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- 🌊 FDA to Pfizer Pipeline Stays Undefeated
🌊 FDA to Pfizer Pipeline Stays Undefeated
Plus: US votes with Russia, Apple's massive investment, & why DC is so filthy rich
Anyone got a solid egg dealer? Asking for a friend…
“Grandpa, can you tell us about the days when Mexican cartels would smuggle drugs across the border?” As egg prices remain high, cases of egg smuggling across the southern border have surged: Since January, USBP officers have stopped over 90 individuals doing so. It’s getting to be out of control. I heard a guy in a black hood whisper “over easy or scrambled?” on a dark street corner in New York yesterday. I said poached, and he walked away.
On a more serious note, as Pope Francis remains in critical condition, make sure to check out our We The 66 newsletter deep dive on how papal elections work and why this one will be a crucial one. Now time for some news…
💰 Apple's massive US investment
💊 FDA to Pfizer pipeline
🎥 Why DC is so filthy rich
–Max and Max
KEY STORY
Merz’s Vision for Germany
After winning Sunday’s national election, Friedrich Merz called for Germany’s “independence” from the US
Merz’s center-right CDU party has promised to reduce immigration and cut regulation to end a two-year recession. The hard-right AFD placed second after doubling its vote share
After the vote, Merz said, “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the US”
Many believe that if Merz fails to end a two-year recession and curb concerns about immigration, the AFD could make even further gains in the next vote
Dig Deeper
Merz also said American “interventions” in the German elections were “no less dramatic and drastic and ultimately outrageous than the interventions we have seen from Moscow,” an attack on JD Vance, who had criticized the German establishment, and Elon Musk, who had endorsed the AFD
Merz’s CDU and other mainstream parties have vowed to exclude the AFD from any negotiations or a coalition government, meaning its influence in government will be limited
KEY STORY
Apple’s US Investment
Apple announced plans to invest $500B in the US over the next four years
CEO Tim Cook announced the company will build an AI server factory in Texas and add 20,000 research jobs. The decision comes after the US imposed 10% tariffs on China, where most iPhones are manufactured
Last month, Apple said it started producing chips in Arizona and will open an “academy in Michigan to train the next generation of US manufacturers”
Trump said the news shows tariffs are working; critics said the pledges were performative
Dig Deeper
Not all of the $500B is new investment, with some analysts saying it was a "political gesture" that consisted of repackaging existing investments in order to please Trump and avoid tariffs
Apple has made similar promises in the past, including shortly after both President Biden’s and President Trump’s first inauguration
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KEY STORY
US Sides with Russia At UN
The US joined Russia in voting against a UN resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine
Over the past week, President Trump has taken a relatively friendly tone toward Russia and hostile one toward Ukraine and the EU. That’s accompanied talks between Putin’s and Trump’s negotiators
Trump is reportedly angry about how Ukraine’s President Zelensky has handled US efforts to secure access to Ukraine’s minerals
On Monday – the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine – the US joined Russia and 16 Russia-aligned countries, including North Korea, in voting against a UN resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine. It’s the first time the US has voted against a resolution blaming Russia for the war
Dig Deeper
The US also abstained on its own resolution calling for a negotiated end to the war after European countries amended it with anti-Russia language. Still, that passed with large margins
When asked why the US voted against condemning Russia, Trump said, “I would rather not explain it now, but it’s sort of self-evident.” He also declined to label Vladimir Putin a dictator, a term he used against Zelensky last week
KEY STORY
FDA to Pfizer
Pfizer announced it hired the FDA’s recently-departed head of drug evaluation as its new chief medical officer
The hiring comes just days after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised to "shut the revolving door" between government and industry
Eight of the last nine FDA commissioners – from both parties – have gone on to work in the pharma industry
Pfizer has suggested it is unconcerned about Kennedy's promised reforms. The company’s CEO previously stated that he met with Kennedy and found “a lot of things that we can do together”
Dig Deeper
Public Citizen, a nonprofit watchdog group, criticized the move, saying it "demonstrates that the revolving door between the FDA and the industries it regulates is alive and well and continues to undermine the FDA's credibility”
Pfizer declined to comment when asked by reporters about the revolving door concerns, though they released a statement calling Cavazzoni “an ideal leader to help advance our portfolio”
RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office
💲 Senate Republicans passed a $350B budget bill to fund President Trump's deportation campaign, border security, and defense investments
❌ President Trump snubbed French President Emmanuel Macron, declining to meet with him upon his arrival at the White House
🤒 A reported 99 people have been sickened by measles in Texas and New Mexico, up from a reported 24 earlier this month
🇺🇸 President Trump appointed former police officer, Secret Service agent, and conservative podcaster Dan Bongino to serve as the FBI’s deputy director
🪖 Abu Marzouk, a top Hamas official, told the New York Times that he wouldn’t have supported the October 7 attack had he known what the consequences would have been
What does Roca Nation think?
