Summary
Closing summary
Our live coverage is ending now. In the meantime, you can find all of our live US politics coverage here. And you can also follow along with our continuing coverage of the United State’s tariffs announcment here. Here is a summary of the key developments from today:
Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on US trade partners across the world in an event today he nicknamed “liberation day”. The tariffs range from 10% to 49% on all goods imported from abroad. He also added that a 25% tariff on all foreign automakers will go into effect at midnight. World leaders responded to news with a mix of confusion and tempered concern.
Four Senate Republicans joined with Democrats to pass a resolution this evening aimed at preventing the president from levying tariffs on Canada. The news came just hours after Trump announced broad “reciprocal” tariffs on many countries, but not Canada or Mexico.
Despite a 10% tariff levied on all goods imported from the United Kingdom, British leaders say the United States remains the UK’s “closest ally”.
Earlier in the day, Trump told his inner circle that Elon Musk will be taking a step back from the Trump administration, Politico reports. According to the outlet, both Musk and Trump have agreed “that it will soon be time for Musk to return to his businesses and take on a supporting role”.
National security adviser Mike Waltz’s team has regularly set up group chats on Signal to coordinate official work on various global issues from different parts of the world including Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa and Europe, Politico reports. According to four people who have been personally added to the chats and who spoke to the outlet, sensitive information was discussed in the chats.
A US judge on Wednesday dismissed the federal corruption case against New York City mayor Eric Adams, adding that the charges cannot be brought again. US district judge Dale Ho’s decision to dismiss the case with prejudice was in line with the recommendation of a lawyer he asked to offer independent arguments, but contrary to the justice department request for a dismissal without prejudice, Reuters reports.
This blog will be closing shortly. In the meantime, you can follow along with our coverage of the United States’s tariffs announcement here:
Mike Pence, the former vice-president who turned into a vocal critic of Donald Trump’s after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, has voiced his disapproval of the president’s new tariffs.
“The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history,” Pence wrote in a post on social media. “These Tariffs are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year.”
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The Senate has passed a resolution aimed at preventing Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
The resolution passed this evening after four Republicans joined Democrats to support the measure. They included senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnel of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
The legislation is unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled House, but demonstrates a powerful rebuke of Trump just hours after his “liberation day” tariff announcement.
Union leaders have reacted to Donald Trump’s tariff announcement cautiously, saying the president must prioritize workers by improving conditions for them at home.
The president of the largest federation of unions in the United States, the AFL-CIO, said strategic tariffs can be helpful, but that they must be paired with policies that support workers’ rights.
“Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s attacks on trade union workers’ rights at home, gutting of the government agency that works to discourage the outsourcing of American jobs and efforts to erode critical investments in U.S. manufacturing take us backward,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “We will continue to fight for trade policy that prioritizes the interests of working people without causing unnecessary economic pain for America’s working families.”
Tufts University files declaration of support for detained Turkish student
In a brief break from tariff-related news, Tufts University has filed a declaration in support of Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral student from Turkey who was arrested by plainclothes immigration officials last week.
“The University has no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention,” the statement reads.
Regarding a student opinion article published in the university newspaper, which officials cited in her arrest, the University said that “this opinion piece was not in violation of any Tufts policies. Further, no complaints were filed with the University or, to our knowledge, outside of the University about this op-ed.”
It added that: “The free movement of our international community members” is “essential to the functioning of the University and serving our mission”.
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Reciprocal tarrifs could raise average US duty to 25%
The “reciprocal tariffs” Donald Trump announced today could raise the average US tariff rate to 25% from a current rate of about 3%, according to Omair Sharif, an economist and founder of Inflation Insights.
Sharif added that the duties would top the 20% rate imposed by the Smoot-Hawley tariffs levied in 1933, which were widely blamed for worsening the Great Depression.
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Despite a 10% tariff levied on all goods imported from the United Kingdom, British leaders say the United States remains the UK’s “closest ally”.
Jonathan Reynolds, the Business secretary, told the Associated Press, “the US is our closest ally, so our approach is to remain calm and committed”.
He added that the UK government is working to negotiate a trade deal to “mitigate the impact” of the tariff Trump announced today.
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Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has told foreign leaders processing the news of the United States’s “reciprocal tarrifs” to “sit back, take a deep breath, don’t immediately retaliate”.
