Land, Power, and Inequality
This week TFR welcomed professor and author Michael Albertus to discuss how land ownership infiltrates society in surprising ways. It's a wide-ranging conversation that digs into the affordability crisis, climate change, and Trump's obsession with South Africa's attempts to make reparations for apartheid.
If you missed Travis and JD Vance corner, don't worry! We'll be back later this week to catch up with him and try to figure out where JD Vance really comes from.
In the meantime, here are some other stories we've been following this week:
Trumps Throws a Temper Tantrum, Putin Shrugs
Trump continues to call out Vladimir Putin's escalation of the war in Ukraine to little or no effect. While finally acknowledging that Russia's ultimate goal is the annexation of Ukraine, Trump clings to the notion that he maintains a "special" relationship with Putin that is somehow going to bring an end to the conflict. VLAD BABY WHY? Putin's recent actions however are telling another story. Without the threat of reestablishing strong sanctions, Trump's tirades on social media are increasingly toothless. Russian officials even claimed that Trump's recent remarks were due to an "emotional overload." Yikes.
South African Leader's White House Visit Doesn't Go So Great
Despite repeated attempts by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to steer the conversation back to the realm of reality, President Trump continued to push his false claims of genocide against white farmers. It was an uncomfortable meeting that Trump seemed to relish. He also noted helpfully that "This is what Elon wanted."
Susan B. Glasser
More Tariff Chaos
In dueling decisions Trump's tariffs were initially paused but have now been reinstated while the courts decide whether or not Trump has the authority to act unilaterally in matters of trade. No need to avoid or even lessen confusion at this point, right? For great coverage on this, check out this from the Council on Foreign Relations.
Elon Out
In a statement on X, Musk thanked Trump for the opportunity to "reduce wasteful spending." In relation to the length of his tenure the reverberations of Musk's time in DC will be felt for an inordinate amount of time.
Lots of interesting takes on this one:
From the Atlantic: The Decline and Fall of Elon Musk
A great overview from the NY Times, plus a look into what was happening behind the scenes - more chaos then was on the surface, which was not an easy feat: