U.S. Ramps Up Deadly Boat Strikes, and What Trump’s Stock Trades Show

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I'm Tracy Mumford, today's Friday, May 29th.

Here's what we're covering.

President Trump said, "No, we're taking the gloves off, and it's exactly what we're doing."

“So, we're stopping the drugs, we're striking the boats, we're defeating Narco Terrace.”

For the last nine months, the U.S. has launched strike after strike on small boats in the waters off South America. We're saving hundreds of thousands of lives with those pinpoint attacks. Officials say the campaign is meant to cut off the flow of drugs into the U.S. And in recent weeks, it's been quietly ramping up the attacks. There was a boat strike on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In all, there have now been almost 60 strikes killing nearly 200 people. From the start, many legal experts have called these attacks illegal extraditional killings, stressing that the military is not allowed to intentionally target civilians who pose no threat of imminent violence. Now, on top of that, experts tell the times that the boat strikes have also been in effective and have not curbed the flow of cocaine into the country. If the strikes were slowing the supply, public health researchers say the price on the street for the drug would go up.

They say that hasn't happened. Similarly, if less cocaine was getting in, epidemiologists say dealers would be trying to stretch their supply by cutting it with other ingredients. But an analysis of cocaine samples doesn't reflect that. And signs are also emerging that traffickers are simply using other methods for smuggling, shifting to land routes or putting more cocaine on container ships.

One public health expert who tracks cocaine use in the U.S. told the times that the boat strikes are basically the same as, quote,

bombing a handful of McDonald's in Dallas, Texas and claiming that you've made America healthy again.

“Recently, in the Senate. General, what evidence do you have that this campaign is actually degrading cartel operations rather than simply destroying some low-level assets boats?”

The general overseeing the campaign faced sharp questions from lawmakers about the strikes. I cannot stand before you and tell you that there's a percentage drop in American deaths in Saudi United States or a number of certain percentage of drugs reach the United States. He acknowledged that targeting the boats is not a long-term solution. He said the U.S. needed to work more with its allies in South America. And that quote, "Boat strikes aren't the answer to the country's drug problem."

A new disclosure form that reveals details of President Trump's stock portfolio is adding to concerns about potential conflicts of interest. The form shows that in the first few months of this year, Trump's investment portfolio made more than 3,600 trades, buying and selling shares in big banks, manufacturers, and tech giants. That has raised questions, not just because the federal government regulates those industries, but also because of the timing of some of those trades, which have coincided with the President appearing to publicly endorse specific companies.

For example, in February, Trump's financial advisors bought more than a million dollars in stock of the computer giant Dell.

Nine days later, Trump lavished praise on the company in a speech as he highlighted the founder's philanthropy. Then this week, the Pentagon announced it was giving Dell a nearly $10 billion defense contract. The co-president of public citizen, a nonprofit group that has criticized the Trump family's ongoing business activity, told the times that with Trump, quote, "It is impossible to know where personal profit making ends and policy making starts." While there is a law that prohibits federal employees from taking official action to benefit their own interest, it does not apply to the President.

Still, the White House has rejected any concerns about the trades, saying Trump, quote, "only acts in the best interests of the American public." And the Trump organization says, "All of his stock trades are controlled by third party investment managers."

The Middle East.

“The times has been talking with sailors who have been stranded in the straight of hormones.”

They described being on constant lookout for the threat of missile or drone strikes and watching their stock piles of food and medicine on board dwindle.

As Iran has kept the critical waterway shut down for three months and counting.

Now, diplomats involved in the talks between the US and Iran say the two sides are closing in on a preliminary agreement that could finally reopen the straight. Negotiators would then continue to work separately on a longer-term p-steel.

“On today's episode of The Daily, you can hear more from some of the thousands of sailors who've been caught in limbo as the war has dragged on.”

A second update now from Lebanon. Or the country is facing a new surge of deadly attacks from Israel, despite a ceasefire. Israeli forces said they carried out strikes on more than 130 his bullets targets across the country this week. Many of them were in residential areas. Meanwhile, Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia, has been continuing its own attacks on Israeli troops who've invaded and occupied the southern part of Lebanon.

“The renewed violence could threaten the delicate talks between Iran and the US since Iran has demanded that any deal to end the fighting also include Lebanon.”