Speaking with CNN this evening, Bessent added:
“A trade war depends on the country. But remember that the history of trade is we are the deficit country. The deficit country has an advantage. They are the surplus countries. The surplus countries traditionally, always lose any kind of trade escalation.”
Bessent added that “doing anything rash would be unwise.”
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The text of Donald Trump’s executive order announcing “reciprocal tariffs” is now available on the White House website.
In it, Trump declares a national economic emergency in response to the US trade deficit.
The order states: “I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that underlying conditions, including a lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships, disparate tariff rates and non-tariff barriers, and U.S. trading partners’ economic policies that suppress domestic wages and consumption, as indicated by large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits, constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States. That threat has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States in the domestic economic policies of key trading partners and structural imbalances in the global trading system.”
Cuba, Belarus, North Korea and Russia were exempted from reciprocal tariffs because “they are already facing extremely high tariffs and our previously imposed sanctions preclude any meaningful trade with these countries” an unnamed White House official has told the New York Times.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has voiced confusion about the tariffs levied on Norfolk Island, which is an Australian territory.
“I think Norfolk Island somehow has been hit with 29% tariff rather than 10%. Last time I looked, Norfolk Island was a part of Australia,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
The tariffs raised on Australia are 10%; those levied on Christmas Island (an external territory of the country) are also 10%. While those aimed at Norfolk Island (another external territory) stand at 29%.
New Zealand will face a 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods into the US, as part of Donald Trump’s sweeping worldwide tariffs announcement.
The announcement has puzzled New Zealand, which says the US administration’s claim that New Zealand imposes a 20% tariff rate on US goods does not add up.
Roughly 75% of goods from the US into New Zealand have low or no tariffs imposed, while tariffs levied on US imports is about 1.9% on average.
“New Zealand applies a much lower tariff rate for US exports into New Zealand – I’ve asked officials to clarify, but we don’t have a 20% tariff,” New Zealand’s trade minister Todd McClay told media on Thursday.
The US is New Zealand’s fastest growing export market, becoming its second largest in 2024, ahead of Australia and after China. New Zealand exports to the US surpassed NZD $9bn in 2024, driven by meat, dairy and wine. The new tariff could mean a NZD $900m bill for New Zealand exporters.
McClay said the imposition of tariffs was not unexpected but it would have an impact on New Zealand exporters, some of which may look to other markets.
“Tariff rates anywhere upon New Zealand exporters is not a good thing … but New Zealand exporters are very nimble, and they are very able and very competitive,” McClay said.
New Zealand would not be looking to retaliate with tariffs on the US, McClay said.
“That would put up prices on New Zealand consumers, and it would be inflationary.”
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US stocks begin plummeting in after-hours trading
Although Donald Trump announced his tariffs shortly after trading ended on Wall Street, US stocks have already plummeted in after-hours trading.
Dow futures have fallen more than 950 points, or 2.32%. S&P 500 futures dropped 3.40%, and Nasdaq 100 futures sank 4.22%.
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Trump tariffs could bring higher cost for US consumers, experts warn
Business leaders expect Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” will lead to higher costs for US consumers.
“More tariffs equal more anxiety and uncertainty for American businesses and consumers,” said David French, executive vice-president of government relations at the National Retail Federation. “While leaders in Washington may not care about higher prices, hardworking American families do.”
The National Restaurant Association also released a statement, saying tariffs “at this scale will create change and disruption that restaurant operators will have to navigate to keep their restaurants open”.
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As the full list of countries subject to Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” becomes available, some are voicing amusement at the inclusion of the Heard and McDonald Islands, an uninhabited Australian external territory.
The barren, volcanic Antarctic islands are not accessible by airplane and can only be reached by a two-week sea journey from Australia. The islands are home to no people, but instead a handful of insects, seabirds, seals and penguins.
Nations react to Trump's 'reciprocal tariffs' announcement
Reactions to Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” are beginning to pour in from Europe, where it is approaching midnight, and Australia.
Norway
“We are doing the calculations and looking through what has come. But it is obvious that this is serious for the world economy, and it is critical for Norway,” Norwegian minister of trade and industry Cecilie Myrseth, told state broadcaster NRK. “What we can at first glance is 20% tariffs against the (European Union), and at least 10–15% against Norway. That is of great importance, because we also send a lot of exports to the EU. So, it will also affect us. This is a serious day, and now, we need to get an overview of what this actually means for Norway.”
