Trump Trade: U.S. President resets Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly.

CAFE STANDARDS: President Donald Trump is resetting the Biden Administration’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards. The White House said in its fact sheet, “President Trump is returning CAFE standards to levels that can actually be met with conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles. The Biden Administration standards imposed unrealistic fuel economy targets that effectively resulted in an electric vehicle mandate. The Trump Administration’s reset of the CAFE standards ensures the program’s fidelity to the legal restrictions set forth by Congress. The Biden standards broke the law by going far beyond the requirements that were mandated by Congress when it created the CAFE program. The Biden Administration created extraordinarily stringent fuel economy standards for passenger cars and trucks, set at such aggressive levels that they were impossible to meet with available technologies for gas cars. The Biden standards would have compelled widespread shifts to EVs that American consumers did not ask for, accompanied by significant cost-of-living increases. Since EVs are so expensive to build, automakers must sell them at a loss and make up the difference by significantly raising the sticker price of gas cars. If President Trump had done nothing, the Biden standards would have raised the average cost of a new car by nearly $1,000, relative to the cost under the standards announced today. President Trump’s actions will save American families $109 billion in total over the next five years. By helping more Americans buy newer, safer vehicles, this reset is projected to save more than 1,500 lives and prevent nearly a quarter-million serious injuries through 2050.” Publicly traded companies in the space include Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Lucid Group (LCID), Mercedes-Benz (MBGYY), Nissan (NSANY), Rivian (RIVN), Stellantis (STLA), Tesla (TSLA), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VWAGY).

BALLROOM DONATIONS: Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats have begun asking leaders of Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) to provide details on their donations to President Trump’s White House Ballroom, Ken Thomas of The Wall Street Journal reports. Democratic lawmakers sent letters to the corporate executives, raising questions about whether their donations could lead to more favorable treatment. Additionally, the lawmakers are requesting information from Comcast (CMCSA) and Union Pacific Railroad (UNP), both of which have merger reviews or other business pending before the Trump administration.

LAWSUIT: The New York Times (NYT) has sued the Trump administration over the Defense Department’s new press rules, arguing they violate free speech and due-process rights, Alexandra Bruell of The Wall Street Journal reports. Back in September, the Pentagon issued a memo stating reporters would need to sign a document restricting communication with military sources. Outlets interpreted this as requiring they agree to not disclose classified or sensitive information without approval. The Times, the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News (FOX), CNN (WBD), and others did not sign the policy.

FANNIE MAE IPO: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday commented on CNBC that the Trump administration is “well down the road” to getting an IPO of Fannie Mae (FNMA) done and would like to see “something done” by Q1 2026, Wedbush tells investors in a research note. The firm is not surprised by Lutnick’s comments, but says there is no information on the administration’s specific plans for how it will ultimately treat the Treasury’s senior preferred equity interest in Fannie Mae, how it will release the government sponsored entity from conservatorship, and whether it will be focused on selling some of the Treasury’s interest or raising the capital needed to meet the FHFA’s capital targets. Wedbush has an Outperform rating and $11.50 price target on Fannie Mae shares.

AI CHIPS: Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Haung said he is unsure if China would accept the company’s H200 AI chips if the U.S. relaxed its restrictions, Maggie Eastland, Oma Seddiq, and Emily Birnbaum of Bloomberg report. When addressing interviewers, Huang said he discussed export controls with Trump and commented, “We can’t degrade chips that we sell to China, they won’t accept that.”

HELPING ICE: Palantir’s (PLTR) software is helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement track undocumented immigrants and deport them faster, The Washington Post’s Eva Dou reports, citing federal procurement filings and interviews with people who have knowledge of the project. CEO Alex Karp, formerly an outspoken Democrat, has defended President Trump’s immigration policies in his second term.