Axios

With an escalation in President Trump's trade war possible as early as Thursday, retaliatory tariffs threaten U.S. companies employing some 11 million workers, according to an Axios analysis.

Why it matters: Industries affected by the brinksmanship are mostly concentrated in rural, deeply red, already-struggling parts of the country, with political consequences for Trump and Republicans in 2018 and beyond.

Tesla's stock sank close to its lowest point of the year after CEO Elon Musk appeared to smoke marijuana in an interview with comedian Joe Rogan, reports The Wall Street Journal's Tim Higgins.

Why it matters: Musk's actions in the interview revealed a personal side of himself, but some analysts say his behavior is more erratic than it is charming and creating a distraction for the company.

Nike's sales have surged 31% in the time since it unveiled Colin Kaepernick as one of the faces of its "Just Do It" campaign and 17% over its mark from the same time period last year, according to data from Edison Trends.

Why it matters: Critics of Nike's move to sign Kaepernick to a new deal and include him in their latest ad campaign speculated that Nike may suffer in sales and because of backlash from public disdain of Kaepernick. Though the apparel brand did take a hit in favorability, the latest data indicates that sales are still on the rise.

While speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, President Trump announced he plans to move ahead with tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and threatened further action on another $267 billion if China retaliates, the Washington Post reports.

"Now we’ve added another $200 billion. And I hate to say that, but behind that, there’s another $267 billion ready to go on short notice if I want. That totally changes the equation."

Why it matters: The trade war between the U.S. and China continues to escalate, and could ultimately have serious impacts on American workers.

The U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate held at 3.9%. Wage growth accelerated to 2.9%. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast 191,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate falling to 3.8%.

Bottom line: The U.S. economy's longest-ever streak of job growth continues. Former Obama administration economist Jason Furman said on Twitter it's "remarkable" job growth has remained so strong for so long.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has reversed its decision to make a new Oscars film category for "outstanding achievement in popular film" after heavy criticism, the L.A. Times' Josh Rottenberg reports.

The big picture: Many people felt that the Academy was "pandering in reaction to declining ratings" for the awards show, writes Rottenberg. But one of the Academy's board of governor members told him that it's "not about 'popular.' We're looking at ways to specifically reward comedies, science fiction and action films, among other types of movies."

Trumpworld sources tell Axios that officials rapidly shifted from trying to smoke out the author of the anonymous N.Y. Times op-ed, to using the guessing game to knife people they already hated — whispering the names of rivals and enemies as potential authors.

By last night, MSNBC counted 27 senior officials in the Trump administration (to use The Times' formulation) who had issued denials.

The anonymous New York Times op-ed that has dominated the conversation in Washington since being published Wednesday has already become one of the most-read pages on the Times' website this year, bringing in over 10 million views, according to CNN's Reliable Sources.

The bottom line: We still don't know who wrote it, but officials were quick to put their names in the "not me" column. According to Axios' Mike Allen and Jonathan Swan, Trump was made increasingly paranoid about those around him by the op-ed, and he's on a hunt to learn who's behind it.