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What you need to know

Fed shifts course on balance-sheet support, ending quantitative-tightening 

The Federal Reserve has effectively halted its quantitative-tightening campaign and has turned back toward balance-sheet support by injecting $13.5 billion into the U.S. banking system through an overnight repo operation.

The intervention is the second-largest of its kind since the Covid emergency measures and even exceeds the peak injections of the Dot-Com era. The decision reflects mounting concern within the central bank about tightening funding conditions, declining bank reserves, heavy Treasury issuance, and the risk of renewed strain in short-term lending markets.

By relying on repos, which provide collateralized same-day cash, the Fed is reopening the liquidity taps without announcing a formal return to quantitative easing.

The scale of the operation suggests a pre-emptive attempt to avoid a repeat of the 2019 repo turmoil, when overnight rates spiked as reserves approached the lower bound tolerated by the system.

For markets, such an influx of liquidity serves as a form of discreet stimulus, loosening financial conditions and lifting risk appetite, while also drawing attention to how reliant the financial system has become on central-bank support. Whether the move stabilizes markets or points to deeper fragilities will become clearer in the weeks ahead.

Move fast and break things

Trump’s approval slump deepens

Gallup’s latest survey places President Donald Trump at the lowest net approval rating of any second-term president in the modern era at this stage in office, surpassed only by Richard Nixon during the unravelling of Watergate.

The implications are substantial. No second-term president has ever recovered more than five net approval points heading into midterm elections, a limit that has held through scandals, recessions, wars, and economic rebounds.

For Republicans to retain control of the House in 2026, they would need to defy a decades-long Gallup trend while confronting mounting scandals, investigations, and declining public support. Midterms function as referenda on presidential performance, and the political dynamics are unforgiving, leaving the GOP to enter the 2026 cycle with a structural disadvantage and a presidential burden that shows no sign of easing.

Courts challenge administration appointments

In a unanimous 3–0 decision, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a sharp setback to the Trump Administration by affirming a lower-court ruling that invalidated President Donald Trump’s July appointment of Alina Habba, his former personal lawyer, as Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

The judges concluded that the appointment was both procedurally improper and substantively unlawful, noting that Habba lacked the statutory basis required for the role and had been placed through a process that bypassed Justice Department succession rules and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

The ruling went further than the district court by prohibiting her from serving even in an acting capacity, a decision that reflects mounting judicial discomfort with what critics describe as the Administration’s efforts to install loyalists in senior prosecutorial posts.

The panel also cited a wider pattern of improper appointments, referring to a recent decision in the Eastern District of Virginia in which a federal judge determined that Lindsey Halligan had been unlawfully named Interim U.S. Attorney.

The growing series of rulings signals intensifying legal scrutiny of the Administration’s personnel practices and raises fresh questions about the validity of actions taken by officials who were not lawfully appointed.

White House defends second strike in the Caribbean

The White House on Monday sought to manage rising political pressure by confirming that the second lethal strike on an alleged drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean was intentional and ordered by Admiral Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command.

The follow-up strike killed the remaining crew members, prompting bipartisan questions about whether the administration’s counter-narcotics campaign has breached legal limits.

Leavitt defended Bradley, saying Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had authorized the use of kinetic force and that Bradley was “well within his authority” to ensure the vessel was destroyed and the threat removed. 

Senior officials maintain that the operation complied with established rules of engagement governing action against transnational criminal networks, although the administration is preparing to brief key congressional committees as scrutiny grows.

Trump to make statement after Cabinet discussions on Venezuela

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to make an announcement at 2pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, according to the White House press pool. Officials have not disclosed the substance of the statement, although they have hinted that it will concern foreign-policy matters. 

On Monday at 5pm, he convened a Cabinet meeting devoted to Venezuela, where ministers reviewed the country’s deepening political and economic crisis and assessed possible options for the administration. The timing of Tuesday’s planned remarks suggests a possible link to those discussions, although the White House has not confirmed any connection.

The announcement could also be related to the Trump Accounts (see below), or both issues and/or other matters.

Trump accounts to be unveiled

The White House has confirmed that President Donald Trump will introduce a new savings initiative called “Trump Accounts,” presented as a way to “give the next generation of Americans a jump-start on savings.”

Officials have provided only broad outlines, describing the scheme as part of a wider effort to expand asset ownership among younger households, with full details expected on Tuesday.

It remains unclear what types of assets the accounts will be able to hold. If the structure mirrors existing tax-advantaged plans such as Roth IRAs or 529 education accounts, then equities, index funds, and Treasury securities would probably form the core options. The inclusion of crypto is less assured. The administration has signaled interest in bolstering U.S. competitiveness in digital assets while simultaneously seeking tighter oversight of unregulated crypto platforms. Allowing crypto in a savings vehicle geared toward minors would mark a substantial regulatory departure, so the possibility cannot be dismissed although it should not be regarded as the central expectation.

The eventual shape of the plan will hinge on the accompanying guidance and statutory language. A traditional savings model would point toward conventional securities, whereas an innovation-oriented design could leave room for regulated crypto ETFs instead of direct token exposure.

