Today’s Big Story

Will Shelves Empty Soon?

Americans aren’t seeing much evidence of the drastic changes President Trump has made on trade. But they’re on their way.

Remember the early days of the pandemic? When Americans are faced with empty shelves and few options for replacements, we don’t take it well. We’re too accustomed to getting what we want, when we want it, right? It’s not pretty, but it’s true.

A similar trend is beginning to play out, but this time the catalyst is President Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to a minimum of 145%—an amount so steep that much of the trade between the United States and China has ground to a halt. According to the New York Times, fewer massive container ships have been plying the ocean between Chinese and American ports, and in the coming weeks, far fewer Chinese goods will arrive on American shores.

The number of massive container ships carrying metal boxes of toys, furniture and other products departing China for the United States has plummeted by about a third this month. While high tariffs on Chinese products have been in place since early April, the availability of Chinese products and the price that consumers pay for them has not changed that much. But some companies are now starting to raise their prices. And experts say that the effects will become more and more obvious in the coming weeks, as a tidal wave of change stemming from canceled orders in Chinese factories works its way around the world to the United States.

The reason consumers haven’t felt many of the effects yet is because it takes 20 to 40 days for a container ship to travel across the Pacific Ocean. It then takes another one to 10 days for Chinese goods to make their way by train or truck to various cities around the country, economists at Apollo Global Management wrote in a recent report. By late May or early June, consumers could start to see some empty shelves, and layoffs could occur for retailers and logistics industries. The major effects on the U.S. economy of shutting down trade with China will start to become apparent in the summer of 2025, when the United States might slip into a recession, said Torsten Slok, an economist at Apollo.

The executive director of the Port of Los Angeles told CNBC that he expects incoming cargo volume to slide by more than a third next week compared with the same period last year. Along with the lower volume of goods, he said he expects roughly a quarter of the usual number of arriving ships to the port to be canceled in May. Then again, maybe we’ve had too much choice for too long. In response to such worries, Trump said that “maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30.”

Waltz Is Out As National Security Adviser

But Trump is nominating him to be U.N. ambassador amid ideological tensions

For weeks, many have been waiting to see how long National Security Adviser Michael Waltz could hold on. The answer, we now know, was 101 days. President Trump said on Thursday he is nominating Waltz as his ambassador to the United Nations in the first big shake up of top aides in his second term. Trump said on social media that he would make Marco Rubio his interim national security adviser—a role that will come on top of his existing job, Secretary of State.

The firing comes roughly seven weeks after “Signalgate”, when he inadvertently added a journalist to a private chat on the messaging app with other top national security officials to discuss military strikes in Yemen. According to The Atlantic, “any other national security adviser would have been deservedly fired after the leak,” but even without this mess, “it’s hard to imagine that Waltz would have survived very long.” (He did, at least, outlast the first national security adviser of Trump’s first term, Michael Flynn, who didn’t reach the one-month mark.)

The U.N. spot has been vacant since Trump asked his first nominee, Rep. Elise Stefanik (of New York), to instead stay in Congress to help preserve the narrow majority Republicans hold in the House of Representatives. But unlike the national security adviser role, the U.N. ambassadorship requires Senate confirmation. It’s safe to say that hearing will be contentious, to say the least. Vice President JD Vance tried to argue that Waltz’s new position is a promotion. But “the U.N. really doesn't matter,” a White House adviser said when Trump pulled Stefanik's nomination in March.

An Old School Publisher Fights Back

Online Ceramics and Penguin Random House team up against the ultimate culture killers

Reading, we know, is good for you. It boosts your brain and encourages empathy. Your world explodes when you allow yourself to delve deeper into new environments and personal experiences through a good novel or thoughtfully researched non-fiction. Literature will make you more knowledgeable, more compassionate and empathetic while expanding your vocabulary as well.

And we talked a few weeks ago about how book clubs are booming, but now reading just got a whole lot cooler. Online Ceramics, a cult East L.A. clothing brand that makes hand-dyed apparel for artists like the Grateful Dead and André 3000 and helped A24 win the movie merch game, has a new capsule collection with the iconic publisher, Penguin Random House, that celebrates the freedom to read.

Dubbed “Reading Is a Right”, the new collection champions expression and aims to support libraries at a time when they are under attack in the U.S. And comes against a backdrop of increasing book bans across the country. Penguin Random House is among the publishers suing states like Idaho and Florida over recent laws they say are onerous and could lead to public and school library bans on books by beloved authors like Maya Angelou, Ernest Hemingway, George R. R. Martin, and Toni Morrison. The collaboration is an attempt to fight back through merch, raising awareness and fundraising.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Another Simple Favor’ + a Hugo’s Martini

A Weekend Pairing

‘Another Simple Favor’ + a Hugo’s Martini

Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively team up again for this long-awaited sequel to the delightfully satisfying and stylish A Simple Favor. It's been seven years since the release of Paul Feig's excellent comedy thriller, which saw two very different women going from unlikely friends to sworn enemies, with one of them sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In the follow-up, which is now available to watch on Prime Video, Emily (Lively) is back to invite frenemy Stephanie (Kendrick) to Capri for her extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman. Given their past, Stephanie thinks her former friend is out for revenge. Or is she? Honestly, I’m ready to watch. And for a straight–to–Prime Video sequel, it’s gotten good reviews and currently has a 71% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Celebrate Her With One-of-a-Kind Jewelry

A thoughtful touch for the woman who’s given you everything

Protect your peace.