Welcome back to “Political Peculiarities; Strange Happenings in Governance,” your go-to guide for everything confusing, chaotic, and just plain bizarre in the world of politics. If the last few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that logic continues to take a backseat while drama rides shotgun. From social media meltdowns to tariff U-turns, we’re once again reminded that truth is stranger than fiction—especially in D.C. Let’s get into it.
01 – What’s Going on With TikTok? Apparently Trump doesn’t want the app to “Go Dark”
In a twist no one saw coming (or maybe we all did), Donald Trump—yes, the same president who spent much of 2020 trying to ban TikTok—is now saying he doesn’t want the app to “go dark,” and expressed concern that banning the platform could cause young people to “go crazy,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
The timing is… interesting. Trump’s newfound affection for the app just so happens to align with his ties to Jeff Yass, a billionaire Republican donor who owns a 15 percent stake in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. Suddenly, the platform that was once a “national security threat” is now something we need to protect—especially if protecting it keeps Trump’s funds flowing.
Meanwhile, Congress is still pushing a bill that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a nationwide ban. Lawmakers say it’s about security, but the debate has gotten murkier now that Trump is singing a very different tune.
So what’s it really about? Safety? Influence? Billionaire buddies? Whatever the case, Trump’s pivot from trying to delete TikTok to now defending it is one for the irony archives.
02 – Trump’s Tariff Rollercoaster: From Universal Tariffs to Strategic Pauses
Trump recently announced a sweeping 10% tariff on all imported goods, branding it as a move toward “economic independence.” Additionally, higher tariffs were planned for countries like China, which was hit with a proposed 125% tariff.
Then, in a dramatic reversal, Trump announced a 90-day pause on most of those tariffs—excluding those on China—after consulting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Markets reacted immediately, with the Nasdaq’s stocks rising 12 percent and the Dow Jones nearly 8 percent.
But, might I add, wasn’t Trump’s whole presidential campaign about how Biden ruined the economy? People are becoming quick to realize that Trump really didn’t care about the economy–clearly.
Still, even with the pause, economists are warning of long-term ripple effects. Prices on imported consumer goods like electronics, furniture, and food—particularly grocery items like coffee, seafood, and wine—could spike, ending an era of cheap imports in the U.S. So if you like affordable lattes or sushi, now might be a good time to stock up.
03- ICE Continues to Crackdown on Deportation…of Ivy League Students?
Just when you thought ICE had maxed out its absurd quota, they said, “Hold my deportation notice.” In the latest head-scratcher, U.S. immigration officials have been setting their sights not on dangerous criminals or fraudsters—but on college students. And not just any students: we’re talking Ivy League, honor-roll, ‘probably going to save the planet’ types.
The Trump administration has revoked more than 300 student visas, often without warning or explanation. The alleged offenses? Participating in pro-Palestinian protests, having a decades-old traffic violation, or—in some cases—doing absolutely nothing. Schools hit include Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and over 80 others. Because nothing screams “destabilizing” like a sociology major heading to a Ramadan dinner.
Footage of plain-clothes ICE agents detaining students has gone viral, showing young people yanked off sidewalks and out of their homes. Lawsuits are rolling in, like the one from Dartmouth Ph.D. student Xiaotian Liu, who was kicked out despite no protests, no crimes, no reason—unless being “foreign and smart” counts.
The government’s legal cover? A Cold War-era law from 1952, The Alien & Sedition Act, giving them authority to remove anyone deemed a “foreign policy consequence.” Which is political speech for “we just don’t like what you’re saying.”
And ICE isn’t limiting its reach to elite schools either. Students across the country—especially those from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia—have reported increased visa denials, random detentions, and opaque “security checks” that seem more about politics than policy.
Let’s call this what it is: a government agency playing academic Hunger Games, where your GPA doesn’t matter if your nationality sets off red flags in someone’s inbox.
The irony? The U.S. has long touted its universities as the best in the world—a beacon of global leadership and innovation. But that shine fades fast when we’re kicking out students for no reason at all.
