As President Donald Trump's tariffs continue to wreak uneven havoc across the global economy, one industry has emerged as a bellwether for the ripple effect of the administration's levies: trucking. While not a direct target of Trump's sweeping tariff scheme, the trucking industry is nevertheless beginning to feel the pressures that come with a global trade paradigm experiencing massive upheaval. 

'Direct and disproportionate impact'
The "shifting landscape" of Trump's tariffs has created "uncertainty in the trucking sector," said industry website Trucking Drive. International tariffs "not only increase costs for equipment" for truckers but could "potentially decrease demand for freight transportation" at large, said Jana Jarvis, the president of the Oregon Trucking Association, to the outlet. There's a fear that truckers may "not have job security in the future" should tariffs "lessen the flow of goods between America and its northern neighbor," said The Hill.
 
"The longer tariffs last, the greater the pain for truckers, as well as the families and businesses we serve," said American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear in a March statement. Tariffs will not only "reduce cross-border freight" but also "increase operational costs." Ultimately, the "100,000 full-time hardworking truckers hauling 85% of the surface trade in goods with Mexico and 67% of the goods traded with Canada" will be left to bear the "direct and disproportionate impact" of Trump's economic policy. 

'Align production with reduced demand'
"Heavy-duty truck orders continue to be negatively affected by market uncertainty about freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes, and the impact of tariffs," said Mack Trucks spokesperson Kimberly Pupillo to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, after the company laid off several hundred employees at its operations center. While the company regrets "having to take this action," the goal is to "align production with reduced demand for our vehicles," a representative said to CBS Philadelphia. The Mack Trucks layoffs are "yet another consequence" of Trump's "disastrous" tariffs, said Jalopnik. And the company isn't alone. The "entire industry" is affected. 

That industry-wide uncertainty means that truck drivers may "slide over and try to move domestic product" rather than gamble on the future of international shipping, said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka at Politico. Drivers will have to "scramble pretty quickly to keep their jobs and keep food on the table." It's going to "be disruptive."

The White House's release of 10,000 files last Friday related to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy has renewed the fervor of conspiracy theories surrounding his death. And some figures in the Trump administration seem to be trafficking in these conspiracies.

What's in the files?
The files have information from the FBI's investigation of the 1968 assassination of the senator, former attorney general and brother of former President John F. Kennedy at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel while campaigning for president. (He was seen as a frontrunner for that year's Democratic nomination.) The investigation ran parallel to the Los Angeles Police Department's case, and the files contain never-before-seen images, including autopsy photos and handwritten notes from Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan.

It was "not immediately clear how many of the released records contained information that hasn't previously been made public," said The Washington Post. The LAPD's investigation files, which include information from the FBI, were released the year of Kennedy's death and have been "closely examined" by authors and researchers. People "shouldn't expect there would be a smoking gun in any of this," Kennedy's son, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said to the Post.

Why are conspiracy theorists stirring?
Conspiracy theories abound about both RFK and John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, with many circulated by the government. And Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the newly released documents raise "more questions than answers," said ABC News. 

Even RFK Jr. has spread conspiracies about his father's death. The "first thing he was gonna do was to remove the clandestine services from the CIA and make the CIA what it was supposed to be, which was an intelligence gathering organization," RFK Jr. said to CBS News in 2018. "It's hard to believe that Sirhan shot my dad."

RFK Jr. claims the release of these files is a net positive. Lifting the "veil on the RFK papers is a necessary step toward restoring trust in American government," he said in a statement. President Donald Trump has "championed in the name of transparency the release of documents related to high-profile assassinations," said The Guardian, but has also been "deeply suspicious for years of the government's intelligence agencies."