Mexico rejects President Donald Trump’s offer to fight drug cartels with the U.S. military, Trump wants to bring movie production back to Hollywood, and Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin signs a law limiting social media use for children.
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Mexico Rejects Offer For U.S. Troops To Fight Cartels
Topline: Mexico refuses President Trump’s offer to “send in the troops” to battle drug cartels.
Trump confirmed to journalists this week that he asked Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, if the United States military could be sent across the southern border to fight the cartels during a phone call with her on April 16th. Trump added that the cartels “are horrible people who’ve been killing people left and right” and addressed their role in both the fentanyl crisis and illegal immigration into the United States.
Sheinbaum rejected that offer, stating that the two countries can collaborate, but “with you in your territory and us in ours.”
This all comes as Mexico has struggled with ongoing turf wars between the cartels. One gunfight between cartel members earlier this year resulted in three police officers being injured and the death of ten cartel gunmen.
There have been reports that the administration was considering military action for months now. In the first few weeks of his presidency, Trump’s State Department designated eight different cartels and gangs, including the Sinaloa and New Generation cartels, as foreign terror organizations. NBC reported last month that administration officials were exploring the possibility of using drone strikes against the cartels to take out their leadership or knock out their logistics sites. That report said the administration had not ruled out taking unilateral action against the cartels without the support of the Mexican government.
The Trump administration has already begun flying surveillance drones over Mexico, at the request of Sheinbaum. The New York Times reported that the CIA was conducting the surveillance flights with the intention of locating fentanyl labs.
Trump Floats Tariffs To Protect Tinsel Town
Topline: Can Trump ‘Make Hollywood Work Again?’ Or will his plan to “revive” the film industry end up on the cutting room floor?
President Trump made waves in Hollywood on Monday after announcing plans to impose a 100% tariff on all foreign-made films. The president says this move will revive a “dying” American movie industry.
Trump argued that countries like Australia, the U.K., and Canada are luring American productions away with generous tax incentives. He also said that these foreign films often contain propaganda, which he described as a “national security threat.”
Essentially, Trump said that foreign interests have destroyed Hollywood, and imposing tariffs would encourage domestic production. However, the details of how this would be implemented are murky at this point.
Context: 40% fewer films and TV shows are now shot in the U.S. compared to before the actors’ and writers’ strikes of 2023. Last year, Los Angeles saw its worst on-location filming rate in history, with the exception of 2020, when productions were shut down because of the COVID pandemic. Of all the TV shows and feature films that Americans watch, only 20% are now made in California.
The Motion Picture Association, which represents major studios, has declined to comment. But industry scuttlebutt is that studios don’t like the proposed tariff because it would make filming more expensive, while workers in crew positions and technical roles generally back the idea. There’s also concern about retaliation—China has already reduced U.S. film quotas in its market, and Europe, where U.S. films dominate, could impose tit-for-tat tariffs, crippling Hollywood’s $15.3 billion trade surplus.
Virginia Restricts Social Media Access For Kids
Topline: Virginia severely cuts social media use for kids, restricting children to one hour of social media per day.
Virginia passed a first-of-its-kind bill to limit social media time for minors. Under the “Consumer Data Protection Act,” Virginia residents under the age of 16 will have a one-hour default time limit on their social media scrolling. However, if a parent wants to override that default setting, they’ll be able to do so.
Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the bill into law on Friday. The bill garnered broad support from Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the state. Youngkin wanted the bill to go further: he pushed for it to extend to residents under 18 years old, and also wanted the legislation to limit addictive features like autoplay on videos and infinite scrolling.
“Our children are losing the chance to cultivate essential social skills,” Youngkin said. “They are encountering cyberbullying and they’re isolated. There’s substantial distractions in schools, escalating depression, and sleep disorders. Tech companies promised to give people the power to build communities and bring the world closer together, but children are more lonely than ever.”
Other states have enacted similar legislation:
- In California, Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill in 2024 that prohibits platforms from providing “addictive” social media feeds to minors without parental consent. It also restricts companies from sending notifications to minors during certain hours, like late-night hours on a school night.
- In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill requiring social media companies to verify the age of users, and terminate accounts of kids under the age of 14. Fourteen and 15-year-olds can have accounts on social media if they have parental consent. If a company is found violating that law, it could face fines of up to $50,000 per violation.
- Utah enforces a “social media curfew.” Minors there can’t access social media between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., unless a parent overrides that default setting.
