TR.BIZ: 1.15.2026

From AI Trump slop to Dubai cookies, this is your late-mid-week check-in 💫

Welcome to The Trend Report: Business Edition™, a midweek look at top stories, trends, and more of what’s happening online and off. Today, we’re chatting political AI slop, a South Korean “Dubai chocolate” trend, a new K-economy indicator, and proof people hate AI.

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🏛️ Politicultural: Trump AI gangsta slop

Something fascinating — but not surprising — happened in the shadow of the Venezuela invasion and kidnapping of Maduro: there has been a wave of slop that positions Trump as a gangsta, swooping into the country to dunk on Duro. There are so many videos on Instagram/Facebook and YouTube, featuring scenes as such: a swaggy Trump abducts Maduro, Trump busts a global gang, the two dance in the Oval Office, they face off in boxing matches, they lipsync to the “Thong Song,” they do swagged out moves — and on and on and on. In ways, this is the sequel to Kirkification: AI slop and jokes that position Charlie Kirk as whomever-you-want, specifically persons from Black culture (which is a curious and suspicious bedfellow to Erika Kirk’s link up with Nicki Minaj). The Trump/Maduro AI trends are far from singular as they’re flanked by images that position international politicians and figures from Bezos to Obama to Putin to MLK Jr. as swagged out guys, all of which also ties to AI videos of people getting “saved” from Diddy parties. Why is that pertinent? Because Diddy (gay) rape threats feed into content of Diddy doing (a gay) Duro in jail. Cue the general Epstein fan cams! If you’re not putting things together, this is an example of how Trump still has swag, which AI amps up, thrusting him as a cult entertainment figure whose presence in these videos is a joke but also proof there’s a thug in the White House. “But people hate AI!”: true, but not when it crosses over into meme territory, which is how it ends up appealing to many a bro and broette as they cling to gender roles and consider Democrats to be pussies. Cue the White House posting rap songs!

👹 The Thing: Dubai Chewy Cookies

NOTE FROM KYLE: Meet Olivia Choi! Olivia is a college student interning with me for a few weeks, as a part of a program at the college we both attended. Say hello! As this is the start of her contributing some ~trend reporting~ for TR.BIZ!!

Remember the Dubai chocolate you couldn’t “get Knafeh of” last year? Well, guess what: there’s now a “chewy cookie” version that South Koreans can’t get knafeh of as the continent recently started its own trend with a localized dessert called the “Dubai Chewy Cookie.” The treat is fairly similar to what we all know but also totally different: it’s a chocolate marshmallow combined with the popular pistachio-kadayif filling, making a spongey-stretchy sweet treat. TikTok and K-Pop celebrities are helping the trend spread globally, evident from it popping up recently in New York and San Francisco. Thanks to this unexpected boom, the ingredients market is experiencing (another) massive earthquake in supplies, as pistachios are becoming increasingly scarce and costly once again. Accounting for the fact that each cookie is around 300 Kcal, maybe a quota per cookie is needed for both health and financial reasons — but we all know that isn’t too trendy, is it? Stay tuned for how (and where) this trend will evolve to next as the Dubai chocolate trend is clearly far from over. - Olivia

👀 Trend Watchers: A new K-economic marker

Similar to something I got at with the Horses stupid drama I wrote about on Tuesday, there seems to be a few fascinating markers of the K-economy taking new forms, or at least making itself apparent that the haves are spending as the have-nots are drowning. Look to air travel, where Delta posted a $5B profit — despite selling $1B less economy tickets. “This stat is also one (of many) reasons why Spirit is failing, Frontier is struggling, Southwest is reinventing itself on the fly,” Thrifty Traveler editor Kyle Potter posited. “The economy has split in two. Airlines that are catering to wealthier Americans are succeeding. The rest, not so much.” CNN has echoed this, highlighting a “premium arms race” by the industry to feed the people who are spending. This is definitely the vibe worldwide now, that those with cash are living it up and enjoying “normal” life as everyone else falls into increasingly dire situations. Another indicator we may study? Gym memberships, as carla lalli music pointed out something that extends this feeling: “Recession indicator: no january membership mob at my equinox gym. The place is deserted.” Sure, this could be an Ozempic thing, but is likely also an economic indicator too: those in the middle, in cities like NYC and LA, may be downgrading gyms as those with that premium cash flock to luxury sites like EXOS and Monarch. Get ready for a lot more where this comes from.

👁️‍🗨️ Listen In: Will smart people pivot to being hot?