It might not explain everything, but it is suggestive…
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/trump-the-modern-mercantilist
Trump, the modern mercantilist
The case that Trump is a latterday mercantilist is surprisingly strong. Mercantilism was never a tidy theory. It was a set of habits that involves treating trade as a contest, counting the surplus as the score, and letting the state steer commerce toward national power. On each count, Trump's record fits.
The mercantilists believed one nation's gain was another's loss. Trump speaks in exactly these terms. A trade deficit with a country means America is ‘losing’ to it, and a surplus means winning. Mainstream economists see a bilateral deficit as a mostly meaningless accounting result of millions of voluntary exchanges. Trump sees it as a scorecard. The 2025 ‘reciprocal’ tariffs made this explicit. The rates were derived largely from each country's trade surplus with the United States, not from its actual tariff barriers.
The logistics of data… (Is it war yet?)
Ukraine Struck Yandex Data Centers, Russian Bots Went Silent—Now Questions Are Mounting
… Zelenskyy noted that "everyone noticed" a reduction in Russian bot activity after Ukrainian drones struck data centers operated by Yandex, Russia's largest internet technology company, according to BBC News Ukrainian.
The president's remarks followed reports of a sharp decline in automated internet traffic originating from Yandex's network, although the available data does not establish whether Russian propaganda operations were affected.
(Related)
Intelligence agencies warn against Russian attempts to assassinate European defense CEOs - report
Western intelligence agencies have warned CEOs and other senior employees at defense companies that they are being targeted by Kremlin operatives. According to officials from five European intelligence agencies who spoke with the Financial Times, Europe's defense company bosses that Russia is stepping up efforts to assassinate them, prompting companies to increase personal security around top executives.
With battlefield progress deadlocked in Ukraine and Russia's economy struggling, the Kremlin has ordered an expansion of sabotage and "hybrid" operations in Europe as it seeks to weaken support for Kyiv. Assassinations against European civilian targets, once considered taboo even by Russia's spy agencies, are becoming a prominent part of those plans, according to the intelligence services.
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