The Trump administration’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared on Monday to be emboldening defenders of the U.S. central bank against the efforts of President Donald Trump to control the Fed.
The backlash reflected the bigger stakes of a contest about the fate of the Feds independence, the balance of power within the federal government, and the path of the U.S. economy. Trump has long publicly lashed out against Powell for not slashing the Fed’s benchmark interest rates to his liking, but the prospect of a criminal indictment was a step too far for an institution that has an outsized influence on both inflation and the job market.
Several Republican senators have condemned the Department of Justice’s subpoenas of the Fed, which Powell revealed Sunday and characterized as pretexts to pressure him to sharply cut interest rates as Trump has demanded. Powell also said the Justice Department has threatened criminal indictments over his June testimony to Congress about the cost and design elements of a building renovation.
Trump has repeatedly used investigations which might or might not lead to an actual indictment to attack his political rivals, including Fed governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and James Comey, the former FBI director.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump did not direct his Justice Department to investigate Powell.
One thing for sure, the president’s made it quite clear, is Jerome Powell is bad at his job,” Leavitt said. “As for whether or not Jerome Powell is a criminal, that’s an answer the Department of Justice is going to have to find out.
A bipartisan group of former Fed chairs and top economists on Monday compared the Trump administration’s actions to moves made in more impoverished countries. Some analysts said that the financial market’s muted response reflects a widespread belief that Powell could successfully fend off the allegations that his description to lawmakers of the Fed’s $2.5 billion project was criminal.
I think this is ham-handed, counter-productive, and going to set back the presidents cause, said Jason Furman, an economist at Harvard and former top adviser to President Barack Obama. It could also unify the Feds interest-rate setting committee in support of Powell, and means the next Fed chair will be under more pressure to prove their independence.
The subpoenas apply to the price tag of renovating Fed buildings, including its marble-clad headquarters in Washington, D.C. They come at an unusual moment when Trump was teasing the likelihood of announcing his nominee this month to succeed Powell as the Fed chair, after Trump last summer played down the idea that the Fed’s renovation costs were a fireable offense.
While Powell’s term as chair ends in May, he has a separate term as a Fed governor until January 2028. Trumps moves could make it more likely that Powell will stay on the Feds governing board after his term as chair ends in May in order to defend the Fed’s independence from politics in making its decisions on interest rates, Furman said.
While an interest rate cut was already considered unlikely at the Feds next meeting in about two weeks, the news of the Justice Department investigation likely means that the Fed would avoid cuts at the next meeting in order to send the message that it cannot be pressured by politics, economists said.
Powell quickly found a growing number of defenders among Republicans in the Senate, who will have the choice of whether to confirm Trump’s planned picks for Fed chair.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican and member of the Senate Banking panel, said late Sunday in response to the subpoenas that he would oppose any of the Trump administrations nominees for the Fed, including to replace Powell.
If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none, Tillis said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, backed Tillis approach Monday.
After speaking with Chair Powell this morning, its clear the administrations investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion, Murkowski said. She voted against the White Houses nomination of Stephen Miran to the Feds board in September, which was barely approved by a 48-47 vote. Miran continues to be Trump’s chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, although he is on leave due to his post at the Fed.
Trump has for the past year sought to pressure Powell into having the Fed slash its benchmark interest rates a move that reflects a fundamental break over whether inflation still poses any risk to the U.S. economy.
Powell maintains that inflation is still elevated in the aftermath of Trump’s tariffs and has moved cautiously, whereas Trump claims that inflation is no longer a worry and rates should be dramatically slashed.
I have carried out my duties without political fear or favor, focused solely on our mandate of price stability and maximum employment, Powell said in a Sunday night video disclosing the subpoenas. Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats.
If Powell stays on the board after his term as chair ends in May, the Trump administration would be deprived of the chance to fill another seat on the board.
Powell has declined at several press conferences to answer questions about his plans.
Asked on Monday by reporters if Powell planned to remain a Fed governor, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council and a leading candidate to become Fed chair, said he was unaware of Powells plans.
Ive not talked to Jay about that, Hassett said.
Powell, jettisoning the cautious approach he has taken since Trump began attacking him last year for not cutting rates sharply enough, said on Sunday the subpoenas were a pretext to force the Fed to cut its key short-term interest rate.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, a frequent Powell critic, said Monday that he does not hink that the Fed chair is a criminal and said he hopes that this criminal investigation can be put to rest quickly, according to CNBC.
The bipartisan group of former Fed chairs and top economists said in their Monday letter that the White Houses legal actions and the possible loss of Fed independence could hurt the broader economy.
This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly, the statement said. It has no place in the United States whose greatest strength is the rule of law, which is at the foundation of our economic success.
The statement was signed by former Fed chairs Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen, and Alan Greenspan, as well as former Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin.
