Forbes Daily: Trade War Continues As Countries Retaliate Against U.S.

President Donald Trump’s pitch for a strategic crypto reserve already has notable critics—some who even work in crypto.

Trump said the reserve will include bitcoin, ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano. But many questioned the decision to include assets other than bitcoin, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the richest American in the crypto industry. Meanwhile, others were critical of whether the U.S. purchasing crypto oversteps the typical bounds of a government with limited market interference.

Plus, there are still several unresolved questions, analysts from Bernstein wrote in a note, including how the fund will choose to allocate across tokens, whether Trump has the authority to establish such a reserve and, critically, how it will be funded.

FIRST UP

President Donald Trump confirmed he will impose 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada starting Tuesday, potentially causing higher prices on a range of imported goods, from groceries to cars. The tariffs on the two countries would amount to an estimated total tax increase of between $120 billion and $225 billion, according to one trade policy analyst. Early on Tuesday, officials in Canada and China announced retaliatory action against the U.S.

MORE: AI leader Nvidia headlined broader stock market losses Monday as Trump announced the tariffs would take effect. The bellwether S&P 500 has given up almost all of its post-election gains, closing just 1.2% above where it stood on Election Day, excluding dividends.

Trump paused all military aid to Ukraine on Monday, just days after a disastrous Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. An unnamed official told the Associated Press that the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told BBC that the White House’s decision to suspend military aid came as a “shock” and said that “it looks like siding with Russia.”

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BUSINESS + FINANCE

Waymo has expanded its robotaxi business to its fourth city: Austin, Texas. For the first time, the Alphabet subsidiary is relying on Uber to handle ride-booking through its app and provide maintenance services for its electric vehicles. While Waymo’s head of business development and strategic partnerships declined to provide details of the revenue-sharing arrangement Waymo has with Uber in Austin, the companies plan to have a similar agreement when Waymo launches in Atlanta later this year.

WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Among the 10 wealthiest people in the world, Elon Musk was last month’s biggest loser, with a sharp downturn in Tesla shares shaving $62 billion off his fortune—though he still holds the No. 1 spot. He’s not the only one: The world’s 10 richest people collectively got $140 billion poorer, with Warren Buffett the only one who saw his fortune grow.

TECH + INNOVATION

One in eight Americans under the age of 18 personally know someone who’s had an AI-generated pornographic deepfake made of them, a new study reveals, and one in 17 has been directly victimized by AI deepfakes. “That’s one [deepfake] in every classroom,” said Melissa Stroebel of Thorn, the nonprofit behind the study. It’s become increasingly easy to create and share such AI-generated content, which disproportionately affects teen girls and women.

Passes, the second startup from AI unicorn Scale’s cofounder Lucy Guo, pledged to help creators as young as 15 make more money on what her startup said was the “safest and most secure creator and fan platform on the planet.” But unlike her competitors, Guo allowed underage teenagers to post revealing content, as long as they had parental consent. But last month, Passes banned all underage users and purged the site of their content just days before being hit with a lawsuit accusing the company of hosting child sexual abuse material.

MONEY + POLITICS

The SEC and the Department of Education reportedly offered workers $25,000 or more to resign, as the Trump Administration is expected to make its most sweeping staff reductions thus far in the coming weeks. Federal agencies have “buyout authority,” allowing agencies that are downsizing to offer employees up to $25,000 to voluntarily separate via resignation or retirement, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

Fort Moore, an Army base in Georgia, was renamed to Fort Benning on Monday after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum reinstituting the base’s old name, saying in a statement it would be named after a World War I soldier and not Confederate General Henry Benning, who the base was initially named after. The change comes weeks after Hegseth changed the name of North Carolina’s Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg, in a similar maneuver.

SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT

UFC boss Dana White’s upstart fighting league Power Slap is moving from conservative-leaning Rumble to YouTube, the world’s largest video platform, beginning Friday. The move is part of a new arrangement with blockchain platform VeChain, which will pay Power Slap $76 million over the next six years to become the naming rights sponsor of its events, though that figure represents less than half of the roughly $30 million per year that the Rumble broadcast deal was paying out, according to Forbes estimates.

TRENDS + EXPLAINERS

In a surprise announcement made first on social media, the Trump Administration said it won’t enforce the beneficial ownership requirements of the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act. The CTA was aimed at limiting the use of anonymous shell companies in drug trafficking, money laundering and other crimes. The beneficial ownership information for each corporation would have been available to law enforcement, but would not have been made public.

DAILY COVER STORY

Mayor Eric Adams’ Legal Troubles Are Taking A Bite Out Of His Net Worth

TOPLINE On October 16, New York mayor Eric Adams sounded confident—but then again, he almost always does. Fresh off a press conference celebrating the destruction of 1,246 pounds of illegal vapes, the head of the nation’s largest city was approached by a reporter for Fox 5 New York. “Your legal defense fund,” the reporter began. “You seem to be spending more than you’re receiving. Are you concerned at all?”

“Nope,” Adams replied curtly, before being shuffled by his security into a black SUV.

In retrospect, perhaps he shouldn’t have answered so quickly, or definitively. Adams, under investigation since 2023 and indicted in 2024 by the Southern District of New York for wire fraud, bribery and campaign finance violations, has racked up over $2.5 million in legal bills fighting the allegations. But the trust he set up to help him cover the costs, which can accept donations of up to $5,000, has only taken in about $1.6 million, according to its latest public filings. That leaves Adams $900,000 in the hole.

And while Donald Trump’s Department of Justice moved to drop the charges (sparking allegations of a dubious quid pro quo and notable resignations at City Hall), a judge has yet to approve the dismissal, meaning Adams isn’t off the hook yet and will likely be facing more bills.

For someone with a bigger or more liquid fortune, $900,000 might not be difficult to cover. But Adams’ at least $3.5 million in personal assets, according to Forbes’ estimates, are made up almost entirely of three New York-area real estate holdings—two in Brooklyn and one in Fort Lee, New Jersey—plus two pensions from a lifetime in the public sector.

WHY IT MATTERS Adams’ sole liquid holding that we know of is a small stash of Bitcoin worth between $5,000 and $55,000, according to his latest financial disclosure, which only requires him to declare asset values in a range. He may have more cash in checking or savings accounts, which New York Conflict of Interest Board executive director Carolyn Miller confirmed is not required to be disclosed.

MORE Ignore Musk’s And Trump’s Wild Claims. Here’s How Federal Officials Really Get Rich.

FACTS + COMMENTS

Target’s online traffic dropped during Friday’s Economic Blackout, according to data from website analytics platform Similarweb, while Costco saw an uptick. Still, Amazon’s app traffic increased:

9%: The drop in Target website visitors on blackout day compared to February 14. Mobile app user traffic was down 14%

22%: The rise in web traffic for Costco, which has reaffirmed its DEI commitment, on Friday

40: The number of days Black faith and civil rights leaders are advocating for a Target boycott after the company ended its DEI goals earlier this year

STRATEGY + SUCCESS

A number of actors at Sunday’s Academy Awards have made impressive career comebacks, and we can take a page from their book on overcoming past failures. For starters, develop a growth mindset mindset, and look at success and failure like a package deal. Be optimistic about your talents and celebrate milestones, and shift away from self-judgement toward embracing your self-worth.

VIDEO

QUIZ

At least two of the eggs of a celebrity bald eagle couple in Big Bear Valley in California are showing signs of hatching. Which term describes the babies breaking out of their shells?

A. Pipping

B. Peeking

C. Webbing

D. Clawing

Check your answer.

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Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.