Bill Gates blasts Elon Musk, Trump tariff threats, and RFK Jr. on drug prices: Politics news roundup
Plus, Jerome Powell is under attack, and DeepSeek is raising eyebrows
The second official week of President Donald Trump’s administration was much like the first — full of chaos and growing pains.
The president spent this week signing new executive orders, playing an — economically — dangerous game of chicken with Colombia, weighing in on an aviation disaster, and blasting the Federal Reserve over its interest rate decision.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration promised greater transparency over drug price negotiations, while Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is eyeing a proposal to lower drug prices championed by Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who took him to task during a Senate hearing. And a Medicaid freeze appeared to lock millions of Americans out earlier this week.
The White House is also concerned about DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup, for national security reasons. Perplexity AI is looking at ways to bring another Chinese company under partial control of themselves and the U.S. government — TikTok.
Catch up on that and more — including Bill Gates’ choice words when asked about fellow billionaire Elon Musk — in this week’s politics roundup.
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Bill Gates had some choice words for Elon Musk when asked about Musk’s recent involvement in global politics.
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President Donald Trump eked out a victory on Sunday after Colombia backed down from a trade war with the U.S., showing the potential benefits of his tariff strategy — at least when the tariffs themselves aren’t actually used.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary, reportedly expressed openness to seizing drug patents of high-priced drugs as a way to lower prices. — Bruce Gil
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President Donald Trump is renewing his old attacks on the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell, after the independent body voted to hold interest rates steady in its first rate decision of the year. —
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The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said on Wednesday that it would seek “greater transparency” in drug price negotiations under President Donald Trump’s administration. The statement follows criticism from the pharmaceutical industry regarding the program. — Bruce Gil
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The release of DeepSeek-R1, a new open-source reasoning model from a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, should be a “wake-up call” for the U.S. tech industry, President Donald Trump said.
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The White House is looking into national security concerns over the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek after its developer prompted a global tech sell-off. — Britney Nguyen
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President Donald Trump’s move to freeze federal funding for a massive number of government programs seems to have impacted Medicaid payment systems across the country, potentially locking 72 million Americans out of their health insurance. — Bruce Gil
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Perplexity AI has reportedly revised its initial offer to merge with TikTok — this time with a carveout to give the U.S. government 50% control in a future initial public offering (IPO).
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Federal Reserve policymakers voted Wednesday to hold interest rates steady in its first rate decision of the year. — Rocio Fabbro