Still, Trump’s pressure campaign had been building for some time. The president relentlessly criticized and belittled Powell, attempting to blame him for some of the discontent over the economy that followed the president’s own tariff announcements.
Trump appeared to preview the shocking news of the subpoenas at a Dec. 29 news conference. The president said his administration would probably sue Powell for gross incompetence on the cost of renovations, calling it the highest price of construction per square foot in the history of the world.
Hes just a very incompetent man, Trump said. But were going to probably bring a lawsuit against him.
Christopher Rugaber and Josh Boak, Associated Press
Indonesia and Malaysia are the first two countries to ban Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence tool Grok, after the generative AI essentially flooded the social media platform X with lewd, sexually explicit images of young girls and women that were made without their consent.
Musk folded the generative AI tool into X when he took over Twitter, promising “free speech.” However, critics say it is instead an example of how generative AI, without clear guardrails and regulation, can result in harm.
Here’s what to know.
What’s happening with Grok?
In short, users are typing simple prompts into the AI tool on X to digitally undress girls and women, some of which appear to be minors, triggering the chatbot to remove clothing from the real photos and even placing the subjects in sexually suggestive poses.
These deepfake images could violate laws at home and abroad, and have prompted a global public outcry, according to CNN.
How have countries besides Indonesia and Malaysia responded?
On Monday, the U.K.’s independent online safety watchdog, Ofcom, launched a formal investigation into whether the chatbot’s explicit images violated its rules to protect the country’s citizens from illegal content.
Reports of Grok being used to create and share illegal nonconsensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material on X have been deeply concerning,” an Ofcom spokesperson said in a statement.
“Platforms must protect people in the U.K. from content thats illegal in the U.K., and we wont hesitate to investigate where we suspect companies are failing in their duties, especially where theres a risk of harm to children. Well progress this investigation as a matter of the highest priority, while ensuring we follow due process.”
What has Elon Musk said?
Despite calls from the general publicincluding from a recent target of Grok’s misuse, conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair, who is said to have fathered one of Musk’s childrenX has not disabled Grok or stopped it from generating the lewd images.
On January 3, Musk responded on X: “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content”in effect, passing the blame onto its own users. This prompted a slew of comments on the post, which has been viewed by some 3.8 million users, including: “please start by addressing the inappropriate images of minors if you truly care,” more calls for Musk to “clean up your site,” as well as AI-generated images of Musk in bikinis.
Last week, X said Groks image generation tool would be available only to paying users, according to The New York Times.
On Saturday, hours after U.S. forces in Caracas killed at least 80 people and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump sounded less like a wartime commander than a developer surveying a newly acquired property. The countrys future, he told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort, belonged to very large United States oil companies, which would soon be pumping a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground.
The land in question includes the largest proven oil reserves on Earth at some 300 billion barrels, roughly 17 percent of global totals. But after years of political turmoil and U.S. sanctions, Venezuela accounts for barely 1 percent of global crude production. Its true that they know the oil is there, said Samantha Gross, the director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution. But the aboveground risks are huge.
Chevron is the only major U.S. firm still operating in Venezuela, after other oil giants pulled out in 2007 when former president Hugo Chávez nationalized the industry. By continuing to operate as a minority partner under the state oil companys terms, Chevron preserved its infrastructure, personnel, and legal foothold giving it geopolitical leverage in the ongoing tug-of-war between the United States, China, and the Maduro government. We play a long game, CEO Mike Wirth explained in November at a U.S.-Saudi investment summit in Washington.
Today, Chevron is uniquely positioned in the aftermath of the invasion: Its leadership and board have long orbited Republican circles, with deep ties to the Trump administration and a history of big GOP donations. Chevrons in [Venezuela], Trump said on Saturday, but theyre only there because I wanted them to be there. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
When Trump returned to office, his administration revoked Biden-era licenses that had allowed the oil major to operate in Venezuela despite the sanctions. Though told to stop producing by April, the company made no attempt to wrap up contracts, pull out personnel, or wind down supply chains. Francisco Monaldi, director of the Latin American energy program at Rice University, said in March that it appeared Chevron is very confident it can obtain an extension.
President Donald Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 3. [Photo: Molly Riley/The White House via Getty Images via Grist]
Behind the scenes, executives were busy meeting with Trump and top officials, spending almost $4 million on lobbying in the first half of the year to keep their Venezuelan foothold alive. In March, Wirth joined Trump in the Oval Office, hashing out how to tweak or extend Chevrons license. The president finds Wirths TV appearances entertaining, regularly calling him after cable news appearances. The CEO followed that blitz up with private sit-downs with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and staffers from the National Security Council, making the case for his companys continued presence in the country.
