Things got ugly / increasingly obviously
I find, that when there is a lot going on and I am trying to understand the whats and the hows and the whos, it is helpful for me to read and to think and then to read some more.
Not posts on social, a constant stream of both hyperbole and inference with or without actual information. Not the endless and readily available punditry from people who mere days ago were acting as experts on something else entirely.
I try to read the speeches, and the statements, and the orders first. And then I read the reporting of journalists across a range of media organizations.
Your mileage may vary. Here’s some reading.
Tonight, first, I want to speak directly to Americans, our closest friends and neighbours. This is a choice that yes, will harm Canadians, but beyond that, it will have real consequences for you, the American people. As I have consistently said, tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities. They will raise costs for you, including food at the grocery stores and gas at the pump. They will impede your access to an affordable supply of vital goods crucial for U.S. security such as nickel, potash, uranium, steel and aluminum. They will violate the free trade agreement that the president and I, along with our Mexican partner, negotiated and signed a few years ago.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
— extract from Justin Trudeau’s speech delivered on Feb. 1 2025 in response to the US imposition of tariffs on Canada
Donald Trump’s move to invoke an emergency and impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China is the most extensive act of protectionism taken by a US president in almost a century. In what may be the biggest geopolitical and economic consequence, it swings a wrecking ball through the regional compact at the foundation of US global competitiveness and economic power.
— How Trump's Tariffs Aim a Wrecking Ball at the Economy of the Americas by Shawn Donnan for Bloomberg News
Two top security officials at the US Agency for International Development were put on administrative leave Saturday night after attempting to refuse officials from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access systems at the agency, even after DOGE personnel threatened to call law enforcement, multiple sources familiar told CNN.
According to sources, personnel from the Musk-created office physically tried to access the USAID headquarters in Washington, DC, and were stopped. The DOGE personnel demanded to be let in and threatened to call US Marshals to be allowed access, two of the sources said.The DOGE personnel wanted to gain access to USAID security systems and personnel files, three sources said. Two of those sources also said the DOGE personnel wanted access to classified information, which only those with security clearances and a specific need to know are able to access.
— Senior USAID security officials put on leave after attempting to refuse Musk’s DOGE access to agency systems by Jennifer Hansler and Alex Marquardt for CNN
Billionaire Elon Musk’s deputies have gained access to a sensitive Treasury Department system responsible for trillions of dollars in U.S. government payments after the administration ousted a top career official at the department, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe government deliberations.
On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent approved access to the Treasury’s payments system for a team led by Tom Krause, a Silicon Valley executive working in concert with Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” the people said.
David A. Lebryk, who served in nonpolitical roles at Treasury for several decades and had been the acting secretary before Bessent’s confirmation, had refused to turn over access to Musk’s surrogates, people familiar with the situation told The Washington Post. Trump officials placed Lebryk on administrative leave, and then he announced his retirement Friday in an email to colleagues.
— Musk aides gain access to sensitive Treasury Department payment system by Jeff Stein for the Washington Post
Attribution
Things got ugly sadly especially frequently unfortunately Things got ugly increasingly obviously Things got ugly suddenly embarrassingly forcefully Things got really ugly regularly truly quickly Things got really incredibly ugly Things will get less ugly inevitably hopefully — from American Sonnet for the New Year by Terrance Hayes