Trump Takes A Tanker & Why Your Steak Costs So Much

Hi readers, happy Thursday! Today we’ll be covering how to steal an oil tanker, the Fed’s rate cut, Russia’s ghost fleet, the Thailand-Cambodia border conflict, U.S. tourism, Miami’s new mayor, and why steak costs so much.

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” – T. S. Eliot

The Coast Guard Takes A Tanker

In an act of modern-day piracy – or national defense, depending on who you ask – the U.S. Coast Guard seized a massive oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela yesterday. “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela – a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually,” Trump told reporters last night. “It was seized for a very good reason,” he added.

Footage of the incident posted on Twitter by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi shows Coast Guard helicopters dropping multiple groups of armed soldiers onto the vessel. The soldiers then appear to fan out across the ship, threatening sailors at gunpoint. Bondi justified the incident in her tweet: “For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” she wrote. “This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely — and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.”

In a statement, Venezuela’s government criticized the boarding as “an act of international piracy,” adding, “Under these circumstances, the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed. … It has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.” The seizure marks yet another escalation in the U.S.-Venezuela conflict, which has seen the U.S. kill at least 80 people in boat strikes across the Caribbean. U.S. warships and jets are still gathered off the country’s shores in a totally normal display of force.

Another Rate Cut For The Holidays

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced it would be capping off the year with another interest rate cut. The cut will bring the Fed’s overnight borrowing rate (which influences rates across the economy) down by another quarter percent, leaving it at 3.5%-3.75% after three months of consecutive quarter-percent rate cuts. The hope is that the rate cut will encourage hiring and economic growth; the fact that it’s the third cut in a row indicates that the Fed isn’t too worried about inflation (yet).

Heading into 2026, a few things are changing. First is the Fed Chair – current chair Jerome Powell will see his second 4-year term end next May, and Powell has said that he wants to hand off a healthy U.S. economy to his successor. Next is the sentiment amongst the Federal Open Market Committee (the body that votes on interest rate decisions). December’s rate cut passed the committee with 9 votes in favor and 3 against, marking the first time a decision has had three dissenting votes since 2019. The committee appears hesitant to make any more inflationary rate cuts next year, with responses from individual officials indicating that we should only expect a single quarter-percent rate cut in 2026.

In more Fed news, Trump is slated to begin the final round of interviews for Powell’s replacement this week. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, a close Trump ally, is expected to snag the job – if he lands it, Hassett is expected to encourage steeper rate cuts than Powell. Those cuts will make it easier for businesses to borrow money, but might also drive up inflation as Americans struggle to make ends meet.

Unmanned Boats & Ghost Fleets

• As negotiations over a Russia-Ukraine drag on, the conflict has continued to escalate. Yesterday, Ukraine’s Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that it had successfully used drones to strike an oil tanker that allegedly belongs to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. The fleet, according to Kyiv and Europe, uses vessels sporting the flags of other countries in order to ship Russian oil across the globe, evading Western sanctions on Moscow. 

• According to an SBU official, the tanker was flying the flag of the Comoro Islands. It reportedly suffered “critical damage” after being struck by a Ukrainian Sea Baby maritime drone (basically a remote-operated boat stuffed with explosives). The attack marks the third time that Ukraine has targeted Russian oil tankers over the past two weeks – last month, Kyiv also launched a strike on Russia’s Novorossiysk port terminal, a hub for its oil shipments. “The SBU continues to take active measures to reduce oil dollar revenues to the Russian budget,” said the SBU official, adding that the drone attack was a “significant blow to the transportation of Russian oil.”

Border Tensions In The Tropics

• On Sunday, territorial disputes on the border between Thailand and Cambodia flared up. The skirmish ended with two Thai soldiers wounded, and clashes haven’t stopped since then – according to the Associated Press, gunshots could be heard on the Thai side of the border as recently as yesterday.

• The fighting is a continuation of long-standing border disputes that flared up into armed conflict in July. Those military clashes ended in five days, after both countries agreed to a Trump-backed ceasefire – the American president said that he expects to call the leaders of both countries today. “I think I can get them to stop fighting,” he told reporters yesterday. “Who else can do that?”

• Over a dozen people were wounded in this week’s skirmishes. Roughly 400,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand’s border provinces, according to the Thai military, and Cambodia’s defense ministry said 127,000 people were evacuated on its side of the border. 

