🔙 “Reverse Uno” — Tariffs’ mogging. Ice Cream’s exit. Nike’s ACG mystery. +The 1st Handshake

0:28This is Nick. Jack. Is that a hint? It's not a spoiler. We're also the youngest ones in the crowd. Jack, three fantastic stories for today's pod. What do we got on the T-boy? For our first story, President Trump's tariffs got hit with the reverse UNO card. Yep. They've been struck down by the Supreme Court. So Jack and I will tell you how to unscramble this trade war scrambled egg. For our second story, I scream, you scream, what's happening to ice cream? Nestle is selling all of its ice cream because running an ice cream business is really, really annoying. And our The third in Thonald's story is the surprise co-star of the Olympics.

1:02It's a new brand called ACG that every American athlete wore. But it's secretly owned by Nike, and it could actually save the Nike. But besties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, what a mix to kick off the week. I love the mix, Jack. The wildest drama of last week wasn't on Love Island, Bravo, or TMZ. No, no, no, no, no. It was between the two biggest names in AI. Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario Amadei of Anthropic are in their toxic era. Besties, these dudes hate each other so much, they won't even shake hands. It's a true story. Last week at India's AI Summit, those two men were both there and they avoided each other like the plague.

1:41Like Sam, he's feeling burned by anthropic Super Bowl ads. And Dario doesn't want Sam to start spontaneously advertising on it mid-conversation. Classic Sam. But then the Prime Minister of India insisted all the attendees stand up for a photo op on stage. And get this, the Prime Minister insisted that Sam and Dario stand next to each other. Awkward. He asked everyone to hold hands in a sign of unity. More awkward. Everyone did hold hands except these two. They just stood side by side and put their hands up in the air. It was very conspicuous not hand-holding. Very awkward. Basically, these two have gone from friends to enemies like Nicki Minaj and Cardi B.

2:19Like Regina George and Katie. Like Drake versus Kendrick. But since these two won't shake hands, Jack and I got curious about the origin of the handshake. Where was the first handshake? Like, when did that become a thing? Well, we dove in T-boy style and discovered it was King Shalmaneser III of ancient Babylon. Thanks, History Major. The first dude to shake hands with another man in a sign of, like, we're cool with each other was in the 9th century BC. We know because it's on a stone tablet. It's fat checked. And the purpose of the handshake? Well, the handshake signals, I come in peace. Like, we're holding hands.

2:51I'm not going to fight you. It's pretty hard to stab you if we're shaking hands. So, besties, you're going to shake someone's hand today, just like the ancient Babylonians. But unlike Sam and Dario. Awkward, Jack. Let's hit our three story.

3:24So just start the show.

3:28Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

3:38Top hats, baseball hats, Von Dutch hats. We wear so many hats on this podcast. Honestly, we're not great at all of them. No, we've been avoiding hiring someone to wear those hats instead of us, especially the Von Dutch one, because hiring and training can take forever. Well, proud to say that we are hiring right now at T-Boy, and this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Because sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are 95 % more likely to report a hire than non-sponsored jobs. So besties spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes, less stress, less time, more results.

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4:43Yes. I funnel all my revenue from being a host on Airbnb into one bank account and use that same bank account to book travel for myself. Basically, it's Jack's host guest bank account for when he hosts and when he's a guest somewhere else. When I lived in the city neck, every time my apartment was available on Airbnb, it would get booked like that. I mean, think about how often are you away from home? You got the bridesmaid, you got the shower, you got the bachelorette, you got the wedding. That's three weekends away just for one wedding right there. Plus, you got to visit your mother. Naturally.

5:12Well, that's a lot of potential hosting that you could be doing on Airbnb. Let someone else stay at your place while you're away. Take that host money and spend it when you're a guest somewhere else. Have a business model like me. If you want to travel more, hosting more is a great way to make it happen financially. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host.

5:34For our first story, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump's global tariffs. It's a massive reverse Uno card undoing the president's favorite policy. But how do you unscramble the egg that is one full year of tariffs collected? Oh, yetis. Last week, President Trump said he would release files about aliens and UFOs. Then the Supreme Court dropped this UFO out of nowhere on us. The Supreme Court, in a six to three majority opinion, actually stated the case very simply. Tariffs are taxes and only Congress can tax. Now, President Trump had claimed that there was a loophole here that allowed him to do this full year of tariffs.