Switzerland
“The Federal Council has taken note of the US decisions on tariffs. It will quickly determine the next steps,” president of the Swiss Federation Karin Keller-Sutter wrote in a social media post. “The country’s long-term economic interests are the priority. Respect for international law and free trade are fundamental.”
Australia
“This is not the act of a friend,” said Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. He hesitated to promise retaliatory tariffs, however, saying Australia would not “join a race to the bottom that leads to higher prices and slower growth”.
Sweden
“Sweden will continue to stand up for free trade and international cooperation,” Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson wrote in a social media post.
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Economists dispute Donald Trump’s claim today that the United States is “kind” to only levy tariffs of half of what other countries charge the US.
The chart Trump showed at his Rose Garden ceremony this afternoon included tallies of the rates foreign countries charge the United States, but those calculations included “currency manipulation and trade barriers”. It’s unclear how the Trump administration calculated those percentages.
University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers says that the “reciprocal” tariffs Trump levied will give the United States “the highest tariff rates of any industrialized country. And it’s not even close.”
In a post on BlueSky, Wolfers shared a graph showing the average tariff rates countries levied in 2022. The majority are in the 1% range. “The Trump proposal for 2025 will be literally off the scale of this graph,” he wrote.
A summary of Trump's so-called 'liberation day' tariff announcement
At a 4pm ET Rose Garden ceremony today, Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on US trade partners across the world.
Here’s a short summary of the key takeaways:
The president announced sweeping tariffs of 10% to 49% on all goods imported from abroad. Those included a 34% tariff on goods from China, a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union and a 10% tariff on goods from the United Kingdom.
He did not levy any tariffs on Canada or Mexico.
Trump announced a 25% tariff on all foreign automakers.
He told foreign leaders that want to avoid the tariffs: “Terminate your own tariffs, drop your barriers, don’t manipulate your currencies.”
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will make a statement responding to the tariffs at 5am CET tomorrow.
Top Democrats have begun responding to the announcement, saying “the president is risking a recession”.
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The Irish deputy prime minister and minister for trade Simon Harris has said the decision to slap 20% tariffs on the EU is regrettable.
Ireland had been bracing itself for far worse with potential sectoral tariffs on the pharma sector after Donald Trump repeatedly said he wanted the US companies like Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson back.
Harris said: “I deeply regret the announcement on tariffs made by President Trump tonight.
“As I have been saying for some time, there are no winners when it comes to tariffs – they are bad for consumers, put jobs at risk and drive up costs and uncertainty for business”
Trade ministers in the EU hold a summit on the matter on Monday.
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The UK car manufacturing body, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, has also sharply criticised the tariffs.
The CEO Mike Hawes said a 10% tariff, while lower than other countries, is another “deeply disappointing and potentially damaging measure” on top of the 25% tariff car exporters which include the makers of the Mini car made by BMW in Oxford, face.
“These tariff costs cannot be absorbed by manufacturers, thus hitting US consumers who may face additional costs and a reduced choice of iconic British brands, whilst UK producers may have to review output in the face of constrained demand. Trade discussions must continue at pace, therefore, and we urge all parties to continue to negotiate and deliver solutions which support jobs, consumer demand and economic growth across both sides of the Atlantic.”
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'The president is risking a recession': Democrats slam Trump tariffs announcement
Top Democrats are criticizing Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs”, saying they’ll hurt working class Americans.
“Trump’s short-sighted tariff plan won’t rebuild American manufacturing or help working families get ahead,” said senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. “It’s a tax on almost everything families buy, so Trump can give his billionaire friends a tax cut.”
“The president is risking a recession with this national sales tax he calls tariffs – while needlessly alienating our closest allies,” senator Dick Durbin of Illinois added. “When American families see what this does to the price of goods, such as cars, groceries and gas, it is going to create a negative economic force across this country and cost a lot of American jobs.”
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As we await reactions to Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” from foreign leaders, Guardian columnist Martin Kettle shares his take on the news from the United Kingdom:
“Whether they presage the US’s liberation, or instead the disintegration of the global trading order, Trump’s tariffs add up to an attempt to transform a badly broken economic model. And that is something that affects us all,” he writes.