Additional World News

• ‘Already had a profound effect’: parents react to Australia’s social media ban (Guardian) 

• Lithuania Declares National Emergency Over Suspicious Balloons From Belarus (NYT, $)

• MS-13 and Trump Backed the Same Presidential Candidate in Honduras (Intercept)

• Venezuelan opposition leader makes first public appearance after months in hiding (BBC) 

• Ukraine to give revised peace plans to US as Kyiv readies for more talks with its coalition partners (AP) 

• Bolivia detains former president Arce amid probe into alleged embezzlement (CNN)

Trump’s Tourism Slump

• According to the U.S. Travel Association, the U.S. is expected to see a steep decline in the number of international tourists this year. A recent report from the group indicated that inbound tourism spending is projected to shrink 3% this year, from $178 billion in 2024 to $173 billion in 2025. A few things are feeding into that tourism decline – almost half of all Europeans view Trump as “an enemy of Europe,” Canadians also see Trump as hostile, and visa costs and wait times have also increased. Also, widely-circulated videos of Trump’s immigration crackdowns are probably not making the U.S. seem particularly inviting. 

• Yesterday, the White House unveiled a new plan that will probably make the problem even worse. Under the new regulations, visitors applying for U.S.  tourist visas will need to hand the government a whole host of invasive information as part of the application process. That info includes their social media activity from the last five years, any telephone numbers they’ve used over that same period, any email addresses they’ve used over the past decade, and face, fingerprint, DNA and iris biometrics. Even tourists from the 42 countries that currently don’t need visas to enter the U.S. (including the U.K., Canada, and France) will need to submit their personal info. Next year will see the U.S. host the 2026 World Cup, giving authorities the chance to collect sensitive information from up to 1.24 million international visitors.

Vice City Votes Blue

• For the first time in 30 years, a Democrat has won the Miami mayor's race. Eileen Higgins, 61, will also become the first woman to lead the city – she won her campaign against Emilio Gonzalez, the GOP’s Trump-backed candidate, by promising to protect Miami’s Hispanic population against Trump’s controversial immigration raids.

• “We are facing rhetoric from elected officials that is so dehumanizing and cruel, especially against immigrant populations,” Higgins said after winning the election. “The residents of Miami were ready to be done with that.” The electoral victory will likely leave Democrats feeling encouraged heading into the 2026 midterms, as Higgins’ platform seems to reflect a winning electoral formula. Outside of addressing concerns about Trump’s immigration policies, she also focused on affordability – she’s promised to use city-owned land to build affordable housing, and also plans to divert spending in order to modernize the city’s infrastructure.

Additional USA News

• Oracle’s stock slides 11% on revenue miss even as AI backlog soars (CNBC)

• Trump clears way for Nvidia to sell powerful AI chips to China (Guardian)

• How Andrew Tate, Manosphere Star Accused of Rape and Trafficking, Was Freed (NYT, $)

• Trump launches $1m ‘gold card’ visa scheme amid immigration crackdown (Guardian)

• New poll paints a grim picture of a nation under financial strain (Politico)

• Pete Hegseth Says the Pentagon's New Chatbot Will Make America 'More Lethal'  (404 Media)

Why Red Meat Is Bleeding You Dry

• If you’ve gone out to eat a nice steak over the past few months, you’ve probably noticed something: it’s really expensive to go out and eat a nice steak. While some of that can be chalked up to inflation, there’s something else at play at your local steakhouse (and at others across the country) – the U.S. is going through a cattle shortage.

• This year, America’s cattle inventory hit 11.7 million, a low not seen since 1951, sending prices for the most sought-after cuts of beef sky-high. USDA choice boneless steaks, for example, have seen their price jump 20% this year to a whopping $14.13 per pound, forcing restaurants to also bump up their prices in order to stay in business.

• Many upper-crust steakhouses have been able to pull off selling eight-ounce fillets for $60, but mid-tier joints like Outback Steakhouse haven’t been able to convince consumers that their higher prices are worth it. “There are certain people who will never put steak on the table because their income situation doesn’t allow for it,” said one food expert. “But a whole number of other cohorts are doing fine and would prefer to continue to buy steak no matter where the price goes.”

Additional Reads

• Rubio orders return to Times New Roman font over 'wasteful' Calibri (BBC) 

• Whoa, baby: San Francisco woman gives birth in Waymo self-driving taxi (Guardian) 

• Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water (Wired, $)

• What podcasts do to our brains (Vox)

• Cryptic code-cracking challenge set by UK intelligence agency (BBC)

• Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore jailed, hours after his firing (AP)

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Peanut For Your Thoughts

The U.S. Coast Guard motto is Semper Paratus, meaning “Always Ready.” Maybe they should change it to Semper Pirates after this incident?

P.S.: Sorry for today’s images, it was just a big day for blurry unclassified military footage.

Editor & Writer: Marcus Gee-Lim

Designer: Joe Stella