation that their request had been received. Some sought unsuccessfully to delete the data of a deceased family member, and many expressed uncertainty about whether or how they would receive confirmation that the data had been deleted. Several 23andMe users also said they have a heightened interest in what happens to their data due to a password hack at the company in 2023 that exposed information belonging to 6.9 million people.Source: WSJ

Trump Slaps 25% Tariff on Nations Buying Venezuela’s Oil

Donald Trump said the US would impose a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from any country that buys oil from Venezuela, a move that could disrupt crude markets and sharply raise levies on goods from China and India. The announcement on Monday came days ahead of the president’s planned unveiling of a new tariff regime on US trading partners and amid a chaotic trade policy rollout marked by reversals and U-turns. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was imposing the tariff for “numerous reasons”, alleging that “Venezuela has purposefully and deceitfully sent to the United States, undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals, many of whom are murderers and people of a very violent nature”. Venezuela exported 660,000 barrels a day of crude globally last year, according to consultancy Kpler. China, which has been hit with 20 per cent tariffs from Trump this year, is among the top buyers, alongside India, Spain and Italy.Source: FT

March 25, 1993: Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, worried that his status as a high-school-dropout-turned-burger-mogul sends the wrong message to kids, earns his GED diploma at age 60. Local high school seniors vote him "most likely to succeed."

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Sources

1. https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/boeing-pentagon-air-force-jet-fighter-9f603669?mod=hp_lead_pos4
2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/03/24/trump-leak-signal-jeffrey-goldberg-atlantic/
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/us/colleges-students-financial-crisis-politics-affirmative-action.html
4. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/business/economy/white-collar-layoffs.html
5. https://www.wsj.com/business/23andme-delete-data-bankruptcy-5778341f?mod=hp_lead_pos10
6. https://www.ft.com/content/a37a5d0c-4d51-49ff-a939-4f71dd095b3a