Read on below:
European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who is in Uzbekistan at a summit, will give the EU’s reaction at 5am CET tomorrow.
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The UK’s manufacturing trade representative body Make UK, said the 10% tariff Donald Trump on UK exports will be “devastating” and “highly disappointing” given the country’s balanced trading relationship with the US.
Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, said it would impact directly and indirectly.
“The US president’s announcement of 10% tariffs on UK goods exported to the United States and 25% tariffs on British made autos, steel and aluminium is devastating for UK manufacturing.
“Even without a formal preferential trade agreement, the UK and US have for decades enjoyed a balanced trade relationship, with mutual collaboration and investment that has helped job creation, growth and shared endeavour on both sides of the Atlantic.
“It is highly disappointing that the strength of this relationship, at a time where both countries need to boost shared growth, employment opportunities and innovation options, does not extend to enhancing free trade rather the reverse, the consequences of which will immediately harm the US consumer and economy too.”
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Missing from Trump's tariff event: mentions of Canada and Mexico
Despite repeated criticism of Canada and Mexico, the United States’s two closest trading partners, Donald Trump did not announce any “reciprocal tariffs” on the two North American nations.
The chart the president held aloft during his Rose Garden ceremony this afternoon also did not include the two countries, the New York Times’s Canada bureau chief Matina Stevis-Gridneff noted in a social media post.
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Trump ends event with executive orders on China and 'reciprocal tariffs'
Donald Trump has concluded his “make America wealthy again” event in the White House Rose Garden by signing two executive orders.
The first closes “the de minimus loophole” on China, which has allowed the country to export cheap goods to the USwithout paying taxes and import duties.
The second implements the president’s “reciprocal tariffs”, which the president explained includes a 25% tariff on all imported cars and 10% to 49% tariffs on all goods imported from abroad.
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European Union to react 'very early tomorrow' to Trump tariffs
The European Union, which is facing 20% tariffs on all exports to the US, will not react until “very early tomorrow” when the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will make a statement.
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Donald Trump emerged to applause and cheers as the marine band played Hail to the Chief. He declared: “My fellow Americans, this is liberation day!”
The president told attendees: “April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn. For decades our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far.”
He announced: “I will sign a historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world. Reciprocal, that means they do it to us and we do it to them.”
With characteristic showmanship, Trump had commerce secretary Howard Lutnick join him on the podium with a big chart listing reciprocal tariffs country by country. Trump ran through some of the numbers.
He claimed the European Union “rips us off”, charging the US 39% in tariffs. “We’re going to charge them 20%, so we essentially charge them half.”
An unseasonal chill wind was blowing through. At least a couple of people were wearing red Maga hats. Two photographers paced the roof of the west wing.
Trump predicted: “In the coming days there will be complaints from the globalists and the outsourcers and the special interests.”
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Donald Trump says the tariffs he has announced will generate “$6tn in investments” but experts explain that tariffs are actually paid for by American businesses and consumers. That would make it the largest “tax hike” in US history.
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Trump has said that world leaders who want an exemption to his “reciprocal tariffs” should change their trade policy.
“Terminate your own tariffs, drop your barriers, don’t manipulate your currencies,” he said, “and start buying tens of billions of dollars of American goods.”
Trump levies 10% tally on all UK goods
Donald Trump has announced that the United States will levy a 10% tariff on all goods imported from the United Kingdom.
During his White House event, the president shared that the United States will impose “reciprocal tariffs” on all charges other countries levy against the US, and said that the UK charges the United States its own 10%.
Trump implements sweeping tariffs ranging from 10% to 49% on foreign countries
Donald Trump says the US will implement “reciprocal tariffs” on all countries of “approximately half” of what they charge us, he said.
Bringing out a chart to show the audience, he showed that China “charges” the US a tariff of 67% so the United States will charge China a 34% tariff.
The chart also showed that the United States will charge the European Union a 20% tariff, Vietnam a 46% tariff, Taiwan 32%, Japan 24%, India 26%, South Korea 25%, Thailand 36%, Cambodia 49% and more.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 2, 2025
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Speaking at his “liberation day” event, Donald Trump has returned to his trademark America First language, suggesting the US will continue withdrawing from the global stage.
“The United States cannot continue with a unilateral policy of economic surrender,” he said. “We have to take care of our people and we have to take care of our people first.”
