RFK v. Froot Loops: A Battle for the Soul of Synthetic Citrus
Plus: Trump’s new merch drop, Pete Hegseth’s scandal pileup and Minneapolitans stop murdering each other for once.
RFK Jr. has been in the news again, railing against synthetic food dyes and saying he has come to an “understanding” with food producers to eliminate petroleum-based food dyes by 2026. No food manufacturers attended this press conference, so they might have some questions about what “understanding” means. As for me, I have some pressing questions as well: What’s going to happen to Froot Loops?
According to this New York Times article, these delectable loops are about to lose their vibrant colors, making them look less fruity. But were they under any pretense of being fruit-flavored anyway? Were the green ones supposed to be lime-flavored? Apparently, each color tastes the same, but what flavor is that even supposed to be? They’re supposed to have notes of orange, lemon, lime, apple, cherry, raspberry, and blueberry, and I almost want to say an undertone of asparagus on the tongue.
Welcome to the Gist List—a news roundup, interesting things you should know, and my thoughts leading up to today’s podcast episode.
Here’s what’s on my mind:
💯 How does Trump compare in his first 100 days in office?
🚓 Minneapolitans stop murdering each other for a few months.
☎️ The Pete Hegseth scandal-upon-scandal isn’t getting any better.
🎨 Dutch town hall throws away a not-so-priceless work of art.
📬 U.S. citizen told to self-deport.
🧢 New Trump 2028 merch just dropped.
The Gist List
Marking Trump’s First 100 Days, by the Numbers (WSJ)
It has been 100 days into Trump’s second term, and some might say he has exceeded expectations. Which direction he has surpassed them is perhaps up to the beholder, but here are some highlights from the Wall Street Journal:
Executive Orders: The race is on. In the first 100 days President Trump has been in office, has signed almost 100 more than Biden did at this point. The chart shows that each successive president signs more and more, perhaps undoing some of the old ones. His scattershot method of signing the orders doesn’t mean much will change, for example, those being challenged in the courts, and others like this one commemorating a murder victim and renaming a wildlife sanctuary.
Approval Rating: His approval rating is at 45%, just four points higher than it was at this point in 2017. Biden, Obama and Bush were all tracking at 55% or higher by this point.
The Border: In both his first and second terms, border crossings are low (maybe because of this ad campaign? Who can say?) Currently, they are at a 60-year low.
Minneapolis recorded its longest period without a homicide in more than 8 years (Minnesota Star Tribune)
Minneapolis, a city whose murder rate has historically vacillated between "not so much" and "depends which riot you're talking about," is experiencing what you might call a homicidal hibernation. According to Minneapolis Police Chief Police Chief Brian O’Hara, there have been 63 days without any murders between Feb. 15 and April 19. The murder rate spiked post-George Floyd and plummeted nationwide in 2024. The notable exception was in Minneapolis, which saw an increase in 2024, making this lack-of-murder streak notable.
Even with an understaffed police force, O'Hara credits community programs for this downtick in deadliness. And the numbers back him up—crime rates are continuing to fall, proving that sometimes less police presence means more days between pressing reset on that "Days Without a Murder" sign.
Hegseth had an unsecured internet line set up in his office to connect to Signal (AP)
Pete is at it again! Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in the headlines yet again after it was discovered that he used a "dirty" internet line (not like that, get your mind out of the gutter… well maybe a little like that—who knows) installed in his office to bypass Pentagon security protocols and use Signal on his personal computer.
This recent scandal-pileup highlighted some of the vulnerabilities of technology, but up until this point, it focused on the signal chats being on his personal phone, which is easier to hack and more vulnerable to keyloggers than a computer. In fact, personal phones are so high-risk that government employees aren’t allowed to discuss sensitive information on them.
So was a computer (albeit a personal one) the best way to make this bad decision? If so, perhaps this leak works in Hegseth’s favor.
Warhol print accidentally thrown away by Dutch town hall (BBC)
A Dutch town hall just admitted that it "most likely” (no, they are not sure) threw a 1980s silkscreen print of Queen Beatrix by Andy Warhol in the trash. The print is valued at $17,000 and was chucked into the basement without any preservation protocol while the building was undergoing renovations.
Not that an Andy Warhol painting getting tossed aside isn’t anything, but he barely touched many of his works and had his assistants do all the heavy lifting, so the law of supply and demand dictates it wasn’t that big of a loss. Meanwhile, somewhere in the U.S., a Honda Odyssey is probably getting T-boned for four times the damage. Where’s that BBC story?
Utah immigration attorney gets email request from Homeland Security to self-deport (KUTV)
Utah immigration attorney Carlos Trujillo, a card-carrying American citizen for 15 years, just got an email from Homeland Security kindly requesting he... self-deport. Now, unless you've committed treason or decided to trade in your stars and stripes for another flag (those are pretty much the only ways out), American citizens can't actually be deported, but that hasn’t stopped President Trump from running his mouth about it. But why did the email land in his inbox and not in one of his clients’ inboxes? Maybe it’s just a clerical error, but Trujillo thinks it's a way to shake people down and get them to leave, saving the administration some paperwork.
'Trump 2028' apparel on sale at the Trump Organization's online store (NBC News)
In case you thought Trump running for a third term was just some late-night comedy writer's fever dream, his new merch line is here to disabuse you of that notion faster than you can say "constitutional crisis." Options include a $50 Trump 2028 hat and a $36 T-shirt that says “Rewrite the rules”—the current theme of his administration.
But can Trump rewrite the actual rules and seek a third term? A few weeks ago, Bruce Peabody joined me on the podcast to talk about the possibility of Trump 3.0. He laid out a few scenarios, including amending the constitution and being elected Speaker of the House with some loyalists stepping aside. Whether or not someone like J.D. Vance would go through with the plans at the last minute is another story.
Yesterday on the show: Jeff Maurer
Jeff Maurer, former Last Week Tonight writer, has been knee-deep in century-old New York Times clippings, considering the differences between yesterday’s fascism fears and today’s. In Part 2, Jeff analyzes John Oliver’s recent reliance on straw men and Jon Stewart’s fairly triumphant return to The Daily Show.
There’s more where that came from. Listen to The Gist, and upgrade to Pesca Plus for the ad-free version.
Have a story you want us to talk about or an opinion you want to share? Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com or share your thoughts in the comments. We might give you a shoutout in our next newsletter or on the air.