By July, the gamble had paid off. The administration issued a new license, letting Chevron resume operations in Venezuela. As it did so this fall, the company saw record-breaking production and earned $3.6 billion in its last reported quarter. Though Venezuela accounts for just 100,000 to 150,000 barrels daily a sliver of Chevrons production that oil is heavy, the kind the companys Gulf Coast refineries are designed to process. Having access to Venezuelan crude can help those facilities run more efficiently, increasing supplies and reducing costs.
Just before Chevron celebrated its renewed lifeline, it scored another victory: After years of wrangling with the Federal Trade Commission, it finally acquired Hess Corporation, one of the biggest independent oil producers in the United States. Last year, the agency had banned CEO John Hess from joining Chevrons board as part of its anti-trust review, alleging that he had colluded with OPEC representatives to fix oil prices.
That victory, however, did not occur in a vacuum. The Hess family is a major donor to the Republican party and contributed more than $1 million to Trumps first inauguration. (Chevron, for its part, donated $2 million to the presidents 2025 ceremony.) Hess whom Trump has called a friend of mine for a long time petitioned the FTC to revisit its decision. The agency later reversed course, unlocking the deal. On July 18, Chevron officially closed its $53 billion merger, and Hess took his seat on the board.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with John Hess, CEO of Hess Corp., before signing a series of bills related to Californias vehicle emissions standards on June 12, 2025. [Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via Grist]
This bought Chevrons entry into what many analysts call the decades most consequential oilfield, in Guyana, Venezuelas neighbor. In 2015, Exxon Mobil announced a huge reserve off the tiny countrys shoreline. That discovery catapulted Guyana a nation of fewer than 1 million people into the petroleum spotlight. Hess 30 percent stake in the project was a key part of Chevrons recent acquisition.
Thanks to Trump, one of the largest remaining political obstacles to the Guyana project was just removed. Maduro had challenged Guyanas control over the offshore area. Venezuela has periodically claimed the territory since the 1960s under a long-running border dispute. As production in the region ramped up in 2019 and as Venezuelas own industry faltered, Maduro escalated his attacks, sending naval ships into Guyanese waters and vowing Venezuela would take all necessary actions to stop its development rhetoric remarkably similar to what Trump used to justify his own actions against Maduro this week.
But though Trump claims he spoke with oil companies before and after the invasion, taking over the Venezuelan government may have been more than the industry bargained for. There arent oil companies just running to get rid of tens of billions of dollars right now to rebuild the Venezuelan industry, David Mares, the former Institute of the Americas Endowed Chair for Inter-American Affairs at the University of California, San Diego, told Grist. Its not even clear theres a legitimate government in place to make the contracts they sign for legal.
Then theres the question of Venezuelas tangled debt. Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the state oil company, has racked up more than $150 billion in liabilities over decades of defaults and expropriations. Creditors from energy companies like ConocoPhillips to so-called vulture funds that bought defaulted contracts at deep discounts have pursued arbitration against the country, and won court rulings for damages that remain unpaid. China has been the countrys largest foreign lender, loaning it more than $60 billion over the years. Only some of that has been repaid, mostly in the form of oil exports. As Mares notes, As soon as Venezuelan oil starts to flow, some of those claimants can attach the proceeds, and theyre going to demand their money back.
Experts warn that returning to even modest levels of production would require upgrading Venezuelas aging infrastructure, a process that would require massive investment and political stability conditions that have eluded Caracas for years and seem unlikely to materialize anytime soon. There is no realistic prospect of immediately increasing Venezuelas crude output, Gus Vasquez, the head of oil pricing in the Americas for commodity markets analyst Argus Media, wrote in an emailed statement. Venezuelan oil infrastructure would take years and possibly hundreds of billions to bring up to something cloe to its former capacity. Repairing refineries would be even harder.
Chevrons existing assets give the company a very different calculus than newcomers would face. But the timing could not be worse: Global crude oil prices have steadily declined over the last several years, recently dropping below $60 a barrel approaching the break-even point for many American operators. Thats been driven by global supply surpluses and by weakening demand, as renewable energy prices drop. I think what were seeing is that the days of the oil and gas industry being the growth engine of economies is well behind us, said Trey Cowan, an oil and gas energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Despite these structural shifts, Gross notes, Trump has a very old-school way of thinking about resource economics, as a blunt lever of power. As companies like Chevron have found, aligning with his priorities can bring financial and regulatory advantages, even if they are not supported by broader market conditions. This week, the companys stock jumped 6 percent.