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A retired auto worker from Detroit named Brian Pannebecker is speaking at Donald Trump’s “make America wealthy again” event and says he and his fellow UAW members support the president’s policy proposing a 25% tariff on all foreign-made cars.
“We support Donald Trump’s policy on tariffs 100%,” he said.
The United Auto Workers union has voiced its support for the president’s auto tariffs thus far in his presidency.
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Trump announces 25% tariff on all foreign automakers
Donald Trump has said that the tariffs he is implementing today will go into effect at midnight. They will include a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles.
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On an overcast day with a temperature of 61F, hundreds of people are gathered for the first Rose Garden event of Donald Trump’s second term.
Among them are Robert Kennedy Jr, the health secretary, Florida senator Rick Scott and former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who is standing with the media.
Some members of the audience are wearing orange or white hard hats and fluorescent construction worker vests.
Nine big US flags are draped along the colonnade behind the speaker’s lectern. State flags are lining the colonnade that leads to the Oval Office.
A marine band is playing easy listening tunes.
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Trump announces 'reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world'
Donald Trump has begun his “liberation day” event announcing sweeping tariffs, saying he will sign an executive order announcing “reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world”.
“April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn,” Trump began. “For decades our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far,” by both allies and enemies, he added.
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The stock exchanged closed today with the Dow Jones up 200 points, or 0.56% just minutes before Donald Trump appeared at the White House to begin his “make America wealthy again” event where he is expected to announced sweeping tariffs.
The S&P 500 increased 0.67%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.87%.
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World braces as Trump to announce sweeping tariffs
As Donald Trump prepares to announce a slew of tariffs this afternoon in what he has termed “liberation day”, the world is watching with bated breath.
In Mexico, where some avocado producers in Michoacán have halted work ahead of the announcement, President Claudia Sheinbaum tells the New York Times that her government will announce its response Thursday, but that she’s not preparing to retaliate. “It’s not an issue of: ‘If you slap tariffs on me, I slap tariffs on you,’” she said. “Our interest is strengthening the Mexican industry.”
Meanwhile, in Canada, parliament member Taylor Bachrach of Fort St James, British Columbia told CNN that people who derive their income from the region’s softwood lumber industry are “very concerned about what today’s announcement is going to mean”. He adds that Canadian officials are considering how to make “an impact with retaliatory tariffs while minimizing the impact on our own economy and on Canadian workers and Canadian jobs”.
At home, a new poll from Marquette University Law School found that more than half of US adults think tariffs will hurt the economy and increase inflation. That news comes as a new analysis from the Michigan-based think tank Anderson Economic Group found that auto tariffs could raise the price of imported cars by up to $20,000.
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Interim Summary
With Donald Trump expected to shortly reveal his new global tariffs policies, here is a look at where things stand:
Mike Waltz’s team has regularly set up group chats on Signal to coordinate official work on various global issues from different parts of the world including Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa and Europe, Politico reports. According to four people who have been personally added to the chats and who spoke to the outlet, sensitive information was discussed in the chats.
Donald Trump has told his inner circle that Elon Musk will be taking a step back from the Trump administration, Politico reports. According to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to the outlet, both Musk and Trump have agreed in recent days “that it will soon be time for Musk to return to his businesses and take on a supporting role”, Politico reports.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has pushed back against reports that Donald Trump has told his inner circle that Elon Musk will be taking a step back from the Trump administration. Leavitt said: “Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at Doge is complete.”
Mitch McConnell has privately indicated to Democratic senator Tim Kaine that he would support Kaine’s resolution to undo Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Kaine told reporters that he approached McConnell on the Senate floor yesterday evening. He said: “I said, ‘I want to talk to you about my Canadian tariffs bill.’ And, you know, I didn’t even get to the question, and he said, ‘I’m with you.’”
The Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has warned that Donald Trump’s rollout of new tariffs would increase prices and ultimate drive the US into a recession. “It’s recession day in the United States of America.” He said, adding: “That’s what the Trump tariffs are going to do: crash the economy.”
A US judge on Wednesday dismissed the federal corruption case against New York City mayor Eric Adams, adding that the charges cannot be brought again. US district judge Dale Ho’s decision to dismiss the case with prejudice was in line with the recommendation of a lawyer he asked to offer independent arguments, but contrary to the justice department request for a dismissal without prejudice, Reuters reports.
