Trade Tensions, USAID Uncertainty, and Musk's Role

President Donald Trump's third week in office kicked off with an international trade battle, uncertainty about the future of a key government agency, and questions over Elon Musk's role in the administration.

Trump agreed to delay tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico for one month after leaders from both countries announced moves to ramp up security at their borders. The decision averts, at least for now, a potential trade war with two of America's closest trading partners that could have driven up prices for U.S. consumers and stalled the countries' economies.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has empowered Pete Marocco, a top official at the State Department, to run the U.S. Agency for International Development and review all the work done by the agency targeted for dismantling by Trump and Elon Musk. Democratic lawmakers and legal experts have argued that dismantling USAID would violate a law adopted by Congress establishing the agency.

Musk is a "special government employee," which means he is working neither as a volunteer nor a full-time employee.

As Jonathan Allen and Allan Smith write, Trump is waging war against his own government, creating a deep sense of fear in the federal workforce — and recipients of federal aid — as he tests the limits of his power to alter the scope, function, and nature of government without Congress.

If the pace at which President Trump is signing executive orders feels faster than normal, you're not imagining things. In fact, Trump has issued more executive orders in the first 10 days of his term than any president did in their first 100 days since Dwight Eisenhower.