On TruthSocial on Tuesday, Trump announced that Caracas would be turning over between 30 and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil that will then be sold. [T]hat money will be controlled by me, he wrote. Trump hopes to lower oil prices to $50 a barrel, which would squeeze shale producers and destabilize the U.S. oil industry. On Wednesday, the Department of Energy issued a brief announcement elaborating, as Chevron entered talks with the administration to increase its operations and resell oil to other refiners. The statement declares the U.S. will sell the sovereign nations crude on the global marketplace and describes the proceeds as going to U.S.-controlled accounts at globally recognized banks, an unusual setup that bypasses the U.S. Treasury. The money is vaguely promised to serve both Americans and Venezuelans, and the arrangement will be indefinite. Youre going to see, probably, a growth in Chevron activities there quickly, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said on Thursday.
Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into the Trump administrations communications with oil companies, which they claim occurred 10 days before the invasion, while Congress was not briefed. The suggestion that taxpayers could pay the cost of rebuilding Venezuelas oil infrastructure raise serious concerns about how the Trump administration engaged with the oil companies prior to his decision to use military force, they wrote. Gross says to the extent Trump can be described as a populist, it is largely a performance one he might play on TV but she added that typically, When you see populist governments take over oil industries, it doesnt usually turn out well.
In all the turmoil, what no one appears to be asking is what is good for Venezuela. The saddest part of this is that unwinding the Maduro regime does not seem to be a part of what Trump policy is aiming for, said Cynthia Arson, former director of the Woodrow Wilson International Centers Latin American Program. In its statements after the strike, the White House has largely overlooked questions about a democratic transition, sidelining concerns about human rights abuses and the treatment of political prisoners.
Even when oil starts flowing, a new Venezuelan government will likely struggle to meet public expectations while attracting foreign investment. Before Chávez, the countrys oil contracts typically gave the government around 50 percent of revenue, helping fund social programs and the middle class. U.S. oil majors, by contrast, often offer royalties around 12 percent.
The contrast highlights just how fragile and uncertain the path ahead is: Years of economic collapse, which have driven millions abroad, have left those remaining struggling with profound political and social upheaval that cant be solved by oil alone. If good things happen, theyre going to take time, Gross said. Bad things could actually happen pretty quickly.
This article originally appeared in Grist.
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org
Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.
Nurses on strike! … Fair contract now! they shouted on a picket line outside NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital’s campus in Upper Manhattan. Others picketed at multiple hospitals in the Mount Sinai and Montefiore systems.
About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to their union, the New York State Nurses Association. The hospitals remained open, hiring droves of temporary nurses to try to fill the labor gap.
The strike involves private, nonprofit hospitals, not city-run ones. But the strike, which the union casts as lifesaving essential workers fighting hospital executives who make millions of dollars a year, could be a significant early test of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new administration.
The democratic socialist campaigned on a pro-worker platform and struck a similar note while visiting nurses on the NewYork-Presbyterian picket line Monday.
These executives are not having difficulty making ends meet,” said Mamdani, who extolled nurses’ work and said they were seeking dignity, respect and the fair pay and treatment that they deserve. They should settle for nothing less.
Some other Democratic city and state politicians also visited striking nurses, while Gov. Kathy Hochul sent state health officials to the hospitals to keep watch over patient care. She called in a statement for the sides to negotiate a deal that recognizes the essential work nurses do.”
The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures, or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.
The nurses demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.
Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents such as an episode last week when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.
The union also wants limitations on hospitals use of artificial intelligence.
The hospitals say that theyve been working to improve staffing levels but say that the unions demands overall are too costly.
After the nurses gave notice Jan. 2 of the looming strike, the hospitals hired temporary nurses and vowed to do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions. Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.
NYSNAs leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands,” Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday, adding that those demands included exorbitant raises and job protections even if a nurse was intoxicated on the job.
“We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last, Solmonese said.
New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to create disruption, but said it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.
“Were ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of todays healthcare environment, the hospital said.
Each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.
Both Hochul and Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike.
The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.
It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.
By Ted Shaffrey, Jennifer Peltz, and David R. Martin, Associated Press
Technological advancements in various fields of science are shattering what some scientists once deemed impossible.
In recent years, researchers have mitigated the existential threat of asteroids, unlocked the power of immunotherapy to treat cancer tumors, and achieved unprecedented control over the human vestibular system.
These scientific innovations have been fostered by new types of cross-disciplinary collaboration and the use of artificial intelligence tools.
And though theyre approaching it from vastly different perspectives, planetary science, pathology, and neuroscience researchers shared at the World Changing Ideas Summit in November how theyre really working toward a common goal: to improve the human experience in some way.
The DART mission of 2022 saw a team led by NASA intentionally crash a spacecraft into an asteroid and successfully change the asteroids path through space, marking a waterline for humanity, said Terik Daly, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, at the summit cohosted by Fast Company and Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.
Researchers are better prepared, he added, for the real threat of asteroidswhich is a medium-size asteroid, roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool or half a football field, that could easily destroy an area like the D.C. metro area or even larger.