6:12Emergency powers granted in a 1997 law. But that didn't pass the sniff test of the Supremes. They said the emergencies Trump cited, eh, they weren't really valid in this case. So the ruling is that tariffs aren't illegal in and of themselves. They simply need to be approved by Congress, like any other tax needs to be approved by Congress. It's like President Trump was tariff maxing, and then Congress said, no cap, we need a cap on those tariffs. and then the Supreme Court just mogged the president's tariffs. Okay, I'm going to put all of that into Gen Z AI chatbot and figure it all out. Yeah, I got you on the translation.

6:47But this leads to the big question yet is what happens next? The hardest part happens next, because how do you un-tariff tariffs that have already been tariffed? That hath which been tariffed, Jack. President Trump's tariffs basically scrambled global trade. That's what we said last year. So unscrambling the egg of one year of tariffs, that's going to be a huge challenge now. How do you go from omelet back to the egg besties? The easy part here is the 25 % tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Those are canceled effective immediately. And the 10 % so-called reciprocal tariffs from Liberation Day, those are canceled as well.

7:24But targeting specific industries like steel, those tariffs stay in place. 40 % of Trump's tariffs were not struck down by the Supreme Court. Those are actually legal under different laws. But Jack, what about the hardest part of this already hard question? The refunds. Because as a reminder, this lawsuit that the Supreme Court just ruled on, it came from small businesses who sued the Trump administration for the tariffs. Exactly. And small businesses hurt by tariffs, they want payback. They want justice. They want refunds. I'd like to speak to a manager, please. After all, they paid money to the government, tariffs, and those tariffs are legal, so shouldn't they get their money back now?

8:00So two reports last week actually confirmed what President Trump has denied for a long time. The two reports confirmed that foreign countries don't pay the tariffs. We do. But the Supreme Court didn't say anything about the refunds. Maybe low courts or maybe a future Supreme Court ruling. Maybe that we'll figure it out later on. It's really frustrating that after deliberating on this for months, the Supreme Court didn't answer the huge question of refunds. Yeah, I know what you're feeling right now, Jack. It's like a parent saying, let's drop our three-year-old's nap, but then not explaining what's going to happen to that gap in the day that you depend on when your kid is napping.

8:32So the fundamental question, how to unscramble these scrambled tariff eggs, basically issuing refunds, well, lawsuits are lining up just to figure it out. So how did markets react, though, to the news that the tariffs are illegal? Pretty, pretty good, Jack. Very well, because the tariffs getting canceled are effectively a tax cut for the whole economy. So that's why we saw the made-in-China stocks popping last week. Elf Beauty Makeup, which does a lot of their stuff in China, their stock rose 23 % last week, now that tariffs are gone. It was very dewy. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies wondering what happens next?

9:08The president should use the Supreme Court's ruling to walk away from this losing policy. This is an off-ramp. You see, besties, on Friday, President Trump accused the six major judges of the Supreme Court of disloyalty to our Constitution. That's not what happened, though. That's the opposite of what happened. But the president then pledged to replace his struck-down tariffs with brand-new 10 % tariffs that are more legally durable. But just because the president says he'll do something doesn't mean he actually will do something. Think about it. With affordability in the midterms coming up, he could use the Supreme Court's decision to let this bad policy end.

9:42And why is it a bad policy? Well, we got all the data. The trade deficit grew in the last year, the exact opposite of what President Trump wanted. U.S. manufacturing jobs declined by 80 ,000 jobs last year. That's the opposite of what Trump wanted with his tariffs. And then on Friday, the Fed's preferred inflation report said that prices actually rose 3 % in December. Not what anyone wanted. A reminder, Yetis. From the beginning of this whole drama, tariffs made the Great Depression worse. So for 80 years, it's been a toxic policy, and this data shows why. Now the president says he will double down and institute legal tariffs to replace these illegal ones.

10:15But we hope he uses the Supreme Court's ruling as an off-ramp. It's a cover to quit a losing policy. For our second story, Nestle is selling off its legendary ice cream business for 1.3 billion bucks just after Unilever spun off their ice cream business too. Why does every big food company hate their ice cream when every human loves their ice cream? Lactose intolerant, what's going on? We had to jump into the scoop. Oh, we got the scoop. But first, Jack, next time you come over, I'm serving you an ice cream omakase. Are you ready for this? Is that like a chef's menu? Yeah, it's like an 11-course chef's choice tasting menu for the gelato I got.

