Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🔬 US foreign aid is under scrutiny
• 🇨🇳 China responds to the Trump tariffs
• 👀 How depression can impact sight

… and more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.37-minute read (1,162 words).

Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here for free.

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”

–Dale Carnegie (1888-1955)

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is facing an uncertain future, after recently becoming a target for reformation by the Trump administration.

Some quick background: USAID is the arm of the federal government that handles international humanitarian affairs, providing financial aid to nations suffering from conflict, poverty, disease, or other crises.

• The agency employs 10,000+ people, and distributes a combined $40+ billion/year to humanitarian causes around the world, including aid groups in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Syria.

That brings us to recent events: On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was appointed acting administrator of USAID, and told lawmakers that he intends to work with Congress to reorganize it and eliminate large portions.

It’s currently unclear how Rubio’s promise to overhaul USAID – and potentially merge much of it into the State Department – will be reconciled with DOGE leader Elon Musk’s stated desire to close the agency, which he says is shared by President Trump.

The arguments: Trump is a long-term critic of the US government’s overseas spending, saying it fails to bring value to American taxpayers and noting that foreign aid is often misused by corrupt governments. His administration – including Elon Musk – has singled out USAID in particular, describing senior officials there as "radical left lunatics" and criticizing the agency for funding “anti-American” programs worldwide.

On the flip side, many Democrats have resisted efforts to overhaul USAID, calling the agency a key tool in assisting US interests abroad by supporting strategically important nations.

• Democratic lawmakers staged a protest outside USAID headquarters on Monday, with participants calling the proposed changes an "illegal, unconstitutional" move.
• Two Democratic senators are also pledging to put a “blanket hold” on Trump’s current State Department nominees until his administration ends its planned USAID overhaul.

Looking ahead…USAID is currently undergoing an active review that will likely lead to major organizational changes, according to Rubio.

📊 Flash poll: How do you feel about the Trump administration’s recent moves to overhaul USAID?

• Support
• Oppose
• Unsure/other

Most store-bought coffee loses its health-boosting compounds over time. Paleovalley Organic Coffee preserves these benefits and adds more:

• Packed with polyphenol-rich coffee fruit extract to fight stress and inflammation
• Enhanced with eight organic mushrooms for better brain function, energy, and immunity
• Gentle on your stomach with naturally lower acidity – also available in decaf
• Sustainably sourced from organic farms in Honduras and Peru

Save 30% on lifetime subscriptions or 20% on your first order at Paleovalley.

In response to the US imposing a 10% tariff on all imports from China, Beijing announced it’s implementing a 15% tariff on US coal and liquefied natural gas products, as well as a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, and large-engine cars imported from the US. The tariffs are set to take effect on Monday.

Their impact…is expected to be limited, per analysts. China accounted for 2.3% of America’s total natural gas exports, and imported 110,000 US vehicles last year.

Google also caught a stray. Minutes after the US tariffs took effect, China announced it was launching an antitrust investigation into the tech giant.

And while we’re on the topic of strays – PVH Corp, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and US biotech firm Illumina were both added to China’s blacklist "unreliable entity" list.

That’s not all. China also announced export controls on several elements designated “critical minerals” by the US Geological Survey, meaning they're considered essential to American economic or national security (there are 50 critical minerals; China is the world’s leading producer for 30).

🤔 Between the lines: Beijing appears to have shifted its strategy from the first Trump administration, when it largely just responded to tariffs with tariffs, showcasing more willingness to flex its strategic muscles via export controls or by targeting individual US companies, many analysts say. Its economy is also in a worse state than during the first US-China trade conflict.

Chappell Roan is hoping to make it a bit easier for future Midwest princesses to rise in the music biz.

At Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, the 26-year-old pop star used her Best New Artist acceptance speech to draw attention to the struggles young artists face when trying to break into the industry.

• Roan shared her vow that if she ever won a Grammy, she would “demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care, especially developing artists.”

