This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.
Welcome to The Logoff: Remember the policy changes we wrote about in this newsletter on Monday and Tuesday? Neither lasted more than 24 hours — both fell victim to presidential posting.
What happened? On Monday afternoon, the Logoff covered how President Donald Trump said he would charge a 20 percent fee to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
But he reversed course on that yesterday morning, posting on Truth Social that he’d “replace” the fee with trade and investment deals that Gulf nations would purportedly make in the US.
Yesterday afternoon’s Logoff then covered how, after two recent deadly shootings, ICE had been ordered to temporarily stop making traffic stops nationwide.
But this morning, Trump declared that traffic stops were back on, posting: “The Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch.”
Why did Trump flip-flop? The Hormuz fee was a Trump whim that many of his own aides had deep logistical and political qualms about. For one, they believed the move could push gas prices higher. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said just last month that “no country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway.”
As Monday stretched on, Trump was deluged with lobbying from Gulf nations who rely on the strait — such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — and ultimately decided to back down.
The ICE traffic stop pause followed the opposite trajectory. This was a decision made by administration officials without Trump’s knowledge — and when he watched press coverage and heard right-wing criticism of it, he was irate, per CNN.
What’s the takeaway? The reversals show whose criticism and feedback Trump actually cares about.
Wealthy Gulf leaders and the spectre of higher gas prices helped talk him down from his Hormuz fee. And on traffic stops, he ultimately cared less about tamping down national outrage over deadly shootings than he did about preserving his “tough on immigration” reputation and agenda.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
A 67-million-year old Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton sold at auction for a record $50.1 million yesterday to an anonymous bidder. Mystery bidder, if you’re reading this, can I stop by and see it?