10:52We got Salt and Straw, Van Leeuwen, Jenny's, Fortunes. It's a gelato tasting menu for you, my friend. You are a very generous sweet tooth. I will blindfold you. But second, most importantly, Eddie's, the world's biggest food business, Nestle, is worth$250 billion. They're the second biggest ice cream scooper on earth. They own Drumstick, Haagen-Dazs, and four other brands doing$1.3 billion of global ice cream sales. But Nestle just said, no, I do not want to see the dessert menu. Nestle announced they're selling off all six of their ice cream brands for$1.3 billion to another company that they actually co-own.

11:29Should point out, you can't get rid of ice cream completely. Just ask anyone who's made that like a New Year's resolution, right? That's why they're selling to a company they co-own. But here's what Jack and I find fascinating. It ain't just Nestle ditching the ice cream these days. Last year, Unilever, the world's biggest ice cream company, spun off their ice cream business too. I think the financial term for that, Jack, is banana split. That's what the bankers said. They called their ice cream company Magnum, and now it's a$9 billion publicly traded ice cream stock. They own Talenti, Klondike, and Ben & Jerry's.

11:59What we are looking at when you add it all up, besties, is the great ice cream exit. The game of cones. I scream, you scream, but Jack, who screams for the ice cream? I mean, I do and you do, apparently. Yeah, we do. Actually, both of us do. So besties, this is what we want to dig into today. What is with this trend of companies spitting out their ice cream businesses? Big ones. Because it's not just financial, it feels personal. The leaders of Nestle said last week they think their ice cream lines are annoying. I mean, we were shocked by this, but one executive called ice cream a strong business, but a, quote, distraction.

12:33And includes bothersome idiosyncrasies that they don't want to deal with anymore. So Jack and I dove in T-boy style, and honestly, when you see the numbers, you see what they mean. Like, there are issues with ice cream like hard, rotten blobs of cookie dough. First, the ice cream business is as seasonal as it gets. So seasonal. Half the year, you basically got to give ice cream away. And then the other half of the year, you're dealing with a shortage of the stuff. Second, the supply chain of ice cream? Complicated. I mean, Jack, refrigerated transport, that's like the rocky road of extra cost right there.

13:00You have to buy trucks that are literally gigantic freezers. I mean. And third, the shifting taste of consumers. Oh, one year, oat milk ice cream is cool. The next year, whole milk ice cream is cool. Then we're back to pistachio milk ice cream. And these complications, they're not driven by short-term ozempic issues. These are fundamental ice cream things that have always been there. On the other hand, Jack, coffee, that's a year-round business. Pet food, year-round business. Snacks, that's a multiple times a day, year-round business. And none of them need to be refrigerated. So when you look at those comps, ice cream is complicated.

13:34It is annoying if you're looking at it through a joyless profit lens. Which is what CFOs do. Which leads to the sprinkled covered paradox here. Ice cream. Beloved by kids and adults alike. Hated by CFOs. Yeah, they don't hear this. Even though we all want to lick ice cream. And yes, I just said, you're like, Jack, what's takeaway for our buddies in the ice cream industry? Sometimes diversification is like rum raisin ice cream. It just doesn't work. Okay, Eddie's hot take here. Some combos don't work. Like rum and raisin and ice cream. It's like the pineapple pizza of the industry. I've never even tried it.

14:12That flavor Your description sounds so intimidating. I will try everything and I like to, but I will not try that one, Jack. But the same is true in business. You can't just combine two business lines and think they'll work well together. Yeah. Famously, General Electric fell apart 10 years ago because they merged too many industries. Jet engines, light bulbs, microwave ovens, NBC media. And an ice cream rink and a Christmas tree in front of their headquarters. But since splitting up those different business lines into different companies, General Electric is now thriving as different businesses.

14:40Similarly, a giant food corporation doesn't have to make breakfast, snacks, drinks, and ice cream. And both Unilever and Nestle have now realized that there were no synergies in also owning an ice cream business. It's a reminder that business leaders don't have to diversify every single revenue stream. Like rum and raisins and ice cream. Some flavors don't belong in the same pint. And if you've got strong opinions about rum raisin, that's today's poll on Spotify. Jack, what's a commercial? Now, a quick word from our sponsor. Monarch. When I had student debt, I tracked my progress on an Excel spreadsheet I manually updated each month.

