U.S. President Donald Trump holds a printed-out visual representation reading Hyperion Data Centre over Manhattan, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Aug. 26, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
It's starting to feel like we're in a game of Pac-Man, in which the U.S. government is the eponymous hungry yellow blob furiously chomping on everything in sight.
The White House's 10% stake in Intel and revenue-sharing agreement with Nvidia and AMD look like they're just the start in a series of deals, as President Trump promised. On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that the Pentagon is having "a monstrous discussion" over whether to acquire equity stakes in firms such as Lockheed Martin.
Likewise, Trump's early assaults on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell turned out to be just his opening salvo on the central bank. On Monday night stateside, the U.S. leader terminated Lisa Cook, a Fed governor, over allegations of mortgage fraud. The next day, at a Cabinet meeting, Trump said he will "have a majority" of his nominees at the Fed, "so that'll be great."
Prior to Trump's inauguration, analysts were upbeat about a looser regulatory environment that could facilitate more mergers and acquisitions. They probably weren't thinking about the White House being the main deal-maker.
What you need to know today
And finally...
Eternalcreative | Istock | Getty Images
A world on weight loss drugs: How GLP-1s are reshaping the economy
Miracle drugs, obesity treatments and skinny jabs. Call them what you will, few drugs have had a more transformative effect on Wall Street and waistlines over recent decades than GLP-1s.
Experts say the wide-ranging swathe of applications could open up potentially sweeping implications for both health outcomes and the economy, ranging from increasing productivity, shifting food habits as well as readjustments in the clothing industry.
— Karen Gilchrist
English (US) · 