They called him Apple Sauce.
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Your post from March 29, 2016, as Warmest Winds, demands to know Donald Trump’s thoughts on space if he’s elected, which aligns with his current status as President-elect in 2025. Since you’ve got a right to know, let’s piece together what we can about Trump’s stance on space, based on his past actions and what’s swirling around now—without leaning on speculative fluff or inventing anything. Trump’s first term (2017–2021) gives us the clearest window into his space priorities. He signed Space Policy Directive-1 in December 2017, kicking off the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon as a stepping stone to Mars. This wasn’t just talk—NASA got a budget bump from $20.9 billion to $22.6 billion by the end of his term, showing he was willing to put money behind it. He also revived the National Space Council, chaired by then-VP Mike Pence, which churned out six directives tackling everything from lunar exploration to space traffic management. The big one was creating the Space Force in 2019, a new military branch focused on space as a warfighting domain—something he pushed hard, even if the media smirked at first. Fast forward to 2025. Trump’s back in office as of January, and his inaugural address promised to “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars” and plant the flag on Mars. That’s bold, but not new—he’s been Mars-obsessed since 2017, once tweeting that NASA should skip the Moon for Mars (despite signing off on Artemis). His pick for NASA chief, Jared Isaacman—a SpaceX flyer and billionaire—suggests a lean toward commercial space. Isaacman’s no fan of NASA’s pricey Space Launch System (SLS), calling it inefficient, so we might see a pivot to SpaceX’s Starship for Artemis missions. Then there’s Elon Musk, co-leading Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). Musk’s SpaceX is already NASA’s golden child—$2.25 billion in contracts in 2023—and his influence could tilt policy toward privatized spaceflight, maybe even fast-tracking Mars over the Moon. What’s he think of space beyond that? National security’s a thread—Space Force was about countering China and Russia, and posts on X from March 2025 echo that he saw space as “the next battlefield” early on. His 2020 National Space Strategy stressed U.S. dominance, partnering with commercial players while keeping adversaries in check. The Artemis Accords, started under him, push peaceful, cooperative lunar exploration—over 50 countries signed on. Will he stick with that diplomacy, or go full Musk and prioritize American industry? Hard to say, but his “America First” vibe suggests he’d flex U.S. muscle, especially with China aiming for a 2030 Moon landing. Your posts—like Magic V’s “Trump Space Museum” idea from February 2025 or Warmest Winds’ “new space agency” quip from 2019—hint at a flair for the cosmic and quirky. Trump’s not above grand gestures (he did watch SpaceX launches with Musk), but his thoughts seem less about goats in space or alien babe magnets and more about winning—whether it’s beating China to the Moon, getting to Mars, or making space pay off for American companies. He’s not detailed a 2025 agenda yet, but his first term and current team scream: space is for power, prestige, and profit.
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Meet Shou Zi Chew, the CEO leading TikTok as it fights a US ban ©Kin Cheung/AP TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is the company's public face, rallying its fans and testifying before Congress. He went to Harvard Business School and interned at Facebook when it was a startup. TikTok said it would go dark on Sunday after the Supreme Court upheld a law requiring it to sell or face a ban. TikTok is under a lot of pressure right now. As US lawmakers worry the video-sharing platform, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, poses a danger to national security, TikTok is scrambling to fight a law requiring it be sold to a US owner by January 19 or else risk being banned in the country. TikTok said it would "go dark" for American users on the scheduled deadline after the US Supreme Court upheld the law. So, who's leading the company through this turbulent period? That would be Shou Zi Chew, TikTok's CEO from Singapore, who got his start as an intern at Facebook. Here's a rundown on TikTok's head honcho: See more Trump said Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Trump said Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images © Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Trump said the new 54% tariffs on China have given him "great power" to negotiate a TikTok deal. He said he would be willing to lower tariffs if countries gave him something "phenomenal." TikTok's April 5 divest-or-ban deadline edges even closer, with no buyer deal confirmed. President Donald Trump is once again waving a tariff reduction carrot at China to get it to cave on a TikTok deal. Jim Rickards: New Economic Boom Starting In May (act Fast) Paradigm Press Jim Rickards: New Economic Boom Starting In May (act Fast) Ad Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One on Thursday, a day after imposing a baseline 10% tariff on imports from all countries and increasing China's tariff rate to 54%. He said he would be open to cutting deals with countries over the tariffs, only if they're willing to give the US "something that's so phenomenal." "For instance, with TikTok as an example, we have the situation with TikTok, where China will probably say, 'We'll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariff?'" Trump said. "The tariffs give us great power to negotiate, always have," he added. When another reporter asked if he was in talks with China to grant tariff relief in exchange for a deal on TikTok, Trump replied that he was not. Trump has previously floated the possibility of using tariffs to negotiate a TikTok deal with China. In a press conference on March 26, Trump said China will have to "play a role" in TikTok's sale, "possibly in the form of an approval." This Veteran Tribute Glass Is the Ideal Choice to Pay Tribute to Every Great Vet YOFANY This Veteran Tribute Glass Is the Ideal Choice to Pay Tribute to Every Great Vet Ad "Maybe I'll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done, you know, because every point in tariffs is worth more money than TikTok," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. This comes as TikTok's divest-or-ban deadline, slated for April 5, edges closer. In April 2024, the Senate passed a law ordering TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell its stake in the social media platform or have it banned in the US. When he entered office in January, Trump signed an executive order delaying the ban by 75 days, temporarily preventing it from going dark for US users. In the last few months, several parties have indicated interest in acquiring TikTok, like Trump's former treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, and YouTuber MrBeast. There have also been reports of several eleventh-hour bids from Amazon and the owner of adult content site OnlyFans to buy the platform. New $47 Monocular Better Than $3000 Telescopes? Top20GadgetDeals New $47 Monocular Better Than $3000 Telescopes? Ad Vice President JD Vance said in a Thursday interview with Fox News that a TikTok deal would be reached before the April 5 deadline. Tariffs on China On Wednesday, Trump raised China's tariff rate from 20% to 54%, drawing criticism from the Chinese government. Trump first imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods in February before doubling it to 20% in March. While on the campaign trail last year, Trump said he would impose tariffs of more than 60% tariffs on goods from China if elected. China swiftly retaliated to both rounds of Trump's tariffs. In February, China imposed a 10% tariff on crude oil and agricultural equipment and a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas. In March, China placed a 10% tariff on soybeans, pork, and beef imports from the US, as well as a 15% tariff on chicken and cotton imports. In response to Trump's increased tariffs on Wednesday, China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement it will "resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests." "Trade wars have no winners, and protectionism has no way out. The Chinese side urges the US to immediately lift its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with trading partners through equal dialogue," it added. As of press time, China has not announced any retaliatory measures. Representatives for Trump did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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