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16:21Because news doesn't mean anything if you don't have a sense of history, the competitive situation, etc. Yada, yada, yada. Well, it's the same with AI. If your AI tool doesn't know anything about your biz, then it's not going to be the best one yet. That's why we're pumped to promote NetSuite by Oracle. It's helping over 43 ,000 businesses figure out how AI can work for them. NetSuite is actually the number one cloud ERP connected to your entire enterprise. It has your data on financials, HR, inventory, commerce, and CRM. To be honest, it's probably going to have to sprinkle on context about your business to you.

16:52It's that intelligent. That connected data is what makes your AI smarter. So it doesn't just guess, it knows. This isn't another bolted on tool. It's AI built into the system that runs your business. So whether your company earns millions or even hundreds of millions, NetSuite helps you stay ahead. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, get your free business guide, demystifying AI at netsuite.com slash tboy. The guide is free to use at netsuite.com slash tboy. netsuite.com slash tboy. For our third and final story, what was that brand all over the Olympics with the three letters?

17:26It's A-C-G, and it's actually owned by Nike. You didn't notice because there wasn't a swoosh, but ACG is one of Nike's lifeboats to save the business. All right, Jack, let's whip out the birth certificates here. Who was born in the year 1989, my friend? Taylor Swift, Rob Gronkowski, Joe Jonas, and ACG. Which stands for All Conditions Gear. Nike birthed that brand to get into hiking, trail running, and mountain sports back in 1989. Basically, Nike wanted to compete with Patagonia, North Face, and the other brands that 18-year-old college-bound kids wear in their gap year to Mongolia. I know what you mean.

18:07Yeah, one of their first products, the Air Moab Trail Shoe, launched in 1991, designed by Tinker Hatfield. Really cool hiking boot. It looks like abstract art. It went full Jackson Pollock on this thing, because instead of earth tones like every other hiking boot, Nike stood out in Sedona. But Nike deprioritized the outdoors in the mid-90s. they basically put away their hiking boots for good. Basically, Nike went back to their two biceps of business, running and basketball. That's why you didn't realize Nike ever did hiking boots. Which led to the surprise ringer of the Milan Olympics. After a decade, Nike called ACG off the bench and put him in the game.

18:44Nike used these Olympics to relaunch their dormant brand. That's why you kept seeing ACG, all conditioned gear. I mean, right, besties? Like throughout the Olympics, athletes were wearing Nike-made puffer jackets, but there was no Nike on those things. Those white jackets, you can picture them because they were worn throughout the Olympics. Instead of a swoosh on the breast, it was an ACG logo. It was a stealthy reintroduction in a setting that made sense. Peak athletic competition, mostly outdoors. Because despite global warming, ski and snowboarding cold gear sales have never been hotter. We did a whole story on it last year.

19:16Canada Goose flying north, south, east, and west. Plus, Nike regrets that they missed the trail running trend of the pandemic. Salomon, On Running, Brooks, New Balance, All of them made trail runners designed to get dirty, and they won. Five years late to that pandemic-born trend, Nike has arrived by bringing back ACG boots. That's right. Nike, they're now doing backpacks, gloves, sneakers, even sunglasses for outdoor activities all under ACG. And this isn't Nike's first rodeo scaling a non-Nike brand, is it, Nick? Fair point, Jack. No, it's not. You got Jordan, you got Converse, you got Nike Skims, and that's not the only context we should sprinkle on, Jack.

19:52Nike stock is still down 60 % from their all-time highs. Yeah, I know. I own it. I know, I know. Last week, we told you that New Balance is catching up to them. So Nike is hoping to reclimb the mountain by targeting the actual mountain. Which leads, Jack, to the takeaway. What's the takeaway for our buddies doing it over at Nike? The molehills are calling, and I must go. You see, yeah, he's... Nike owns the city. Urban and streetwear designs that are its bread and its butter. Patagonia, North Face, Narcteric. They own the great outdoors. Parkers and sleeping bags for your sub-zero camping adventure.

20:27So here is the strategic focus. ACG is trying to fill the gap between the great outdoors and the streetwear. Refined city looks, but for your weekend trip to the country. Basically, Nike's using ACG to sell to Millennial Millie, who lives in New York City but visits Vermont and Berkshires a couple times a year. Nick, it's rare to see a brand try to span two different worlds like Nike is right here. You're right, Jack. But maybe it's telling that Nike didn't start from scratch. Watch, they dip their toe into Lake Nostalgia. It's a project they've been working on for 40 years, actually. Exactly.

