Politics

In a video message released moments ago by Donald Trump, the President-Elect announced that he has asked his team to develop a list of executive actions for his first day as president and announced that he would issue an executive order on his first day of office, withdrawing the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership, and would issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the TPP, voiding Obama's "free-trade legacy."

What a difference a week makes. The day before the election, Economist/YouGov polls showed 39% Favorable and 60% unfavorable towards Donald Trump (as it was oh-so-obvious that Hillary was about to break that glass ceiling). 9 days later, The Hill reports, Donald Trump's popularity has surged.

Are Americans no longer 'shy' of admitting their support for Trump?

Chart: RealClearPolitics (adjusted)

The value of the Venezuelan Bolivar has crashed by 50% in the last two months, breaking above 2000/$ on the black market today for the first time ever. We know this thanks to Gustavo Díaz, a Home Depot employee in central Alabama, who runs one of Venezuela’s most popular and insurgent websites, DolarToday.com, which provides a benchmark exchange rate used by his compatriots to buy and sell black-market dollars.

Five days after meeting with president-elect Donald Trump in what was described as a "candid meeting",  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio delivered what Bloomberg dubbed a "campaign-style rebuke to the President-elect" vowing to resist the "excess of Trump" including federal efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, push more aggressive police actions against minorities or remove health services from women and the poor.

Shortly after Russia admitted that it was moving nuclear-capable rockets to the exclave of Kaliningrad in explicit retaliation for NATO encroachment on its borders, something it had not done until today, another old hotzone has flared up again when moments ago the Russian military reported that Ukranian security operatives have abducted two Russian servicemen in Crimea, and are attempting to press criminal charges against them, the Russian military is reporting.