President Biden is being pressured to grant a posthumous pardon for Marcus Garvey — a Black nationalist who was influential to Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and later generations of Black Panther Party activists.
Why it matters: The Jamaican-born Garvey was convicted of mail fraud on June 21, 1923, in a case that supporters have long said was politically motivated and aimed at discrediting his growing popularity among Black Americans amid lynchings and racial violence.
The State Department has notified Congress "informally" of an $8 billion proposed arms deal with Israel that will include munitions for fighter jets and attack helicopters as well as artillery shells, two sources with direct knowledge tell Axios.
Why it matters: This will likely be the last weapons sale to Israel the Biden administration approves.
President-elect Trump announced on Friday that he is appointing Morgan Ortagus, who served as State Department spokesperson in his first term, as deputy special presidential envoy for Middle East peace.
The intrigue: The appointment came with a rebuke. Trump noted that Ortagus came highly recommended but had criticized him in the past. "Early on Morgan fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson," Trump wrote.
Japan's Nippon Steel on Friday indicated that it will sue the U.S. government after President Biden blocked its purchase of U.S. Steel on national security grounds.
The big picture: Biden blocked the deal, but defending that decision will fall to President-elect Trump, who also opposed the transaction.
President-elect Trump could help end Russia'swar in Ukraine if he leverages his "unpredictability," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a new interview.
Why it matters: Trump vowed on the campaign trail to swiftly bring an end to the nearly three-year long war — a task he said he is uniquely qualified to accomplish because of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Biden on Friday is expected to block Japan's Nippon Steel from acquiring U.S. Steel, citing national security concerns, the White House announced Friday.
Why it matters: U.S. Steel's shares were down as much as 9% in pre-market trading Friday on the news. The company has warned that a deal failure would cause it to close some operations in Pennsylvania, where it employs around 4,000 people.
If Donald Trump succeeds in significantly reducing the U.S. trade deficit with China, he'll do so against the force of history — and of market expectations.
Why it matters: By placing the trade deficit with China at the top of the list of things he wants to slash, Trump is facing off against trillions of dollars' worth of deeply entrenched global trade patterns.
Elon Musk hijacked British politics this week with a stream of at least 60 X posts since Tuesday attacking Prime Minister Keir Starmer, defending an anti-Islam campaigner and endorsing the far-right Reform Party.
Why it matters: The right-hand man to America's next president has gone after the leaders of several of its closest allies in recent months. But his fight with the British government is turning into the nastiest yet.