This is personal for Roan: The “Hot To Go” singer was signed by Atlantic Records in 2015, but got dropped five years later when her music didn't take off as anticipated, leaving her without a steady income or health insurance.

🎶 Big picture: The problems identified in Roan's speech are commonplace in the music industry, according to many modern artists, who report facing an array of bureaucratic, strategic, and financial obstacles to making a living.

• These include substantial upfront costs of touring, meager payouts from streaming giants like Spotify, and typically being classified as contractors by record labels (meaning no health insurance or other benefits).
• Overall, 76% of new artists say their music career is financially unsustainable, while 82% rely on jobs unrelated to music to support themselves, per a recent industry study.

Real talk: Thousand Fell gets it. These aren't just another pair of kicks – they're the sneakers our team wears everywhere now. Made with premium recyclable materials, they deliver understated luxury that seamlessly transitions from morning meetings to evening drinks.

• Comfy out of the box – zero break-in drama, breathable, and a clean design that doesn't scream "I'm trying too hard." AKA perfect for everyday wear.
• Trade and save – get up to $65 credit by sending an old Thousand Fell pair and articles of clothing.

Exclusive for DONUT readers – get 30% off with code DONUT30.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 US markets rose across the board (S&P: +0.7%; Dow: +0.3%; Nasdaq: +1.4%). | 📲 Meta shares rose for a 12th consecutive session, their longest winning streak ever; the Facebook and Insta owner has added $240 billion in market cap during the run.
• 🫶 Match Group named Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff as its new CEO; the company, which owns Tinder and Hinge, is dealing with a slowdown in demand and user engagement.
• 🏢 Earnings corner: Chipotle reported quarterly results that topped estimates on earnings; gave weaker-than-expected same-store sales guidance for 2025. | AMD reported better-than-expected revenue and profit, though data center sales missed estimates. | Alphabet reported Q4 results that missed on revenue; the company also announced more AI investments.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with NoNetz

• 🏆👀 An average of 15.4 million viewers tuned into Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, marking a 9% decrease from last year; the show also raised $24 million for LA wildfire relief efforts over the course of the weekend.
• 📚⚖️ Author Neil Gaiman and his wife are facing a lawsuit accusing Gaiman of repeatedly raping his former babysitter; Gaiman was initially accused of sexual assault by eight women last summer (including the plaintiff).
• 🏟️🇺🇸 President Trump is expected to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday; it would make him the first sitting president to do so.

*From our partners: 🫶 Coziness with a conscience…NoNetz blends comfort, sustainability, and style in every design. Their hats and fingerless gloves are 3D-knitted on demand in NYC, using no-itch, 100% merino wool ethically sourced for warmth and softness. Save 15% on NoNetz with code DONUT15.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🎓🤖 The California State University system is introducing OpenAI's ChatGPT Edu – a version of ChatGPT customized for educational institutions – to its 500,000+ students, faculty, and staff across 23 universities.
• 🌕🏜 Two Grand Canyon-sized craters on the Moon formed in the span of ~10 minutes following the collision of an asteroid or comet ~3.6 billion years ago, per a new study.
• 🚀 Boeing has lost $2+ billion on its Starliner rocket program to date, including $523 million in 2024 (its largest single-year loss), per new filings.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with Tuft & Needle

• ✈️🚁 The remains of all 67 victims from last week’s aircraft crash over Washington, D.C., have been recovered. | 📝 The Army helicopter was flying ~100 feet higher than the permitted limit of 200 feet when it collided with the American Airlines passenger jet, per US aviation safety officials.
• 🏛️💼 20,000+ federal workers, or ~1% of the total workforce, have accepted the buyout offer President Trump made to all employees, the White House said yesterday; the buyout offer will remain available through Thursday. | 🏛️✅ Pam Bondi was confirmed as Trump’s attorney general in a 54-46 Senate vote; Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. both cleared Senate committee votes to advance their nominations for Director of National Intelligence and Health Secretary, respectively.
• 🏛️🇮🇱 President Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu held a joint news conference at the White House yesterday following an hours-long meeting; Trump called for all ~2 million Palestinians to permanently leave Gaza for neighboring countries and for the US to take long-term control. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right). | 🏛️⚖️ The Trump administration was sued in two separate civil complaints challenging 1) the admin’s request for information about FBI employees who worked on cases involving the January 6 Capitol riot, and 2) the recent removal of data from federal health agency websites.