🧠 Yesterday’s Question: How do you feel about Elon Musk sending the “What did you do last week?” emails to federal employees?
You all sent a near-record number of responses to this question. Here are a few.
I worked in the FBI for almost five years, and was a contractor for the DoD for almost 3 (thankfully, I've escaped). I'll be the first to advocate for trimming the folds of fat from the federal corpus. Start with the consultants. But it is so patronizing to send an email like that to FBI special agents, CIA officers, Special Forces operators, and even less sexy but still invaluable folks like analysts investigating terrorism, espionage, cyber threats, etc. DOGE can't even review the hundreds of thousands of responses they'll get, they just want to humiliate these people by getting them to bend the knee. Some are grifters or work for grifting organizations, sure; but many still are steadfast public servants, making garbage pay and garbage benefits in furtherance of a mission they believe in. This is how you lose the good guys.
It’s accountability, pure and simple. If you are doing your job, then there should be no issue or problem in completing the request.
Well first off - sending an email on a Saturday expecting an answer by Mondsy or termination- that's crazy. People should not be required to check their emails on the weekends - it's a government job, not a tech start up. If he really fires people over this, we are going to see departments come to a halt. Imagine having to send a bullet list of what you do for work. Something like:
- communicating across departments
- documentation
- entering data
Could seem like nothing to Elon, but that role is integral to that office functioning. Maybe he'd argue "there is software or things that can replace this person". But in reality that sort of transition NEVER ends well. Data and information will be lost.
But yes let's please fire the American people and streamline government from a guy who wasn't even elected!
As a federal employee, I’m fine with replying to the email. My question is, what is the big picture here? What is really the point? My supervisor already knows what I do.
Most of all, this feels like one more way to demean federal workers, most of us who work diligently every day. We are feeling pretty low right now, but I have the privilege of helping veterans get the healthcare they deserve every day and that is what keeps me working hard.
It's about time bureaucrats underwent the same level of scrutiny and silliness as the rest of the workforce, corporate or otherwise. Perhaps now, they will fully appreciate how difficult it is for working citizens to dodge mass layoffs, undergo constant reorgs, perform the duties of 3-4 FTEs for the compensation of one, etc., and all this when you're actually DOING your job well. It's hard to feel much empathy when this has been our status quo for decades. Welcome to it.
🧐 Today’s Question: Should Roca call the body of water to the west of Florida the Gulf of Mexico or Gulf of America?
POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour
🧙 Spellbinding Trial: Two men are on trial in Zambia for allegedly practicing witchcraft to harm the president in a case featuring bottled chameleons, mysterious powders, and a promised $1M payment
🎞️ China's Box Office Dragon: Chinese animated film "Ne Zha 2" has become the highest-grossing animated film and non-English language movie ever, raking in $1.9B globally
🎟️ France's Strangest Lottery Win: Two thieves stole a wallet in France and used the victim's card to buy a winning lottery ticket worth $523,000, but disappeared before cashing in
🥚 Backyard Egg-onomics: With egg prices soaring, Americans are turning to backyard chickens as an alternative, causing hatcheries and chicken feed sales to skyrocket nationwide
📺 Back Toe Office: Monitors at the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s headquarters displayed an AI-generated video of President Trump kissing Elon Musk’s feet along with the message, "Long Live the Real King"
ROCA WRAP
Scam Bust
Thai-Cambodia Border
Police freed 215 foreigners from a cyber scam center in this region.
The frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has long been known for gambling establishments and gray-area businesses that exploit legal differences between the two countries. In recent years, the region has become a hub for cyber scam centers, where people – who have often been trafficked – run scams via the internet.
This weekend, a joint raid by Thai and Cambodian police on a three-story building in the border town of Poipet freed 215 people from various nationalities: 109 Thais, 50 Pakistanis, 48 Indians, five Taiwanese, and three Indonesians. Officials called it the largest-ever rescue of Thais from a suspected fraud operation.
The United Nations estimates that thousands of people have been trafficked to work in scam centers across Southeast Asia, generating billions of dollars annually. Victims are typically lured with promises of legitimate jobs before being forced to conduct online fraud.
The operation comes amid heightened regional scrutiny of scam centers following the abduction of a Chinese actor. Thailand has recently cut power, fuel, and internet to areas linked with scam operations along its border with Myanmar, while China has repatriated hundreds of its nationals rescued from these facilities.
ROCA VIDEO
Why Washington DC Is America’s Richest City
Of the seven wealthiest counties in the country, five of them border Washington, DC. How did our capital city become so rich? So rich that its metro median per capita income dwarfs that of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco?
In this video, we investigate DC and how the federal government is the engine that runs it.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts
Treasure Hunts aside, yesterday may hold the new record for most email responses in a day. It seems that DOGE fires up a lot of you, and the diversity in your answers was extraordinary.
Engagement has been through the roof lately. Thank you for making our jobs fun and intellectually engaging. We hope you have a similar experience reading this newsletter. Have a great day!
–Max and Max