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he has directed the Israeli military to expand its control over Gaza. Speaking at a conference yesterday, he said Israel currently controls 60% of the territory. When members of the audience shouted that Israel should take it all, Netanyahu said, "First of all, 70, let's start with that." Since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into place last year, Israel has continued its operations in Gaza to put pressure on the militant group. It's gradually been taking more and more land there, sometimes by simply picking up and moving the concrete blocks that it's used to mark the boundaries.

That has meant that Gaza's roughly 2 million residents who mostly live in territory controlled by Hamas have been forced onto a smaller and smaller slice of land.

Across the US in recent years, there's been a growing effort to help low-income Americans by giving them cash. Unlike government programs like food stamps that target specific needs, the so-called cash transfer programs basically leave it up to the recipients to decide how to use the extra money. Research into the benefit of this kind of program has found mixed results, but a new study published in the Lancet Public Health has one of the most optimistic recent assessments. It showed that a cash transfer program in Flint, Michigan significantly improved the health of moms and their newborns.

The study followed women in the city where the majority of mothers earn under $10,000 a year.

For the research, a group of pregnant women were given a one-time payment of $1500, and then $500 a month for the first year of their child's life.

Researchers found that after getting the money, more women received prenatal care, the rate of premature births declined, and fewer babies were born under weight. One of the authors of the reports said that, "Moms told us because of these dollars, I can take a day off work and pay for gas to go to my prenatal appointment." And finally. The script's national spelling became down to a fierce spell-off last night, with the top two contenders trying to get as many words right as they could in 90 seconds.

The script came out on top. As an eighth grader, this was his last year of eligibility, and he clinched it. The high-speed spell-off format was introduced a few years ago to keep the B from going on and on. In the past, the more traditional back and forth could drag out late into the night, and result in multiple winners, like the year when eight kids had to share the title.

His name was Nishwar, which, yeah, that's fair. But he got it, and overall, he said he was not intimidated. "Spelling fast is what I do every day, so a spell-off just came naturally, and it was just like another day of spelling from just another day." But those are the headlines. If you'd like to play the Friday news quiz, it is just after these credits. This show is made by Will Jarvis, Margaret Kadifa, Jake Lucas, John Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford, original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Isabella Anderson, Larissa Anderson, Sam Dolnek, Miles McKinley, and Zoe Murphy.

Now, time for the quiz. Every week, we ask you a few questions about stories the time has been covering. Can you get them all? Here we go.

First up, recently, an employee at a major tech company launched a pop-up radio station for everyone who works there.

It featured AI-generated songs, which were all made specifically in response to a big announcement by the company. Your question, what was the custom soundtrack all about? Give those lyrics a close listen. The answer? The curated anthems were all about layoffs at meta, which eliminated 8,000 jobs. The radio station offered songs in many kinds of genres, quote, "to support your diverse coping preferences."

Definite points for creativity, but I will just say you don't necessarily have to go the AI route when classics like this already exist. Thank you, Johnny Paycheck. Next question. In his time as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has put out some memorable videos. I'm not just talking about all the workouts in jeans. There was also a video where he was chugging a glass of milk in the hot tub with Kid Rock. And this week, he posted a video to his personal social media account, where he was wrangling wildlife bare-handed.

“The video was filmed on Dr. Oz's patio and Oz, along with Kennedy's wife, can be heard in the background trying to help or just cringing?”

Your question. What creatures did Kennedy pick up? The answer? Kennedy cornered two black racer snakes, which are non-venomists. That is good because they were definitely nipping at his hands. The times actually checked with some snake experts to rate Kennedy's technique. One said it wasn't the worst wrangling he'd ever seen, but he did not recommend just grabbing snakes by the tails.

Another snake wrangler emphasized that really the best advice is always going to be just leave him alone.

And last question.

“How do you know we're going to have 4,000 seats right in front of the front door of the White House?”

At the White House, construction is now underway on the south lawn for the cage that UFC fighters will brawl in next month. You see, he kind of pounding, he'll take, and then one of a sudden it's over and the other guys, not in good shape, right? The event will be part of celebrations for the country's 250th birthday. It also conveniently will be taking place on Trump's birthday. Now, Trump is not the first president with an interest in this kind of sport.

Several former American presidents or wrestlers.

“Your question. Can you name the president who is actually in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame?”

The answer? Entering the wrang at six foot, four inches tall, not including the top hat, it is Abraham Lincoln. According to the Wrestling Hall of Fame, Lincoln fought a lot in his 20s and had only one recorded defeat. That is it for this week's news quiz.

If you want to tell us how you did, our email is always the headlines at nytimes.com.

Which will be June. Somehow, it's going to be June. See you then.