*From our partners: 🛏️✨ Achieve the sleep you deserve with Tuft & Needle’s Presidents’ Day Sale…Save 20% on premium Mint Hybrid, Mint, Original, and Original Hybrid mattresses. Bundle with silky sheets and pillows for 15% off. Shop now with free delivery and 100-night trial.

The Waffle House Index may be more helpful than just for gauging how bad storms are. Yesterday, the restaurant that (almost) never closes announced a temporary $0.50/egg surcharge on all customers’ orders, citing ongoing egg shortages and rising prices.

• Grocery stores and restaurants are now paying ~$7.79 for a dozen Midwest large eggs, the industry standard, up from $3.33 a year ago, per egg tracking firm Expana.
• The Agriculture Department predicts prices will rise another 20% this year.

Behind this eggonomic recession? An outbreak of the bird flu. The disease first began spreading widely among chickens in 2022 but experienced a resurgence late last year, leading to the deaths of 20+ million egg-laying chickens in the US in Q4 2024 – the worst toll inflicted on America's egg supply since the outbreak began.

☝️ You’re looking at a visualization of the annual spending patterns of Americans in 2023, based on the latest available data compiled by Visual Capitalist.

🤔 Did You Know? People with depression tend to literally see the world as duller and grayer than others, due to reduced contrast sensitivity in their eyes – or a lower ability to distinguish an object from its background.

📰 Worth a Read: Searching for ‘Dark Oxygen’ in One of the World’s Deepest Mines

🖱 Clickbait: Study Reveals a Simple Trick to Communicate With Your Cat

🎨 Researchers believe a $50 painting bought at a Minnesota garage sale is actually a long-lost original work by Vincent van Gogh. If authenticated, the painting would be worth ~$15 million.

📸 The tiny, elusive Mount Lyell shrew has never been captured on camera, making it the only known mammal in California to evade human photography. That all changed, however, when wildlife photographer Vishal Subramanyan and student scientists Prakrit Jain and Harper Forbes were able to photograph the minuscule – and adorable – rodents last October.

📚 Being a bookworm can be good for you. The New York Public Library recently published a study regarding libraries' impacts on the general public. The research showed the vast majority of patrons feel libraries contribute positively to their well-being and overall happiness.

🦑 Nature is metal: How a massive deep-sea squid remained largely unknown until recent decades.

🌏 Eye-opening: See how a country’s size stacks up to others around the world.

🥞 Breakfast game on fleek: Check out some pancake art inspiration.

❄️ Interesting: What preserved million-year-old air can tell us about ice ages.

👍 Life untethered: The PrideNomad Letter offers weekly business strategies and travel tips tailored for LGBTQ+ digital nomads and aspiring globetrotters. Subscribe for free.*

💰😏 Finance: Short Squeez dishes out finance and biz news with a side of laughs to 200,000 readers. Insider members get VIP access to Wall Street’s secrets. Sign up today.*

*A message from our partners.

How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Then you guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

1. 🦈 230: Number of teeth the average great white shark has in its mouth
2. 🌎 50,000 miles: The circumference of the Earth’s equator
3. 🏇 50 MPH: Top recorded speed of a racehorse

Looking to sprinkle a little fun into your wardrobe? Our official DONUT merch has got you covered. Featuring a range of styles and colors, plus t-shirts that are the epitome of comfort and cool.

Treat yourself to fresh DONUT merch by clicking below – readers get 10% off and free shipping!👇

1. 🦈 Over, they have ~300 teeth at a time
2. 🌎 Under, it’s nearly 25,000 miles
3. 🏇 Under, the fastest recorded speed was ~44 MPH