20:57Because the molehills are calling, and Nike must go. Jack, could y 'all whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Our first story was the$200 billion reverse UNO card. Oh, yeah. 60 % of Trump's global tariffs have been deemed illegal, but the Supreme Court did not clarify the refunds. So we think the president should use the Supreme Court's ruling as an excuse to end this bad tariff policy. For our second story, it's the ice cream exit. Nestle is following Unilever's lead, selling off their ice cream business. Ice cream, you scream. Having ice cream offers no synergies in the food business.

21:30And our third and final story is Nike. They reintroduced all conditions gear, ACG, at the Winter Olympics. Because the molehills are calling and you must go there looking sharp in Nike gear. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Costco just delivered its wildest PR update yet. a gift card recall? Is that possible? The company that issues gift cards for Costco in the last few months actually went bankrupt. Yeah, we didn't know you could recall gift cards, but apparently you can and it's happening at Costco in aisle six. So Costco will refund your gift card if you swipe it to pay for that$5 rotisserie chicken and it's declined because of the bankruptcy.

22:09I'll need to speak to another manager. And second, James Cameron, the director of the Avatar movies and Terminator and Titanic has a few thoughts. He thinks that Netflix acquiring Warner Brothers would be a disaster for the movie theater industry on a Titanic level. Netflix says they're committed though to keeping movies in theaters if they do acquire Warner Brothers. But James Cameron doesn't believe them. So he urged Warner Brothers and regulators to sell to Paramount instead. And finally, the Seattle Seahawks are selling themselves for charity and the process just began. When Seahawks owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died years ago, he said that he wanted this for his team.

22:47Now we don't know who will buy the Seahawks and how many billions it will sell for, but we do know this. The proceeds of the Seattle Seahawks sale will go to charity. Now time for the best fact yet, which, because it's Monday, means T-boy trivia. And I got one for you, Jack, that you do not know. You ready for this one? I'm ready. Let's go. Okay. In the spirit of the handshake that did not happen between Sam Altman and his rival in Anthropik, it's a handshake one. And here's the question. Which American president has the record for most handshakes given in a single day? Wow. Oh man, I can't wait to hear the answer.

23:22I have no clue. So besties, drop your answer in the comments today and we'll reveal it in tomorrow's pod. Yetis, you are looking fantastic for live T-Boy show week. Jack, you're glowing today. What are you thinking, my friend? If one of the Yetis listening is going to our live show in Austin and you have the best fact yet, you can deliver it live on stage. But first, send it to us so we can vet it. Yeah. Send us a DM on Instagram, at tboypod. Jack and I will check out your fact. If you're going to the show, we may get you on stage with us. Prepare for a bear hug if you do come on stage. You know, you know, Jack and I will see you in Texas.

24:02And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Eddie Zavian Jones in Fort Worth, Texas. Welcome to the teen years, Zavian. Happy birthday to Sean Trinidad Anbia, who has three sons, a pregnant wife, and a birthday in San Diego. What a legend. And Kevin Medrano, happy 33rd birthday down in Frisco, Texas. Happy birthday to Huey Snyder, turning eight and learning German in Spokane, Washington. Huey, sprichst du Deutsch? Ach ja? Nicht nicht? And Jackson Hall, enjoy turning nine at the Detroit Tigers spring training. We hope it gets you out in the field. Happy birthday to Melissa Vu, who's baking bread for the birthday up in Denver.

24:38And to Waverly Bell, enjoy the birthday up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. And a big shout out to Caleb and Jesse. Their one year anniversary is happening right now in Mexico City. ¿Cómo se dice el mejor hasta ahora? Let's roll with that, Jack. And a big shout out to Juliana from New Haven, Vermont, who cackles every morning to the show. She told me in person just the other day. And Glenn Kinsman just took his first Waymo ride and had that robo-taxi turn on the T-Boy podcast. Jack, we were live in the Waymo. Hey Siri, drive me to work and play my favorite podcast. Glenn will see you at the DC show. Celebrate the wins.

25:12And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins.

25:19This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix, Nick own stock in Nike. Youth mental health is a complex challenge that requires comprehensive solutions. We must strengthen afterschool programs. We must make digital literacy tools available in our schools. We must work with mental health professionals to support children. And we must empower mentors, educators, and parents to keep kids happy. Learn more about our commitment to finding lasting solutions at empowerourfuturecoalition.com slash solutions. Paid for by the Coalition to Empower Our Future.