Currently, we cannot stop earthquakes, we cannot stop volcanoes, we cannot stop hurricanes, Daly said. But with appropriate investments, we can be ready to stop an asteroid if we find one coming our way.
New mapping tools for cancer research
And finding new ways to treat cancer is getting an assist from a perhaps unlikely discipline: astronomy.
Thats the idea behind AstroPath, which uses decades-old learnings about organizing spatial data to help researchers figure out how the immune system interfaces with cancer, said Janis Taube, a pathologist and a professor of dermatology and pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Cancer researchers are making advancements about how to treat tumors, including identifying which patients are a good candidate for immunotherapy, none of which would be possible were it not for learning how to map the breadth of tumors using tools from astronomy, Taube said. We never would’ve been able to separate the signal from noise.
New uses for neurotechnology
Finally, the founders of the neurotechnology startup Orbit set out to find a solution to a supposedly anatomically unsolvable problemgenerating a motion hallucination.
They not only did that, but they are now looking for ways to use the technology to optimize and heal humans, said Steven Pang, cofounder and CEO.
If you get really fine, great control over the vestibular system, you can use it to build a generation of general bodily or mental regulators that no one’s ever been able to build before,” Pang said.
Orbit is now in clinical trials for its first few devices focused on enhancing human cognition and optimizing both the onset of and effectiveness of sleep, Pang said.
There are projections of some incredibly powerful neurotechnology coming in the next 30 to 40 years that could help people be smarter, faster, sleep a lot better, and solve various health conditions that have eluded pharmaceutical interventions for decades, but Pang is optimistic that such innovations could happen even sooner.
Our take is just, if you’re clever about it, you start solving some of these problems with some distinct ways of thinking, that it might just be two or three years away, he said. So hopefully we’ll prove that out.
Imagine you are searching for a new mattress online and find something surprising. The retailer displays an ad featuring a Mattress Comfort Scale running from 1 (soft) to 10 (firm), followed by the message that if your firmness preference is at either end, this mattress is not for you. Wait . . . what? A retailer telling someone not to buy its product? No way!
Why would a company tell potential buyers that the product might not suit them? Our team of professorsKaren Anne Wallach, Jaclyn L. Tanenbaum, and Sean Blairexamines this question in a recently published article in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Marketers spend billions trying to persuade consumers that a product is right for them. But our research shows that sometimes the most effective way to market something is to say that it isnt for them. In other words, effective marketing can mean discouraging the wrong customers rather than convincing everyone to buy.
We call this dissuasive framing. Instead of saying a product is perfect for everyone, a company is up front about who it might not be for. Surprisingly, that simple shift can make a big difference.
We ran experiments comparing ads with dissuasive versus persuasive framing. For example, one coffee ad said, If you like dark roast, this is the coffee for you. Another said, If you dont like dark roast, this isnt the coffee for you. Most marketers assume the first version would work better. But for people who prefer dark roast, the second message outperformed it.
Across different products, from salsa to mattresses, and in a real Facebook campaign for a toothbrush brand, we consistently saw the same results. The dissuasive ad drove more engagement and clicks, making the brand feel more specialized and its product more appealing for the right customers.
Why? You might think its about fear of missing out, or reverse psychology, but we ruled out those explanations. Instead, we found that what really drives the effect is the perception of a stronger match between personal preference and product attributes.
When a message signals that a product may not suit everyone, consumers see it as more focused on a specific set of preferences. This sense of focus, which we call target specificity, makes the product feel like a better match for customers whose preferences align with it. For others, it feels less relevant, which helps companies reach their goal of attracting those who are most likely to buy.
Our results show a clear trend: When companies set boundaries in their messages, products appear more focused. This messaging strategy makes the intended customer feel like the product is a better match for them. People assume that if a product isnt meant for everyone, it must be more specialized. That sense of specificity makes those in the target audience feel the product was designed just for them.
Why it matters
These findings challenge one of marketings most enduring assumptions: that effective marketing comes from directly persuading customers that a product matches their needs. In todays crowded marketplace, where nearly every brand claims to be for you, dissuasive messaging offers an alternative. By clearly signaling that a product may not be right for customers with different preferences, brands can communicate focus and specialization. Consumers see this as a sign that the company understands its own product and who it will best serve.
Our work also helps explain how people make what psychologists call compensatory inferences. This means consumers often believe that when a product tries to do too many things, it ends up doing each of them less well. Think of an all-in-one tool that can cut, twist, open and filebut few would say it performs any of those tasks better than the dedicated tool.
From a practical standpoint, dissuasive framing helps marketers communicate more effectively by defining the boundaries of their products appeal. In doing so, brands can build trust, strengthen connections with the right customers, and avoid spending their marketing dollars on those unlikely to purchase.
What still isnt known
Our research focused on products with clear attributes, such as taste or comfort, and on consumers who already knew their preferences. Future work could test how this approach works when people are less certain about what they like or when choices reflect self-expression rather than product fit.
