#us-policy

#us-policy

Policy stances from the Trump administration on everything from immigration to tariffs, along with currency swings and stricter border controls, have seemingly proved a turnoff to travelers from other countries, especially Canadians - the single largest source of foreign tourists for the United States. Canadian travel to the U.S. fell by close to 30% in 2025. But it is not just visitors from Canada who are choosing to avoid the United States.

As 2025 comes to a close, Donald Trump's favorable approach to cryptocurrency has not proven to be enough to sustain the industry's gains, once the source of market-wide optimism and enthusiasm. The last few months of the year have seen $1tn in value wiped from the digital asset market, despite bitcoin hitting an all-time-high price of $126,000 on 6 October.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from enforcing their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations. "We want to have one central source of approval," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. It will give the Trump administration tools to push back on the most "onerous" state rules, said White House AI adviser David Sacks. The government will not oppose AI regulations around children's safety, he added.

The current March to November system that the US follows began in 2007, but the concept of "saving daylight" is much older. Daylight saving time has its roots in train schedules, but it was put into practice in Europe and the United States to save fuel and power during World War I, according to the US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

The new US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) policy has been issued to comply with president Donald Trump's "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" executive order, which directed airlines to disregard the "X" marker and ask for either "M" or "F" instead. The "X" non-binary marker was introduced in 2022, during Joe Biden's presidency, but has since been suspended for anyone applying for a new passport.

The plan wants all 48 captives still held in Gaza to be released immediately, in exchange for allowing entry of humanitarian aid, freezing battle lines, and the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli military jails. The plan would also see Hamas disarm, offer fighters who renounce violence amnesty, and allow others who refuse to leave Gaza.

The plan itself was first outlined to an incredulous world by Trump in February. The details have now emerged. It involves the expulsion the de facto imprisonment of 2 million Palestinians, while the US administers the exclave for 10 years. Each Palestinian would be paid $5,000 each plus four years' rent somewhere else and one year's supply of food. Gaza is then rebuilt as a skyscraper wonderland of artificial intelligence investment and tourism. It would be a second Dubai yielding up to $400bn for developers.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed that the US government is in discussions to take an equity stake in Intel Corp., transforming grants from the Chips and Science Act into stock. This does not grant the federal government governance or voting rights, but could position it as Intel's largest shareholder. He criticized the previous administration's approach for providing subsidies without accountability, emphasizing the change to securing taxpayer interests through equity stakes instead.

Despite years of promises to phase out for-profit incarceration initiated by President Obama in 2016 and continued by President Biden, immigration detention remained untouched, allowing private prison corporations to thrive.

Jesse Owens' gold medal victories at the 1936 Berlin Olympics exemplified American repudiation of Nazi ideology, representing a vital stance against tyranny. Today, America’s approach to the AI race against China must similarly reflect this mindset. President Xi Jinping aims to exploit technological dominance to impose his vision of global governance and restrict individual freedoms. American policymakers recognize the perceived AI Race between the U.S. and China, understanding the need for the U.S. to win but questioning how to effectively achieve that victory.

If Pakistan acquires an ICBM, Washington will have no choice but to treat the country as a nuclear adversary, which changes the global nuclear dynamic.

Taking out both sites is a critical goal for Israel.