On Politics

Tue Nov 26 2024

Rebecca Morin | Senior National News Reporter

@RebeccaMorin_

Hi! It's Rebecca Morin, senior national news reporter at USA TODAY. I'm patiently waiting for my Spotify Wrapped . A quick programming note: I will not be sending an On Politics newsletter on Thursday.

China, Mexico and Canada respond to Trump tariff threats

President-elect Donald Trump has laid out a controversial Day One action: tariffs on the United States' three largest trading partners. Trump this week vowed to impose new tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada to target drug trafficking and migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally. Officials from China, Mexico and Canada heavily criticized the president-elect's pledge, which appears to violate the terms of a free-trade deal Trump signed into law in 2020. Read more.

•	Trump posted on social media that he would sign an executive order to introduce a 25% tariff on goods coming from Mexico and Canada, and a 10% tariff on goods from China.
•	Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo warned the proposed tariffs could cause more inflation and hurt American automakers like General Motors and Ford.
•	Trump's tariffs on Mexico and Canada could raise the prices of these goods
•	Watch: What are tariffs and how do they work?

Israeli cabinet approves cease-fire with Hezbollah

Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah reached a cease-fire deal on Tuesday, which provides a path to end a war that's killed thousands of people since it was first ignited by the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would "respond forcefully to any violation" by Hezbollah. Read More.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday afternoon said during remarks at the Rose Garden of the White House that the cease-fire will start on Wednesday at 4 a.m. local time and that the deal is "designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities."

President Joe Biden delivers remarks from the Rose Garden of the White House on Nov. 26, 2024.

Nathan Howard/REUTERS

A politics pit stop

•	Trump and Musk want federal workers back in the office. Most already are.
•	Manhattan's top federal prosecutor announces resignation ahead of Trump presidency
•	Biden wants Medicare, Medicaid to cover pricey weight loss drugs such as Wegovy
•	Watch: What Jack Smith dropping Trump charges means and 'dismissal without prejudice'
•	Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, rolls back diversity, equity and inclusion programs under pressure

Trump team probed whether top aide sought money from administration job seekers

Lawyers for Donald Trump have conducted an inquiry into reports that a top aide, Boris Epshteyn, asked prospective political appointees for payments to promote their candidacies with the president-elect, two people close to Trump told USA TODAY. Read more.

Got a burning question, or comment, for On Politics? You can submit them here or send me an email at rdmorin@usatoday.com.