Even with these open questions, one conclusion stands out. Defining whom a product is not for can help the right customers see that it truly fits them. By focusing on preference matching rather than universal appeal, brands can make their messages more targeted, more efficient and ultimately more effective. In other words, telling the wrong customers This isnt for you can actually help the right ones feel that it is.
Jaclyn L. Tanenbaum is an associate teaching professor at Florida International University.
Karen Anne Wallach is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
China and the European Union said Monday they have agreed on steps toward resolving their dispute over the blocs imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles.
A guidance document released by the EU on Monday gives instructions for Chinese EV manufacturers on making price offers for battery EVs, including minimum import prices and other details. The EU had imposed tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese EV imports in 2024 following an anti-subsidy investigation.
The EU said that minimum import prices must be set at a level appropriate to remove the injurious effects of the subsidization. Chinese EV manufacturers’ plans for investments within the EU will also be considered, it said.
The European market is open to electric vehicles from all around the world, provided that they have come here according to that level playing field, said European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill. If those conditions are met, then we can look at price undertakings in a serious way.
The EU said the European Commission would assess each offer in an objective and fair manner, following the principle of non-discrimination and in line with World Trade Organization rules.
This is conducive not only to ensuring the healthy development of China-EU economic and trade relations, but also to safeguarding the rules-based international trade order, a statement by Chinas Commerce Ministry said. The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU welcomed the move, which it said would bring about a soft landing in the EV standoff.
The EUs anti-subsidy probe and tariffs on Chinese EVs had strained ties between China and the bloc. In late 2024, the EU imposed countervailing tariffs of 7.8% to 35.3% on Chinese battery EV imports for a five-year period.
As low-priced Chinese EVs rapidly entered the European market, EU officials said Chinas EV makers — with massive support from the Chinese government — benefited from unfair subsidization which threatened economic injury to EU auto manufacturers.
Mondays announcement also came after the EU said last month it had opened a review into whether a price undertaking offer by Germany-based Volkswagen group’s Chinese joint venture could potentially replace the EU’s anti-subsidy tariffs applied on its China-built EVs.
The minimum prices offer Chinese brands probably some comfort to continue their exports long term … while avoiding higher import tariffs,” said Rico Luman, a senior economist at the Dutch bank ING who focuses on transport, logistics and the automotive industry. Im convinced the inroads of Chinese brands will continue.
EU manufacturers depend heavily on Chinese made batteries, rare earths materials and computer chips. That requires “a balancing act to avoid frustrating the trade relationship” with China, Luman said.
Stephen Chan, an associate director at S&P Global Ratings, said some European demand of China-built vehicles could be constrained if the approved floor price under the new guidelines significantly narrows the gap between Chinese BEVs (battery EVs) and European rivals.
Chinese car brands are expected to gain more market share in Europe over the next few years, analysts said. China-manufactured cars rose to 6% of sales in the EU in the first half of 2025, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) and S&P Global Mobility, up from 5% in the same period of 2024.
EU-based manufacturers represented 74% of total EU car sales in the first half of 2025, the ACEA said. Germany still produced about 20% of cars sold in the EU, followed by Spain, Czechia and France.
By 2030, Chinese automakers are likely to double their European market share to about 10%, according the consultancy AlixPartners.
Chan Ho-Him, AP business writer
Associated Press writer Sam McNeil contributed to this report.
A leader of the Canadian government is visiting China this week for the first time in nearly a decade, a bid to rebuild his country’s fractured relations with the world’s second-largest economy and reduce Canada’s dependence on the United States, its neighbor and until recently one of its most supportive and unswerving allies.The push by Prime Minster Mark Carney, who arrives Wednesday, is part of a major rethink as ties sour with the United States the world’s No. 1 economy and long the largest trading partner for Canada by far.Carney aims to double Canada’s non-U.S. exports in the next decade in the face of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the American leader’s musing that Canada could become “the 51st state.”“At a time of global trade disruption, Canada is focused on building a more competitive, sustainable, and independent economy,” Carney said in a news release announcing his China visit. “We’re forging new partnerships around the world to transform our economy from one that has been reliant on a single trade partner.”He will be in China until Saturday, then visit Qatar before attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week.Trump’s tariffs have pushed both Canada and China to look for opportunities to strengthen international cooperation, said Zhu Feng, the dean of the School of International Studies at China’s Nanjing University.“Carney’s visit does reflect the new space for further development in China-Canadian relations under the current U.S. trade protectionism,” he said. But he cautioned against overestimating the importance of the visit, noting that Canada remains a U.S. ally. The two North American nations also share a deep cultural heritage and a common geography.
