Monday, August 11, 2025
All civic learning topics for this day
Today's Topics
Goldman Sachs warns furniture prices jump 20% from tariffs
Goldman Sachs economists predicted on August 11, 2025, that American consumers will absorb 67% of Trump tariff costs by October as businesses exhaust inventory purchased at pre-tariff prices, triggering immediate price shocks on furniture, electronics, and home goods imported from China and Vietnam.
Trump negotiates 15% government cut of Nvidia's AI chip sales to China
President Trump revealed today he personally negotiated a deal requiring Nvidia to pay the U.S. government 15% of all revenue from artificial intelligence chip sales to China in exchange for export licenses. The unprecedented arrangement gives federal government a direct profit share from private corporate sales, with Trump telling reporters he initially demanded 20% before Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang negotiated down to 15% during White House meetings.
US and China duke it out at UN Security Council over Panama Canal control accusations
The U.S. and China had a public showdown at the UN Security Council on August 11, 2025, after Trump threatened to grab back the Panama Canal, claiming China "operates" it through Hong Kong companies that run ports on both ends. America's UN ambassador warned that Chinese influence threatens global trade, while China's diplomat shot back that the U.S. was making up excuses to steal the canal. Panama's president had to defend his own country's sovereignty while Trump's team pressured China to sell the port operations to BlackRock and other American firms.
Trump nominates Project 2025 architect E.J. Antoni to control all U.S. economic statistics
Trump just nominated Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics—the agency that produces jobs numbers, inflation data, and unemployment stats that move global markets. Antoni co-wrote Project 2025 and went on Steve Bannon's podcast calling for the previous commissioner's firing after weak July jobs data. Now he'll control the economic numbers that determine Social Security payments, Federal Reserve decisions, and whether Wall Street believes America's economy is actually doing well.
Trump federalizes DC police despite city hitting 30-year crime low
President Trump seized control of Washington DC's Metropolitan Police Department on August 11, 2025, using Section 740 of the Home Rule Act and deploying 800 National Guard troops to patrol the capital's streets. Trump claimed DC had become "a situation of complete and total lawlessness" requiring federal intervention, but government data shows violent crime in DC hit a 30-year low with citizens' rights groups documenting over 1,000 arrests during the federalization period while constitutional scholars challenge the unprecedented use of emergency powers for non-emergency situations.
Garbarino and Guest demand briefing on $170 billion deportation funds
House Homeland Security Committee Republicans Andrew Garbarino and Michael Guest demanded Department of Homeland Security leadership detail how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's nearly $170 billion in immigration enforcement funding will be spent. The law allocates $45 billion for new detention centers, $30 billion for ICE staffing, $46 billion over four years for border wall construction, and $10 billion for DHS leadership—almost doubling DHS's typical annual budget. Committee members warned the administration already diverted over $1 billion from FEMA and other programs to cover enforcement costs without clear congressional oversight even as border apprehensions sit at historic lows.
Trump gives Pam Bondi control of DC police despite crime drop
President Trump invoked the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy 800 National Guard troops to Washington, declaring a public safety emergency. DC police data shows violent crime fell 35% in 2024 and another 26% in the first seven months of 2025. Attorney General Pam Bondi will oversee the force while the White House signaled plans to clear homeless encampments and restore order to the nation's capital. The federalization strips local control despite crime statistics showing the safest DC in years.