Biden’s former health secretary Xavier Becerra has announced his run to be California’s next governor. The 67-year-old Sacramento native and former attorney general of California released a video on Wednesday which Politico first reviewed, saying: “You need a leader who can be tough.”
Mike Waltz's team set up at least 20 Signal group chats for various global issues – report
Mike Waltz’s team has regularly set up group chats on Signal to coordinate official work on various global issues from different parts of the world including Ukraine, China, Gaza, Middle East policy, Africa and Europe, Politico reports.
According to four people who have been personally added to the chats and who spoke to the outlet, sensitive information was discussed in the chats.
Two of the sources said they were in or have direct knowledge of at least 20 such chats, Politico reports.
Reports of Waltz’s team’s use of the chat follows a bombshell scandal that broke last week after the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added into a Signal group chat by Waltz regarding US airstrikes on Yemen.
Waltz and the White House have yet to publicly comment on the latest Politico report.
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Democrats were tasting unfamiliar triumphalism on Wednesday after the election for a vacant Wisconsin supreme court seat turned into an emphatic repudiation of Elon Musk, Donald Trump’s richest supporter and key ally.
Musk endured a wave of gloating on Twitter/X, his own social media platform, after Brad Schimel, a Trump-endorsed judge that he spent $25m supporting lost by 10 percentage points to Susan Crawford, whose victory sustained a 4-3 liberal majority on the court.
On a day that Trump has earmarked as “liberation day” to mark his long-awaited rollout of trade tariffs, Democrats seized on the result as a referendum on Musk – who has spearheaded the president’s slashing of federal government workers and spending programmes – while casting it as a platform for a recovery in next year’s congressional midterm elections.
For the full story, click here:
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White House pushes back against report Musk is soon leaving administration
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has pushed back against reports that Donald Trump has told his inner circle that Elon Musk will be taking a step back from the Trump administration.
Calling the Wednesday report from Politico a “‘scoop’ [that] is garbage”, Leavitt said:
“Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at Doge is complete.”
According to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to Politico, Trump remains pleased with Musk’s unofficial “department of government efficiency”.
However, both Musk and Trump have agreed in recent days “that it will soon be time for Musk to return to his businesses and take on a supporting role”, Politico reports.
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Donald Trump’s tariffs plan has received some mixed reactions in New York City, with some people saying, “I believe we were lied to.”
The Guardian’s Edward Helmore reports:
Outside Macy’s in midtown Manhattan, a couple agreed on their feelings that Trump had misled voters when he vowed during the campaign to make everything cheaper. “Tariffs will affect people across the country,” said the shopper, who offered his name as Tom. “I believe we were lied to,” he said, predicting that Republican voters in red states would soon come to agree. “I think some have changed their views already, and more will continue to do,” he added.
Trump’s tariffs threaten to unleash a global trade war – and raise prices for everyone around the world. Some visitors were shocked at how expensive New York already was.
A couple from the Netherlands said they had just paid $18 for two ice-creams. “New York is already very expensive,” said one, Patrick. “Two ice-creams would be like six dollars in the Netherlands.”
A couple visiting from Indiana, who declined to give their names, revealed split thinking on the issue. “I really don’t understand the tariffs so I’m just waiting to see,” said the woman.
For the full story, click here:
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Vermont’s Democratic senator Peter Welch criticized Donald Trump’s tariff’s plans on the Senate floor.
Saying that the tariffs are not only “going to do direct and immediate economic harm to everyday Vermont families and farmers maple sugar producers”, Welch said that they will also “start eroding the trust that is the benefit of good relations over time” between the US and its neighbors.
“That’s what he’s embracing, totally bad, totally wrong, doomed. And the only question is, how much pain will he inflict everyday Vermonters, before he comes to his senses and withdraws this tariff policy?” Welch added.
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We reported earlier that Donald Trump has told his inner circle that Elon Musk will be taking a step back from the Trump administration, according to Politico.
A White House source has told Reuters that that Musk’s work with the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) would be done within his 130-day mandate.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has communicated that to the president multiple times, the source told the news agency.
Musk was not leaving before his Doge work was done “and no one is pushing him out”, the source added.