New leaders have pivoted toward China
Carney has been in office less than a year, succeeding Justin Trudeau, who was prime minister for nearly a decade. He is not the first new leader of a country to try to repair relations with China.Australian Premier Anthony Albanese has reset ties since his Labor Party came to power in 2022. Relations had deteriorated under the previous conservative government, leading to Chinese trade restrictions on wine, beef, coal and other Australian exports. Unwinding those restrictions took about 18 months, culminating with the lifting of a Chinese ban on Australian lobsters in late 2024.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has sought to repair ties with China since his Labour Party ousted the Conservatives in 2024. He is reportedly planning a visit to China, though the government has not confirmed that.The two governments have differences, with Starmer raising the case of former Hong Kong media magnate Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, in talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in late 2024 in Brazil.Trump, who has said he will come to China in April, has indicated he wants a smooth relationship with China, though he also launched a tit-for-tat trade war, with tariffs rising to more than 100% before he backed down.
Bumpy relations, with Washington in the middle
In Canada, Trump’s threats have raised questions about the country’s longstanding relationship with its much more powerful neighbor. Those close ties have also been the source of much of Canada’s friction with China in recent years.It was Canada’s detention of a Chinese telecommunications executive at the request of the U.S. that started the deterioration of relations in late 2018. The U.S. wanted the Huawei Technologies Co. executive, Meng Wenzhou, to be extradited to face American charges.China retaliated by arresting two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, on spying charges. While they were imprisoned, Meng was under house arrest in Vancouver, a Canadian city home to a sizable Chinese population. All three were released under a deal reached in 2021.More recently, Canada followed the U.S. in imposing a 100% tariff on electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum from China.China, which is Canada’s second-largest trading partner after the U.S., has hit back with tariffs on Canadian exports including canola, seafood and pork. It has indicated it would remove some of the tariffs if Canada were to drop the 100% charge on EVs.An editorial in China’s state-run Global Times newspaper welcomed Carney’s visit as a new starting point and called on Canada to lift “unreasonable tariff restrictions” and advance more pragmatic cooperation.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that China looks forward to Carney’s visit as an opportunity to “consolidate the momentum of improvement in China-Canada relations.”
Canada is also repairing ties with India
Carney met Xi in late October in South Korea, where both were attending the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.He has also tried to mend ties with India, where relations deteriorated in 2024 after the Trudeau government accused India of being involved in the 2023 killing of a Sikh activist in Canada. The fallout led to tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats, disruption of visa services, reduced consular staffing and a freeze on trade talks.A cautious thaw began last June. Since then, both sides have restored some consular services and resumed diplomatic contacts. In November, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said the two countries would move quickly to advance a trade deal, noting the government’s new foreign policy in response to Trump’s trade war.Carney is also expected to visit India later this year.
Associated Press journalists Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi and Jill Lawless in London, and researcher Shihuan Chen in Beijing contributed.
Ken Moritsugu, Associated Press
If winning gold medals were the only standard, almost all Olympic athletes would be considered failures.A clinical psychologist with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Emily Clark’s job when the Winter Games open in Italy on Feb. 6 is to help athletes interpret what it means to be successful.
Should gold medals be the only measure?
Part of a 15-member staff providing psychological services, Clark nurtures athletes accustomed to triumph but who invariably risk failure.The staff deals with matters termed “mental health and mental performance.” They include topics such as motivation, anger management, anxiety, eating disorders, family issues, trauma, depression, sleep, handling pressure, travel and so forth.Clark’s area includes stress management, the importance of sleep and getting high achievers to perform at their best and avoid the temptation of looking only at results.“A lot of athletes these days are aware of the mental health component of, not just sport, but of life,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an area where athletes can develop skills that can extend a career, or make it more enjoyable.”
Redefining success
The United States is expected to take about 235 athletes to the Winter Olympics, and about 70 more to the Paralympics. But here’s the truth.“Most of the athletes who come through Team USA will not win a gold medal,” Clark said. “That’s the reality of elite sport.”Here are the numbers. The United States won gold medals in nine events in the last Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. According to Dr. Bill Mallon, an esteemed shoulder surgeon and Olympic historian, 70.8% of Winter and Summer Olympic athletes go to only one Olympics.Few are famous and successful like swimmer Michael Phelps, or skiers Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn.Clark said she often delivers the following message to Olympians and Paralympians: This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Focus on the process. Savor the moment.“Your job is not to win a gold medal, your job is to do the thing and the gold medal is what happens when you do your job,” she said.“Some of this might be realigning what success looks like,” she added. “And some of this is developing resilience in the face of setbacks and failure.”Clark preaches staying on task under pressure and improving through defeat.“We get stronger by pushing ourselves to a limit where we’re at our maximum capacity and then recovering,” she said. “When we get stressed, it impacts our attention. Staying on task or staying in line with what’s important is what we try to train for.”
