Trump’s Greenland Strategy, and the New Promise of Weight-Loss Pills

0:02From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, December 23rd. Here's what we're covering.

0:13If you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need it for national security. We have to have it. President Trump is renewing his calls for the U.S. to take over Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. Greenland's a big deal. This week, he appointed a special envoy to the island, something he's only done for a short list of foreign policy priorities, like Ukraine and the Middle East. He's picked the governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, for the position. After the announcement, Landry thanked Trump on social media, writing, It's an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S.

0:56Officials in both Greenland and Denmark are furious. Their prime ministers put out a joint statement saying, you cannot annex other countries, not even by invoking international security. Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders. A poll earlier this year showed that at least 85 % of residents there opposed the idea of being absorbed into the U.S. After the envoy was announced, Denmark's foreign minister said he would summon the American ambassador in Copenhagen for an explanation. He already summoned other American diplomats earlier this year over reports that the U.S. was spying on the island. Most of Greenland is within the Arctic Circle, where world powers are competing for control of shipping corridors and untapped natural resources.

1:43Though yesterday, Trump denied oil and minerals were driving his decision. Meanwhile, in another diplomatic shakeup The Trump administration has ordered nearly 30 ambassadors around the world To leave their posts and return to the U.S. within weeks A move that would leave a large gap in the American diplomatic corps They are all foreign service officers Who had been appointed by the Biden administration And confirmed by the Senate A union representing career diplomats Said this is the first time there's ever been a mass recall of this kind The Trump administration did not publicly announce the move or give a reason for it.

2:20In response to questions from The Times, the State Department said, it is the president's right to ensure that he has individuals in these countries who advance the America First agenda.

2:34Now, two more quick updates on the administration. The Department of the Interior says it's pausing leases for five wind farms under construction off the East Coast. The move effectively guts the offshore wind industry in the U.S. The Interior Department said classified reports from the Pentagon found the farms posed national security risks and that the Energy Department had found they could interfere with radar systems. The decision has caused a lot of chaos and uncertainty for the companies that have sunk billions of dollars into the renewable energy projects, including one farm off the coast of Virginia, where the company said it had coordinated with the military.

3:13President Trump has been a vocal critic of wind turbines for over a decade, calling them ugly, costly, and inefficient, ever since a wind farm went up near one of his golf courses in Scotland. And last update. The future Trump-class battleship, the USS Defiant, will be the largest, deadliest, and most versatile and best-looking warship anywhere on the world's oceans. The Secretary of the Navy joined the president at Mar-a-Lago yesterday to announce the construction of what will be called a new Trump-class of warships. Trump has described the Navy's current fleet as old and tired. The new ships are expected to be the centerpiece of his administration's effort to deter other naval powers like China and to revitalize shipbuilding in the U.S.

4:00The Trump-class ships add to the president's pattern of putting his brand on various aspects of the government. Just last week, his name was added to the Kennedy Center. One lawmaker has now sued to remove that, saying only Congress is authorized to make that kind of change.

4:22GLP-1 weight loss drugs have been blockbuster hits in recent years, with Ozempic and Wagovi becoming household names. And now the Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill version of Wagovi, which could lead more people to consider taking it. Currently, almost all GLP-1 drugs are injectable, which can be a hurdle for patients who are uncomfortable with or afraid of needles. But a clinical trial sponsored by Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Wagovi, found the pill version was roughly as effective as the shot. The drugmaker says it will be available in the U.S. early next year. It remains to be seen if real-world results will match those from the trial, but more pill options seem to be coming.

5:06Eli Lilly, the company that makes competitor weight loss drugs like ZepBound and Manjaro, is expected to release its own pill in the spring.

5:19In a stunning move, the U.S.'s largest maker of bourbon, Jim Beam, announced it will pause production for one year at its flagship facility in Kentucky. It's the latest sign of distress for the wine, beer, and liquor sector. There have been production cuts, layoffs, and financial crises at multiple companies, as sales have dropped about 5 % over the past year. The sudden, steep decline comes after American whiskey in particular had been growing, growing, growing for more than 20 years. It got an extra boost during the pandemic. People stuck at home got into buying and collecting, pouring money into the market.

5:56Distilleries jumped to keep up with demand, setting aside millions of barrels to age. Industry experts say some kind of market correction was inevitable then, as the pandemic buying spree passed. Analysts say tariffs and their backlash have also played a role. Sales of American whiskey to Canada, which was one of the biggest international markets for it, have virtually stopped. And consumer behavior's been changing. Gen Z is reaching drinking age, but polls show young people drink less. And if they do drink, they're choosing expensive elevated brands to have sparingly. That's a problem for Jim Beam, which relies on sales of its more inexpensive options.

6:45And finally. It's time to play America's favorite jackpot game. In the last decade or so, huge billion-dollar lottery jackpots have become more common because of changes to games like Mega Millions and Powerball, and because of higher ticket prices. To be clear, the odds are still like winning the lottery, but the prizes have ticked up. The current Powerball prize just hit$1.7 billion, making it the fourth largest jackpot ever, and it could continue to grow if no one wins in the next drawing tomorrow. Recently, the Times pulled together a look at what's happened with those big prizes. Some states let the winners stay anonymous, a tactic many people took, which, yes, smart.

7:33A lot of people also took the lump sum, walking away with checks with a lot of digits on them. But at one point, the Times Upshot column did the math and found there's actually a lot of persuasive reasons not to do that and to take the smaller payments that can last for decades instead. partially for potential tax advantages, partially because it can save you from yourself.

7:59Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We are off for the next few days, and the headlines will return on Monday, December 29th.