Marketplace Morning Report

President Donald Trump traveled to Michigan yesterday to tout the economy's performance during his second administration. He spoke at the Detroit Economic Club for about an hour, but the speech included false or misleading information about inflation, wage growth, drug prices, tax breaks, and more. Today, we'll provide some fact-checking. Also on today's program, we'll learn about bank earnings, China's trade surplus, and what happens when Social Security funding runs out.

The data centers needed to power AI are controversial in many communities. People worry about that extra demand driving up their electricity bills, which are already up almost 7% in a year. In response, Microsoft is pledging to pay extra for electricity to power its data centers and says it’ll work to prevent water resources from being drained by giant server farms. And later, we'll discuss the Trump administration's plan to control Venezuela's oil.

From the BBC World Service: China has announced record export numbers and the largest trade surplus in global history: $1.2 trillion. Despite the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs, China has been able to pivot to other international trading partners, including countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Then, global bond markets are where governments go to raise money to pay for services, but have they become too powerful?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the final consumer price index reading for 2025 this morning. Spoiler alert: Inflation is still too high. Prices were up 2.7% from the year before and up 0.3% between November and December. This morning, we'll unpack. Plus, President Donald Trump wants to cap credit card rates at 10%. What consequences would there be for consumers and banks? And: inside a quantum computing site in Santa Barbara.

President Donald Trump said on social media that he is imposing a 25% tariff on goods from countries “doing business” with Iran in response to Iran's government imprisoning and killing protesters. The countries that buy Iranian oil include India, Turkey, and China. We'll also share predictions for December's consumer price index. Plus, could the biggest economic risk to the U.S. in the year ahead be the U.S. itself?