Hi viewers! Bible content team here – we’re excited to announce a change in our content. We know y’all can subscribe to things like newsletters to learn about what’s going on in the world, so we’re shifting away from our typical content brief articles. Instead, we’ll be publishing question briefs. In these question briefs, we’ll go over how to prep certain questions, making the content we publish more applicable to actual speeches.
DX – Feven Tesfaye
How will electric vehicle production be impacted by the Trump administration?
First thoughts – We know that Donald Trump isn’t the biggest fan of electric vehicle production or anything that stops gas and oil companies from growing, so Trump is likely going to have an isolation stance on these EV companies and reduce their production.
Answer- EV production will greatly be hindered under the new administration, seeing higher costs and decreasing overall production.
When looking for points, I realized that the wide range of decisions and executive orders that Trump and his administration are indirectly affecting electric vehicle production. So, for my “a” points, I noted the new changes his administration was enacting, and the effects on EV production were my “b” points.
- Lack of government investment in EV industries
- Donald Trump is slashing federal electric vehicle programs and ending bipartisan federal investments.
- Government investments have been a pillar in the growth of the EV industry and without federal backing, their production is going to decrease.
- This is also transitioning the new administration to spend more money on oil and gas car companies, making electric vehicle companies a bigger outlier than they already are. (Including side details like this can make your impact bigger for your overall point.)
- Tariffs will drive up the price of EV components
- New tariffs on imported materials essential for EV manufacturing, such as batteries and other components, are expected to increase production costs.
- These higher costs have the potential to deter manufacturers from investing in EV assembly lines.
- Decreasing consumer demand
- The new administration is eliminating federal tax credits and subsidies for EV purchases.
- These previously made EVs more affordable for consumers, and even less expensive than regular vehicles. Now that these consumers are going back to oil and gas-running vehicles, demand and production of EVs will decrease.
IX – Eric Qian
Following Donald Trump’s comments about Volodymyr Zelenskyy, what steps should the European Union take?
First thoughts – the substructure here follows the order of the question, with the A subpoints being what Trump commented on Zelensky and the B subpoints being how the European Union can respond.
Aid to Ukraine comes to my mind first–I know that Trump has said Zelensky isn’t grateful enough for it.
I’m looking for things Trump has said about Zelensky. Looking around on Google, I’m seeing that Trump has said that Zelensky isn’t grateful for US aid, has criticized Zelensky for saying a peace deal is far away, and has called Zelensky a dictator. Those will form the foundation for my three points.
- scaling up aid to Ukraine
- Donald Trump has said Ukraine isn’t grateful enough for US military aid; sure enough, the US cut off this aid just 2 days after the Trump-Zelensky meeting
- the EU is already one of Ukraine’s most important providers of aid → it needs to fill this gap, allowing Ukraine to procure critical military technologies
- being adamant on security guarantees
- Trump has criticized Zelensky for saying a peace deal is far away → Trump wants to make a quick peace deal, one that would push Ukraine to make concessions to Russia
- Russia says they want no peacekeepers in Ukraine → EU needs to send peacekeepers to deter a future Russian invasion
- facilitating post-war elections
- Trump has said Zelensky is a dictator → obviously not true, but does highlight an issue with how martial law has allowed Zelensky to stay in power beyond May 2024, when his term was scheduled to end
- the EU can send election watchdogs to Ukraine (they’ve already done so to other countries), ensuring that Trump’s comments on Zelensky being a dictator aren’t reality
- having these elections after the war is the only way to ensure that citizens can vote safely and that refugees can return home and vote, too
That’s how I would approach the question; Trump’s comments on Zelensky are very specific, so it’s harder to start by finding ways in which the EU is supporting Ukraine.
Hope this helped!