Apple announced yesterday that it plans to do something for Americans of all text bubble colors: Plug the US economy with $500 billion in the next four years.

The iPhone-maker said:

• It would double its Advanced Manufacturing Fund, increasing it to $10 billion, which will help fund the production of US-made semiconductors—including at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s new facility in Arizona. Apple confirmed reports that mass production of its chips began there last month.
• While continuing to expand domestic data center capacity, it will start assembling servers for its AI product Apple Intelligence in Houston that were previously made abroad.
• A new Apple academy in Detroit will help businesses implement AI and train manufacturing workers.

The company plans to hire 20,000 US-based employees for roles related to research, semiconductor engineering, and AI development.

Is this Trump cooking?

The half-trillion investment laundry list dropped days after Apple’s CEO Tim Cook met with President Trump, who credited it to “faith in what we are doing.”

Some analysts doubt how much Apple’s spending plans actually changed in response to recent White House policy. But the timing of the tech giant’s announcement touting its contributions to America’s GDP at least appears to be strategic.

• Apple’s margins are expected to suffer from the 10% duty that Trump recently imposed on imports from China, where it still sources much of its gadgets.
• It would take a further hit from a 25% semiconductor tariff that Trump floated this month.

During Trump’s first term, Cook reportedly convinced him to spare Apple products from tariffs on Chinese imports by privately arguing that it would’ve benefited its South Korean competitor Samsung. At the time, Cook promised to invest $350 billion in the US and later publicly allowed Trump to take credit for a Texas MacBook factory that had already been making products since 2013.

And today…Apple’s shareholders will vote on whether to axe its DEI programs, a proposal that the company’s board opposes, claiming it would interfere with decision-making around hiring and operations.—SK

Trump backs Musk’s plan to fire federal workers who don’t respond to email. Different government departments gave different advice to their staff about whether to respond to an email telling them to outline what they did last week by 11:59pm yesterday. But President Trump did not equivocate, saying during an appearance with the president of France that he supported Elon Musk’s social media post declaring that workers who did not respond would be considered to have resigned. Meanwhile, unions representing federal workers filed a legal challenge to the forced resignation threat. The threat might never come to fruition, though, because the agency that functions as the government’s HR reportedly told other agencies they could ignore it. However, as the deadline neared, Musk tweeted that federal workers were being given a second chance “at the discretion of the president” but that “failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”

🫘 Starbucks lays off 1,100 corporate staffers. The coffee chain is making one of the biggest staff cuts in its history as part of CEO Brian Niccol’s plan to turn things around as sales have dropped. The layoffs, aimed at improving efficiency, won’t impact workers at cafes or employees involved in coffee production, warehousing, or distribution. It’s not just corporate employees on the chopping block: Starbucks also plans to slim down its menu. Low-selling beverages, such as white hot chocolate, will disappear as the chain seeks to make its menu ~30% smaller by the end of September.

US clashes with European allies over UN Ukraine resolution. Yesterday marked the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine, and that led to a diplomatic scuffle between the US and its allies over the wording of United Nations resolutions. The US refused to back resolutions that condemned Russian aggression, instead supporting language that called for an end to the conflict without calling out Russia. Ukraine and European nations marshalled enough votes to get their version through the 193-member General Assembly, however, the US joined with Russia and China to pass its version in the powerful Security Council. The resolution dustup came as US policy toward Ukraine has shifted with the Trump administration, which is said to be close to negotiating a deal that would give the US access to Ukraine’s valuable minerals in exchange for continued military aid.—AR

One of the biggest environmental advocacy networks in the world says it might have to shut down if it loses a lawsuit brought by Energy Transfer Partners, the owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline, that went to trial yesterday.

The suit accuses Greenpeace, its grant-making arm, and Greenpeace International of trespassing, defamation, and financial harm over their support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s 2016/2017 nonviolent protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline’s construction.

Energy Transfer is seeking $300 million from Greenpeace USA, more than 10x the nonprofit’s annual budget, according to the New York Times. Energy Transfer is worth almost $70 billion.

Constitutional rights experts are watching closely:

• More than 430+ organizations including Amnesty International and the American Federation of Teachers have signed an open letter condemning the lawsuit as an attempt to suppress free speech and peaceful protest.
• Energy Transfer has denied the anti-free speech allegations, saying the suit is about “them not following the law.”

SLAPP in the face: Legal experts told The Guardian and NPR that they agree with Greenpeace that the case amounts to a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, aka litigation that aims to silence a corporation’s critic with expensive court proceedings. North Dakota, where the trial is taking place over the next five weeks, is one of 15 states without anti-SLAPP laws, which can help defendants get cases dismissed and recover legal costs.—ML

After nearly a decade of glowing on your TV screen while you put together a sheet pan dinner, Lester Holt is stepping down as anchor of NBC Nightly News.

Holt took on the position in 2015 after the departure of Brian Williams during a tumultuous time for the network, becoming a beloved figure of nightly news. He’ll step down this summer to take on a full-time role at Dateline, where he’s been the principal anchor since 2011.

End of an era: Holt is the latest high-profile news anchor to step away from his post, as cable TV falters in the digital age and networks cut costs by ditching star power:

• Joy Reid will leave her position as a host at MSNBC after her show was cancelled, the network announced yesterday.
• Norah O’Donnell recently left her spot as anchor of CBS Evening News.
• Over the last several months, Chris Wallace left CNN, Chuck Todd departed from NBC News, and Hoda Kotb left NBC’s Today.

Zoom out: NBC didn’t immediately name a successor for the post-Holt era, but whoever it is will need a certain Je ne sais quoi to draw viewers away from increasingly popular social media “news influencers.”—CC

F. Scott Fitzgerald may have had it right when he said the rich are different from you and me—at least when it comes to spending money. While others pull back and hoard cash in the face of stubborn inflation, the top 10% of US earners, households that take in $250,000+ annually, have been on a shopping spree, the Wall Street Journal reports. They’re responsible for 49.7% of all spending, the highest it’s been since Moody’s Analytics began keeping track in 1989. The analytics group’s chief economist also estimates that those high-rollers now account for nearly one-third of US gross domestic product.

From September 2023 to September 2024, middle- and lower-class households lowered their spending, while the highest earners upped their spending by 12%, per the WSJ. And spending by the well-heeled, whose property and stock market investments have been doing well, outpaced inflation while spending by others didn’t. That leaves the economy especially reliant on continued big spending by the type of people who don’t mind putting that extra charge for oatmilk on their black AmEx, the WSJ noted.—AR