A few testimonials
Kendall Gretsch has won four gold medals at the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She credits some of her success to the USOPC’s mental health services, and she described the value this way.“We have a sports psychologist who travels with us for most our season,” she said. “Just being able to touch base with them and getting that reminder of why are you here. What is that experience you’re looking for?”American figure skater Alysa Liu is the 2025 world champion and was sixth in the 2022 Olympics. She’s a big believer in sports psychology and should be among the favorites in Italy.“I work with a sport psychologist,” she said without giving a name. “She’s incredible like the MVP.”Of course, MVP stands not for Most Valuable Person or Most Valuable Player for “Most Valuable Psychologist.”“I mean, she’s very helpful,” Liu added.
Vonn: “I just did it myself”
American downhill skier Vonn will race in Italy in her sixth Olympics. At 41, she’s coming off nearly six years in retirement and will be racing on a knee made of titanium.Two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister has suggested in jest that Vonn “should see a psychologist” for attempting such a thing in a very dangerous sport where downhill skiers reach speeds of 80 mph (130 kph).Vonn shrugged off the comments and joked a few months ago that she didn’t grow up using a sport psychologist. She said her counseling came from taping messages on the tips of her skis that read: “stay forward or hands up.”“I just did it myself,” she said. “I do a lot of self-talk in the starting gate.”
On sleep
“Sleep is an area where athletes tend to struggle for a number of reasons,” Clark said, listing issues such as travel schedules, late practices, injuries and life-related stress.“We have a lot of athletes who are parents, and lot of sleep is going to be disrupted in the early stages of parenting,” she said. “We approach sleep as a real part of performance. But it can be something that gets de-prioritized when days get busy.”Clark suggests the following for her athletes and the rest of us: no caffeine after 3 p.m., mitigate stress before bedtime, schedule sleep at about the same time daily, sleep in a dark room and get 7-9 hours.Dani Aravich is a two-time Paralympian she’s been in both the Summer and Winter Games will be skiing in the upcoming Paralympics. She said in a recent interview that she avails herself of many psychological services provided by the USOPC.“I’ve started tracking my sleep,” she said, naming Clark as a counselor. “Especially being an athlete who has multiple jobs, sleep is going to be your No. 1 savior at all times. It’s the thing that you know helps mental clarity.”Ditto Clark.“Sleep is the cornerstone of healthy performance,” she added.
Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on all aspects of wellness, at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well
Stephen Wade, Associated Press
Fitness brand Modern Warrior has voluntarily recalled all lots of its dietary supplement Modern Warrior Ready after testing revealed the presence of “undeclared ingredients,” one of which could be potentially life threatening.
The product was sold over a period of three years as capsule-based dietary supplements. Consumers nationwide could buy them directly online. The voluntary recall was announced on Friday, January 9, the same day that a recall notice was published on the website of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Heres what you need to know.
What does the recalled product look like?
The recalled dietary supplement, Modern Warrior Ready, is sold in a black plastic supplement bottle with a black screw-top lid sealed with black and gold temper-evident shrink wrap. Each bottle contains 60 capsules.
The bottles front label features the Modern Warrior (MW) logo in gold at the top.
The name Body Repair Plan is centered on the front label, in gold lettering. Below that, the word Ready appears with a small sunrise icon followed by the phrase Mental Clarity.
The recalled dietary supplement was distributed and sold online to customers nationwide from April 2022 until December 8, 2025.
Some undeclared ingredients pose serious risks
Some of the ingredients found during what was described as regulatory testing have a risk of causing serious side effects, including “life-threatening events.” The FDA recall notice explains the following potential health risks:
Tianeptine: Tianeptine can cause “life-threatening events,” according to the FDA notice, including suicide ideation or behavior in children, adolescents, and adults aged 25 and younger. Additionally, overdose of this ingredient “carries serious and potentially life-threatening risks,” the FDA notice states, including confusion, seizure, drowsiness, dry mouth, and shortness of breath, which can be exacerbated by alcohol use. The notice further states that “Using tianeptine in combination with monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOl) antidepressants could lead to life-threatening complications including stroke and death.”
1,4-DMAA: 1,4-DMAA can cause stimulant effects. Using 1,4-DMAA can cause elevated blood pressure, which could lead to cardiovascular problems, like, heart attack, shortness of breath, and tightening of the chest.
What should I do if I have this product?
If you purchased the recalled dietary supplement, you should stop using it.
The FDA recall notice states that Modern Warrior has immediately ceased distribution of the recalled product and has removed it from sale.
A recall notice could not immediately be found on Modern Warrior’s website. The impacted product was listed as “sold out” as of Monday morning.
Fast Company has reached out to Modern Warrior for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
If you have any questions about the recall, call Modern Warrior at 314-713-1984 or email theviking@modernwarrior.life.
