Brand Logo
Musk's power play, Trump's tariff 'pain' and Beyoncé's big Grammy

 
Today's NATIONAL story

Elon Musk operatives access US payment system, aid

What happened
Members of Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" over the weekend gained access to a Treasury Department system that pays out more than $6 trillion a year in Social Security and Medicare benefits, tax refunds and federal salaries, among other items, according to several news organizations. And the Trump administration put the top security officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave after they tried to block a DOGE team from a secure area of USAID headquarters.

Who said what
Acting Deputy Treasury Secretary David Lebryk, a longtime nonpolitical official, was "ousted" after refusing to "turn over access" to the tightly controlled, sensitive payment system to "Musk's surrogates," The Washington Post said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had approved access for Musk's team Friday.

Musk spent the weekend "expressing fury" at USAID and "voicing conspiracy theories about it," The New York Times said, and foreign policy veterans "struggled to understand" his "seeming animus" to an agency that distributes billions in humanitarian, medical and pro-democracy aid worldwide yet makes up less than 1% of the federal budget. "USAID is a criminal organization," Musk tweeted yesterday. "Time for it to die."

Musk's "lackeys," who had "already taken control" of the federal human resources and property management offices, include a "coterie of engineers" age 19 to 24 with ties to Musk's companies, Wired said. These "aren't really accountable public officials" and we have "very little eyes" on what they are doing with the "most sensitive data in government," said Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan. "So this feels like a hostile takeover of the machinery of governments by the richest man in the world."

What next?
"Confusion over who will be granted access to Treasury's payments rails — as well as whether their responsibilities could allow them to cut off payments — has opened a new front in the political fight" over Musk's DOGE, Politico said.

 
 
Today's TRADE story

Trump tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China roil markets

What happened
U.S. stock futures were down sharply, oil prices were higher and Asian markets were lower this morning, the first trading day since President Donald Trump's Saturday orders for 25% tariffs on most imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% import tax on Chinese goods. Oil imports from Canada will be taxed at 10%. Canada quickly announced targeted retaliatory tariffs and Mexico and China said they will unveil their responses soon.

Who said what
"Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe," Trump said in all-caps on social media yesterday. But "it will all be worth the price that must be paid." The tariffs on America's top three trading partners are expected to raise the prices of everything from gas, cars, consumer electronics and homebuilding to avocados, tomatoes and Mexican beer and tequila. Trump has "framed his latest actions as leverage on immigration and drugs," The Associated Press said, though tiny amounts of fentanyl and migrants enter the U.S. from Canada. 

"Tariffs are simply taxes," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on social media, and "taxing trade will mean less trade and higher taxes." If other congressional Republicans agreed, The New York Times said, "they kept it to themselves." This is "the dumbest trade war in history," The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial, and that may be "an understatement."

What next?
The U.S. and Canadian tariffs are scheduled to go into effect tomorrow. "What comes next is highly uncertain because Trump's motives are difficult to discern," the Journal said.

 
 
Today's ENTERTAINMENT Story

Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys

What happened
Beyoncé won album of the year, best country album and best country duo/group performance at last night's Grammy Awards, while Kendrick Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us" took five Grammys, including song of the year and record of the year.

Who said what
Beyoncé's "high-concept, multigenre" album "Cowboy Carter" finally won her the top prize after "four conspicuous losses" in the category, The New York Times said. And Lamar's "vicious takedown" of Drake was a "notable double victory for any song and a rare win for rap in the Grammys' two most prestigious song categories."

Beyoncé, already "both the most awarded and nominated artist in Grammys history," was the first Black woman to win album of the year since Lauryn Hill in 1999, as well as the first Black artist ever to win best country album, The Associated Press said. She was presented the top album Grammy by members of the Los Angeles Fire Department, "one of several times the show reflected the recent wildfires" that ravaged L.A. Chappell Roan was named best new artist, while Sabrina Carpenter won best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album for "Short n' Sweet." The Beatles song "Now and Then," resurrected with AI technology, won best rock performance.

What next?
Grammys host Trevor Noah said viewers donated at least $7 million to wildfire relief efforts.

 
 

It's not all bad

A 16-year-old with ameloblastoma, a rare and aggressive tumor affecting his teeth and jaw, underwent a groundbreaking seven-hour procedure that previously would have involved multiple surgeries over several years. Surgeons at Loma Linda University Health in California removed a tumor in Bryce Yamate's mouth, used a fibula bone from his leg to reconstruct his jaw and then gave him a full set of dental implants. Yamate is recovering well and said he is "excited to eat Korean fried chicken again."

 
 
Under the radar

The "source of misery" for the people of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo "lies in the vast natural treasures beneath their feet," said The Times of London. The region boasts a "dizzying array" of riches, including gold and diamonds, but the "most coveted are the lesser known" coltan, cobalt and other minerals "crucial in the production of laptops and smartphones."

It's "no coincidence" that violence has increased alongside consumer demand for tech, said The Times. But while the slogan "blood diamonds" helped to ease conflicts elsewhere in Africa, a "similarly murderous hunt for smart-tech minerals" has only intensified in DR Congo, displacing 7 million people and "condemning a region to perpetual chaos." 

DR Congo is the world's largest producer of coltan, from which tantalum — indispensable for manufacturing phones and laptops — is extracted, said Ecofin Agency. Nearly 70% of the world's tantalum comes from Congo and neighboring Rwanda, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Tin and tungsten are also abundant in the volatile eastern borderlands. Tin is used for soldering metal components, and tungsten helps make phones vibrate, said CNBC. 

Amid growing global scrutiny, African countries, intergovernmental organizations and tech companies have "ramped up their efforts to clean up mineral supply chains," said CNBC. Apple, Microsoft and Tesla publish reports every year, usually saying there's "no reason to believe the minerals they source help to support armed groups." 

But it's impossible for consumers to be sure that their electronics are fully conflict- and cruelty-free, said CNBC. Endemic corruption and instability in the region mean "there are no guarantees."

 
 
On this day

February 3, 1690

The colony of Massachusetts began issuing the first paper money in the future United States. Massachusetts decided to start printing paper money to give to soldiers of the Nine Years' War, which had spread to North America. Other colonies soon began printing their own paper money.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

President Donald Trump "turns on closest U.S. allies" with tariffs that "could embolden China, Russia," The Washington Post says on Monday's front page. "Trump's tariffs said to imperil global trade," The New York Times says, and "favoring tough guy act for allies and foes alike" is a risky rejection of "soft power." Trump "bucks law, decorum to push agenda," the Los Angeles Times says. Elon Musk's "allies seize control of vast U.S. spending spigot," The Wall Street Journal says. In other news, groundhog Punxsutawney Phil "saw his shadow" Sunday, so "get ready for an extra long winter," USA Today says.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Good cop, bad boy

Fu Zai, China's first police corgi, recently "lost his year-end bonus" after being caught "sleeping on the job and urinating in his food bowl," Euronews said. A tongue-in-cheek 2024 performance review posted online by the Weifang Public Security Bureau in Shandong revealed that the canine crimefighter had been showered with toys, treats and flowers in recognition of his talent for detecting explosives, but due to his misbehavior, his gifts were "confiscated."

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harriet Marsden, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Victor J. Blue / Bloomberg via Getty Images; Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images; Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images; Glody Murhabazi / AFP / Getty Images