Trump Weekly: Warsh nominated as Fed chair, tariffs raised on South Korea

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 weekly recap compiled by The Fly.

FED CHAIRMAN: President Trump said on social media, “I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Kevin Warsh to be the CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM. Kevin currently serves as the Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution, and Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a Partner of Stanley Druckenmiller at Duquesne Family Office LLC. Kevin received his A.B. from Stanford University, and J.D. from Harvard Law School… I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down. Congratulations Kevin!”

TARIFFS: President Trump also said in a post on Truth Social, “Our Trade Deals are very important to America. In each of these Deals, we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to. We, of course, expect our Trading Partners to do the same. South Korea’s Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States. President Lee and I reached a Great Deal for both Countries on July 30, 2025, and we reaffirmed these terms while I was in Korea on October 29, 2025. Why hasn’t the Korean Legislature approved it? Because the Korean Legislature hasn’t enacted our Historic Trade Agreement, which is their prerogative, I am hereby increasing South Korean TARIFFS on Autos, Lumber, Pharma, and all other Reciprocal TARIFFS, from 15% to 25%.”

TARIFFS: On Truth Social, President Trump wrote, “If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a “Drop Off Port” for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken. China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life. If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

HEADING TO IRAN: In a post on Truth Social, President Trump stated, “A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela. Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary. Hopefully Iran will quickly “Come to the Table” and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence! As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was “Operation Midnight Hammer,” a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

CRITICAL MINERAL MINIMUM: The White House is stepping back from plans to guarantee a minimum price for U.S. critical minerals projects, a quiet acknowledgement of a lack of congressional funding on the matter and the difficulties associated with setting market prices, Reuters’ Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw report, citing multiple sources. The change comes as a U.S. Senate panel is examining a price floor extended last year to MP Materials (MP), the authors note. Other publicly traded companies in the space include USA Rare Earth (USAR), Critical Metals (CRML), and United States Antimony (UAMY).

Responding to the Reuters story, MP Materials stated, “Today’s Reuters report is inaccurate, misleading, and inconsistent with the facts. It follows a pattern of speculative and misleading reporting that has repeatedly mischaracterized government policy and caused unnecessary confusion in the marketplace. MP Materials has a binding, long-term agreement with the U.S. Department of War that remains fully in force, including the Price Protection Agreement executed last year. There has been no change whatsoever to our contract or to the government’s obligations under it.”

H200 CHIPS: China has approved the purchase of Nvidia’s (NVDA) H200 AI chips for the first time, authorizing several Chinese customers, including Alibaba (BABA) and ByteDance, to buy an initial batch worth about $10B, The Wall Street Journal’s Raffaele Huang reports. The move signals easing U.S.-China tensions following last year’s trade truce and comes ahead of a planned visit by President Trump to China in April.

CANADA AIRCRAFT: In a message on Truth Social, President Trump stated, “Based on the fact that Canada has wrongfully, illegally, and steadfastly refused to certify the Gulfstream 500, 600, 700, and 800 Jets, one of the greatest, most technologically advanced airplanes ever made, we are hereby decertifying their Bombardier Global Expresses, and all Aircraft made in Canada, until such time as Gulfstream, a Great American Company, is fully certified, as it should have been many years ago. Further, Canada is effectively prohibiting the sale of Gulfstream products in Canada through this very same certification process. If, for any reason, this situation is not immediately corrected, I am going to charge Canada a 50% Tariff on any and all Aircraft sold into the United States of America.”

Meanwhile, Bombardier (BDRBF) stated: “We have taken note of the post from the President of the United States to social media and are in contact with the Canadian government. Bombardier is an international company that employs more than 3,000 people in the U.S. across 9 major facilities, and creates thousands of U.S. jobs through 2,800 suppliers. Our aircraft, facilities and technicians are fully certified to FAA standards and renowned around the world. We are actively investing in expanding our U.S. operations, including a recent announcement in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Thousands of private and civilian jets built in Canada fly in the U.S. every day. We hope this is quickly resolved to avoid a significant impact to air traffic and the flying public.”

BUDGET: In a message on Truth Social, President Trump stated, “America is setting Records in every way, and our Growth Numbers are among the best ever. The only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown. I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government, without delay. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before). Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan “YES” Vote.”

DEESCALATION: Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook told staff that he is “heartbroken by the events in Minneapolis,” and called for a “deescalation,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports, citing an internal memo. Cook told employees that he discussed the matter with President Donald Trump, sharing his views and appreciating the president’s openness to engaging on issues that matter to everyone.

MILITARY AI USE: The Pentagon is deadlocked with Anthropic over safeguards limiting the use of its AI for autonomous weapons targeting and domestic surveillance, stalling talks tied to a contract worth up to $200M, Reuters’ Deepa Seetharaman, David Jeans and Jeffrey Dastin report. The dispute reflects broader tensions between the AI company and the Trump administration over acceptable military and government uses of the technology.

TRUMP ACCOUNTS TRUSTEE: The U.S. government is considering giving Robinhood (HOOD) a key role in overseeing the Trump accounts being created for millions of children, Paige Smith, Loukia Gyftopoulou, Annie Massa and Todd Gillespie of Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter. Robinhood has begun preparing in case it is selected to become a trustee for the project, sources told Bloomberg. Some of the largest brokerages, including Fidelity and Vanguard, have so far not been on the list of candidates considered for the initial rollout, sources added. A selection is expected to be announced soon, and the Treasury Department has considered selecting up to three companies to serve as the initial trustees, the people said.