Trump Targets More Cities for Potential Troop Rollout

What's Happening

US News

Trump Targets More Cities for Potential Troop Rollout

What's going on: President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to send troops into Baltimore after clashing with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D). Moore had invited Trump to join city officials on a public safety walk next month to see how the state is tackling crime — while also pointing out federal cuts under Trump that have hurt those efforts. Instead, the president brushed off the offer, saying he might "send in the troops” and threatened to pull Francis Scott Key Bridge funding. Just days earlier, Trump named Chicago and New York City as “next” in his federal crime crackdown, claiming residents were "screaming for us to come."

Tell me more: The threats come as the National Guard’s newly armed presence in DC heightens tensions — and as the Trump administration considers other states for deployments. The Pentagon has quietly prepared for weeks to lead an operation in Chicago that would involve the National Guard and active-duty military forces, according to The Washington Post. This, despite a historic 30% drop in violent crime during the first half of 2025. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker accused the president of manufacturing a crisis while politicizing “Americans who serve in uniform.” Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson went further, vowing to sue and calling the plan a “military occupation.”

Related: US Wants To Deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia To an African Country (NPR) 

Health

Mississippi Declares Health Emergency as Infant Deaths Rise

What's going on: Mississippi’s health department has declared a public health emergency as the state’s infant mortality rate climbs to its highest level in a decade. In 2024, 9.7 babies died for every 1,000 births. Since 2014, more than 3,500 infants in Mississippi have died before their first birthday. The leading causes of infant deaths in the state — and nationwide — are congenital malformation, preterm birth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) — and Black babies are particularly vulnerable. The state’s health officer called the declaration an “urgent commitment to save lives.”

What it means: Mississippi's crisis is part of a bigger story. The national infant mortality rate rose in 2022 for the first time in two decades. Rates dipped in 2024, but experts caution that one year doesn’t erase broader concerns. One of those being research linking infant mortality to abortion restrictions. In Texas, infant deaths spiked after the state’s six-week abortion ban took effect in 2021, according to a CNN investigation. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics later found infant mortality remained unusually high for months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Now, experts are bracing for another blow: Medicaid cuts from Trump’s spending bill risk worsening maternal-care deserts in places like Mississippi — already burdened by higher poverty and chronic illness.

Related: Texas and Florida Want In on the Abortion Pill Fight (Reuters)

Business

MAHA, Meet Moolah

What's going on: Fries cooked in beef tallow. Air-popped popcorn. Cauliflower everything. MAHA-approved foods are suddenly everywhere, and food companies smell money — along with that classic movie-theater butter scent. Some brands are cashing in on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health crusade, plastering labels with what his movement bans (high-fructose corn syrup, artificial dyes) and hyping what it blesses as “healthy.” The catch: “Wellness” products almost always cost more, and experts warn this kind of “MAHA-washing” could deepen food inequality.

What it means: All this may be a good way to get customers to pay a little more for their chips, but analysts say that the MAHA-ification of our groceries likely won’t make Americans “healthier.” In fact, it could backfire. As one analyst told The Atlantic, Americans are “suckers” for packaging that promises health in a bag or bottle — even when the food inside is no better than the regular version. Think low-cal ice creams, which encourage polishing off a whole pint guilt-free (no judgment, we’ve been there). The trend isn’t new, but it’s getting a big boost from MAHA hype — and from a draft report obtained by Politico that experts say looks unusually friendly to the food and agriculture industries.

Related: Goodbye, “Hello, Fresh,” Hello… MAHA Boxes? (The Atlantic Gift Link)

Settle This

Which room is disappearing from new home designs?

Game Time

Wake your brain up this Monday with a game of Flipart. Just rotate the pieces to fit within the frame and get ready to feel the rush when they all fall into place. Get into it.