Costco challenges tariff policy

Costco has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, demanding a refund on tariffs that it argues unlawfully inflated its costs and disrupted its low-margin business model.

The retailer says the duties, introduced as part of a broader protectionist agenda, forced import-dependent firms to absorb expenses unrelated to national security or legitimate trade enforcement. Those added costs, it says, eventually compelled companies to pass higher prices on to customers.

A legal victory for Costco would amount to a broader challenge to the administration’s trade strategy, and could prompt a wave of lawsuits from other large retailers. That would expose policymakers to substantial refund liabilities and place limits on the government’s capacity to impose swift tariffs during international disputes.

The lawsuit raises the prospect of more predictable pricing and a clearer regulatory environment. But for the White House, it risks narrowing one of its most adaptable economic tools.

America First

Rubio skips NATO meeting

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will miss Wednesday’s gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, an unusually conspicuous absence from the alliance’s biannual summit, according to senior officials.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will take his place, a substitution that has already prompted quiet discussion among European diplomats about Washington’s priorities during a period of renewed debate over burden-sharing, support for Ukraine, and the alliance’s long-term strategy toward Russia.

Although U.S. policy is expected to remain consistent, the shift is notable, since it is uncommon for an American Secretary of State to miss a ministerial of this profile, particularly when the bloc faces pressure over defense spending and disagreements about Ukraine’s path ahead. Landau’s participation provides continuity, officials say, although Rubio’s absence is likely to invite questions about the administration’s diplomatic focus as it manages several foreign-policy challenges at once.

Europe's center of gravity shifts east, politics moves right, hostility to migrants from the south rises, as ties with the U.S. fray, and fear of Russia increases

Macron’s Beijing visit signals more assertive French foreign relations

From 3–5 December, President Emmanuel Macron will travel to China at Beijing’s invitation for discussions covering economic cooperation, the broader relationship between China and the European Union, and other politically sensitive matters, such as Ukraine.

The timing is notable, since the trip takes place ahead of a possible meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping.

By welcoming Macron first, Beijing is signaling its intention to engage Europe directly rather than treating it as an appendage of the U.S., while Europe is showing a growing willingness to shape its China policy with greater independence from Washington.

Macron intends to focus on trade disputes, supply-chain vulnerabilities, market access, and subsidies, as well as China’s position on Russia’s war in Ukraine, tensions in the South China Sea, and the human-rights situation in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

The visit provides Beijing with an opportunity to reduce frictions with the European Union during a period of economic strain and to deter coordinated Western pressure on issues such as export controls and investment screening. The substance of the talks may matter less than their timing, since both sides are adjusting to a diplomatic landscape in which the U.S. is no longer the sole point of orientation, making Macron’s trip another sign of the shifting balance.

Norway questions asylum claims

Norway has opened a new front in its management of asylum and citizenship, with the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration preparing to withdraw citizenship from a small group of Eritrean-Norwegians who may have secured protection under false pretenses.

A two-year investigation has examined 135 Eritrean-Norwegians who arrived claiming persecution, often citing flight from indefinite conscription, only to later join or support pro-regime associations in Norway. The agency argues that such behavior casts doubt on the credibility of their original claims, since Norwegian law allows citizenship to be revoked when it was obtained by providing materially incorrect information.

The inquiry follows violent clashes in Bergen two years ago between rival Eritrean factions, an episode that forced officials to confront how deeply Eritrea’s ruling party has embedded itself in diaspora politics.

Fewer than twenty cases have resulted in revocation so far, with roughly thirty more under review, and the process remains long and subject to legal challenge. Even so, the move illustrates a wider European dilemma: governments are seeking to balance their obligation to protect those who genuinely need refuge with the need to preserve the integrity of asylum systems facing fiscal and political pressure.

Norway’s municipalities are already wrestling with tighter budgets, and although refugees are not the principal cause of local deficits, the investigation has intensified debate over whether some may be misusing the system.

Norway’s actions will be watched closely by other European governments, since this is the first time that demonstrated loyalty to a foreign regime has become the central factor in a Norwegian citizenship withdrawal.

Under threat worldwide

India mandates an unremovable state app

India’s decision to require the Sanchar Saathi app on every new smartphone, making it permanently installed and impossible to delete, marks a significant shift in the country’s digital-governance model.

What began as a tool for locating stolen phones becomes something different once embedded at the system level, namely a permanent state presence inside every device.

With over-the-air updates guaranteed, the government can expand the app’s capabilities over time, raising concerns about whether it could eventually gain access to device identifiers, location data, browsing patterns or unencrypted files.

Even if the app is benign today, the precedent is more important. A smartphone is the most intimate object many people own, storing private conversations, financial information and daily movements.

Embedding an unremovable government app challenges the principle that such a device is a personal space protected from state intrusion except through due process.

The move comes after the government granted itself broad exemptions in India’s Data Protection Law, creating a system in which private firms face strict obligations while the state does not.

The Department of Telecommunications introduced the requirement without public consultation or parliamentary debate. The mandate represents India’s first step toward a device ecosystem in which the government becomes a permanent and privileged actor at the operating-system layer, an architectural shift that will be difficult to unwind and likely invites further expansion in the months ahead.

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