LA firefighters bring the heat to Hollywood.
Conan O’Brien enlisted LA firefighters to deliver some of his spiciest jokes at the Oscars (a movie awards show that people used to watch) last night. After getting a well-deserved standing ovation, one of the firefighters said, "Our hearts go out to all of those who have lost their homes... and I'm talking about the producers of Joker 2."
Anora, however, stole the night, winning Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. Great — as if we needed another Russia headline from this weekend…
🇲🇽 Mexico cracks down on cartels
📈 Gender surgery boosts depression chances?
💰 Citi's accidental $81T deposit
–Max and Max
KEY STORY
Cartel Crackdown
Mexico has been scrambling to crack down on cartels as the Trump Administration ramps up pressure
In order to stop the flow of migrants and fentanyl, President Trump has threatened 25% tariffs on Mexico, deployed troops to the border, and designated some cartels global terrorist organizations
Amid the pressure, Mexican forces have been carrying out arrests, drug seizures, and lab raids, particularly against the Sinaloa Cartel, which is a major fentanyl producer
Mexican authorities say they’ve now seized as much fentanyl in the last five months as they did in the whole previous year and claim to have arrested almost 900 cartel operatives in state of Sinaloa alone
Still, Trump has said that he will apply tariffs to Mexico this week
Dig Deeper
Despite the surge in Mexican counter-cartel operations and declining border crossings, Trump stated he was not satisfied and would apply tariffs on Tuesday
On Saturday, Hegseth ordered 3,000 troops, combat vehicles, and a helicopter battalion to the border – steps he said would “reinforce and expand current border security operations to seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States”
In an effort to appease Trump, Mexican President Claudi Sheinbaum has extradited dozens of cartel operatives to the US, deployed 10,000 Mexican troops to the border, and imposed tariffs on Chinese goods
KEY STORY
Crypto Reserve?
President Trump announced the five cryptocurrencies he plans to include in a US strategic crypto reserve
During his campaign, President Trump aligned himself with the crypto industry, saying he would be the “first crypto president” and make the US the “crypto capital of the world”
On Sunday, Trump announced that his administration would move forward to create a “Crypto Strategic Reserve.” He listed five cryptos that would initially be included: Bitcoin, ethereum, XRP, solana, and cardano
Trump’s posts led the five cryptos to surge, with bitcoin rising 8% and cardano, a smaller one, up nearly 60%
Dig Deeper
Trump has argued that a “strategic crypto reserve” is essential for US competitiveness in the crypto space and will be central to his national financial strategy, which includes a potential US sovereign wealth fund
In his statement, Trump said the crypto reserve will “elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration”
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KEY STORY
Europe’s Security “Crossroads”
European leaders held an emergency summit in London on Sunday to determine a strategy toward Ukraine after President Trump’s clash with Zelensky
On Friday, Presidents Trump and Zelenky clashed in front of media during an Oval Office visit. Trump subsequently booted Zelensky from the White House and announced that peace talks would be put on hold
On Sunday, European leaders gathered in London to discuss how to proceed. They discussed the type of security guarantees to provide Ukraine, as well as the need to boost their own defense spending and the amount of aid they provide Ukraine
Dig Deeper
The leaders signaled a desire to show the world that the continent can defend itself, although UK PM Keir Starmer said, "This effort must have strong US backing”
He added, “I do not accept that the US is an unreliable ally”
Zelensky, meanwhile, said this weekend that he was ready to sign a mineral deal with the US, although it’s unclear what the US position toward that now is
Separately, NATO’s secretary general quoted himself as telling Zelensky, "I said, ‘I think you have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration. That is important going forward’"
KEY STORY
Gender Reassignment Surgery and Mental Health
A new study found that those with gender dysmorphia who receive gender reassignment surgery are twice as likely to be depressed as those who don’t
The study – published in Oxford’s Journal of Sexual Medicine – tracked 107,000 adult patients in the US with gender dysphoria and measured their mental health outcomes between June 2014 and June 2024
The researchers then compared the mental health of those who received gender reassignment surgery and those who did not
The researchers found that those who underwent surgery “were at significantly higher risk for depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and substance use disorders than those without surgery”
