David Lidsky's Blog, page 249

Saudi Arabia to invest $600 billion in U.S. over the next four years, crown prince tells Trump

The comments from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came in a phone call with Trump—marking his first call with a foreign leader since his inauguration.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Thursday the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald Trump earlier put a price tag on returning to the kingdom as his first foreign trip.

CFPB head braces for a potential dismissal after Trump’s return

Chopra remains one of the more important regulators from the Biden administration who’s still on the job as Trump cleans house.

The director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, has been waiting for a phone call, letter, email, text—anything, really—from the Trump administration that might say if he’s getting fired.

How Davos leaders are responding to Trump’s DEI crackdown

Investment in diversity is unlikely to dry up because of Trump’s moves, said bankers at World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.

President Donald Trump’s escalating pressure on the private sector to ditch diversity programs has left some in Davos searching for new words to describe workplace practices they say are essential to their businesses.

Amazon closes all Quebec warehouses, cutting 1,700 jobs

Amazon will phase out operations across seven sites in the province over the next two months.

E-commerce giant Amazon.com is exiting its operations in Quebec, leading to the loss of about 1,700 full-time jobs, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Why Big Oil isn’t happy with Trump’s climate withdrawal

Big U.S. oil companies believe Trump’s withdrawal only limits Washington’s ability to influence an ongoing global energy transition and exposes them to an uneven regulatory environment.

U.S. oil and gas producers are thrilled that President Donald Trump wants to encourage domestic energy development but say his decision to withdraw the United States from international climate cooperation will not help their investment plans in the global transition to cleaner energy.

Procter & Gamble considers price hikes to offset possible Trump tariffs

But first, P&G will try to offset possible tariffs by cutting costs.

U.S. consumer goods maker Procter & Gamble will again look to hike prices on its household basics such as Tide detergent if President Donald Trump imposes new tariffs that increase the cost of imports, an executive said Wednesday.

Trump’s ‘Hawk Tuah’-like meme coin moment isn’t a betrayal—it’s keeping a promise

Some Trump supporters have complained about the dubious legality of the president’s recent crypto endeavor. Were they watching a different presidential campaign in 2024?

At some point between his November election win and Monday’s inauguration, Donald Trump appears to have drawn inspiration from an unlikely source: “Hawk Tuah Girl” Haliey Welch.

Content to commerce: MeatEater’s path to $100 million success

Steven Rinella’s MeatEater thrives in a struggling media market by blending high-quality content, commerce—and a deep love of the wild.

Steven Rinella is a busy man. As the founder and on-air face of MeatEater, a weekly reality-TV show, he oversees an ever-expanding empire of content and commerce focused on an outdoor lifestyle. But Rinella, the businessman, is not too busy to be Rinella, the outdoorsman. 

Why new Starbucks restroom policy is getting mixed reactions

Starbucks opened the can when it said last week it was reversing a 7-year-old policy that invited anyone to hang out in its stores or use the restroom, regardless of whether they bought anything.

Starbucks’s decision to restrict its restrooms to paying customers has flushed out a wider problem: a patchwork of restroom policies that has left Americans confused and divided over who gets to use the loo and when.

Can cheaper hot dogs and beer save baseball? Why MLB teams are leaning into value menus

A growing list of professional sports teams have opted to give fans ‘value’ pricing in their stadiums. For Major League Baseball, it’s a survival tactic.

The days of paying 20 bucks for a beer and hot dog at sports stadiums may be heading into their final inning.