Dig Deeper
In 2024, the National Institutes of Health found that “gender-affirming surgery improves mental health outcomes and decreases antidepressant use in patients with gender dysphoria”
Many advocates for gender reassignment surgery argue that improved mental health is a key reason to increase access to the treatments
The study’s authors did not say the findings undercut the need for gender reassignment surgery, but said that they highlight “the necessity for gender-sensitive mental health support following gender-affirming surgery to address post-surgical psychological risks”
RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office
👶 Elon Musk announced the birth of his 14th known child, a boy named Seldon Lycurgus
🇮🇱 Israel announced an immediate halt to all humanitarian aid into Gaza – an attempt to pressure Hamas into extending the first round of the ceasefire, which expired on Saturday. Hamas rejected the proposal as "cheap blackmail"
🇺🇸 Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his bid for mayor of New York City, setting up a battle between him and embattled current mayor Eric Adams, along with others. Cuomo resigned over sexual assault allegations, which he denies
🚀 Firefly Aerospace became the second private company to land a spacecraft on the moon, after its uncrewed Blue Ghost spacecraft had a successful touch down on Sunday
🇺🇸 President Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the US
What does Roca Nation think?
🧠 Today’s Question: Did you watch the Oscars last night? Thoughts? And if not, why not?
POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour
🤖 AI Gone Wild: xAI’s Grok 3 model introduced a new voice mode with provocative settings, including an "unhinged" mode where the AI insults and curses at users and a “sexy” mode for NSFW chats
📺 Congressional Clickbait Backfires: The House Judiciary GOP's official X account posted a link claiming to provide access to released Epstein files that led users to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video (It “Rickrolled” them)
💰 Citi Boys Down: Citi Bank accidentally credited a client's account with $81T instead of the intended $280. The error was caught 90 minutes after being posted
💦 Political Climate vs. Real Climate: Lawmakers in several states have introduced bills to criminalize atmospheric experiments based on theories that government weather control programs are responsible for recent floods and hurricanes
🍺 Australia Suspends Beer Tax: Australia’s prime minister announced a freeze on a tax for beer, a move that comes as his Labor government faces declining popularity ahead of an election in the coming months
ROCA WRAP
Economic Warfare
Iran
This country's parliament sacked its reformist finance minister amid an “economic war” with the US.
An Islamic republic of 85M people, Iran faces mounting economic challenges as years of US sanctions – intended to stop Iran’s nuclear program and support for terror groups – impede the country’s ability to grow.
On top of the sanctions, Iran faces high levels of corruption and a divided political system, split between hardliners who dominate parliament and reformists in the executive branch. The competition between these sides has intensified since July, when the reformer Masoud Pezeshkian was elected president by promising to improve Iran’s economy and relations with the West.
Those efforts suffered a major blow this weekend, when 182 of 273 parliamentary representatives voted to remove Finance Minister Abdolnaser Hemmati. Hemmati’s critics blamed him for a 60% depreciation of the national currency against the US dollar and soaring prices for essential goods over his six months in office.
President Pezeshkian defended his minister, saying he was trying to fix the economy amid an "all-out [economic] war" with the US. Pezeshkian said the conflict was even more severe than the Iran-Iraq conflict of the 1980s, which claimed ~500,000 lives.
The impeachment comes amid a renewed "maximum pressure" campaign by the Trump Administration, which has reimposed sweeping sanctions.
Given this, Pezeshkian said the hardliners have played into American hands by removing the finance minister: "The enemy wants us to show division," he had said, but parliament removed him anyway.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
On Friday, fireworks went off in the Oval Office. In what may be the news clip of the year so far, Zelensky, Trump, and Vance clashed in front of the cameras and sent social media into a frenzy. We discussed this exchange and its implications in two installments of our now-daily We The 66 newsletter— the Roca newsletter with original reporting/deep dives — this weekend.
Word on the street is all three watched Emilia Pérez last night, and they’re all feeling much better now after seeing what a real dumpster fire looks like. We kid! Happy Monday.
–Max and Max