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McConnell privately tells Democrat he would support effort to undo Trump's Canada tariff
Mitch McConnell, the Republican senator from Kentucky, has privately indicated to Democratic senator Tim Kaine that he would support Kaine’s resolution to undo Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
Kaine told reporters that he approached McConnell on the Senate floor yesterday evening. He said:
I said, ‘I want to talk to you about my Canadian tariffs bill.’ And, you know, I didn’t even get to the question, and he said, ‘I’m with you.’
Kaine added that he had “rock solid support” from four Republican senators: McConnell, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul.
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The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said Tuesday’s election results in Florida and Wisconsin were a sign of the Democratic party’s strength, citing recent special elections in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
“What we’ve seen every single month this year, Democrats in special elections all over the country win or over perform,” Jeffries said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Despite the effort by some to project this notion that House Democrats, Senate Democrats, the Democratic party is cowering – we’re not cowering. We’re beating them over and over and over again.
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'This is not 'liberation day'': House minority leader says 'it's recession day'
The Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has warned that Donald Trump’s rollout of new tariffs would increase prices and ultimate drive the US into a recession.
“This is not ‘liberation day’,” Jeffries said at a press conference on Wednesday. “It’s recession day in the United States of America.” He added:
That’s what the Trump tariffs are going to do: crash the economy.
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Michael Waltz, the embattled national security adviser to Donald Trump, and other members of the national security council have reportedly used personal Gmail accounts to conduct government business.
The apparent use of Gmail, a relatively insecure method of communication for high-level government officials, places further scrutiny upon Waltz, who is already under pressure after adding a journalist to a group chat on the commercial Signal app, where top US officials then planned and celebrated a US airstrike in Yemen last month.
The revelations of the Gmail use come from the Washington Post, which said it has reviewed documents and interviewed three unnamed officials about the apparent security lapse.
Waltz had “potentially exploitable information” sent to his Gmail, such as his schedule and other work documents, the Post reported.
One of Waltz’s aides on the national security council, meanwhile, allegedly used Gmail for more sensitive material, such as discussing military positions and weapons systems with colleagues in other government agencies who used their government-issued accounts.
Trump tells inner circle Musk will leave administration soon -report
Donald Trump has told his inner circle that Elon Musk will be taking a step back from the Trump administration, Politico reports.
According to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to the outlet, Trump remains pleased with Musk’s unofficial “department of government efficiency”.
However, both Musk and Trump have agreed in recent days “that it will soon be time for Musk to return to his businesses and take on a supporting role”, Politico reports.
One senior Trump official said that Musk will probably retain an informal role as an adviser to the president and may be seen occasionally around the White House.
Another insider told Politico that anyone who thinks Musk is going to fully remove himself from Trump’s circle is “fooling themselves”.
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Trump hours away from unveiling global tariffs
As part of his so-called “liberation day”, Donald Trump is set to unveil new details of part of his economic plan, including tariffs on multiple countries, at 4pm ET today.
Although exact details have yet to be revealed, Trump has previously entertained the idea of reciprocal tariffs in which the US would reciprocate the tariffs that other countries have levied on US exports.
Countries that Trump has mentioned which would be on the receiving end of reciprocal tariffs include China, Brazil and India, and the European Union.
Also on the table is 25% tariffs on all imports coming into the US from Canada and Mexico.
Trump has already announced an additional 20% tariff on all Chinese imports and a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. There is also a 10% tariff on energy imports from Canada.
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As part of his ruling, US judge Dale Ho rejected claims from the justice department that the case against Eric Adams was based on political motivations by those who disagreed with Adams’ hardline positions on immigration.
Ho wrote:
Everything here smacks of a bargain: Dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.
He added:
There is no evidence – zero – that they had any improper motives … The record does not show that this case has impaired Mayor Adams in his immigration enforcement efforts.
Ho, who dismissed the case with prejudice, also noted that dismissing the case without it “would create the unavoidable perception that the Mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration”.
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Here is the fuller report on Eric Adams’ federal corruption case dismissal, as reported by Guardian staff and agencies:
Critics of the justice department and Adams said a dismissal without prejudice would leave the Democratic mayor beholden to the administration of Republican president Donald Trump in advancing its hard-right agenda.
New Yorkers will vote in the mayoral election this November and Adams has resisted pressure to step down or announce he will no longer run for a second term. New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, decided not to ask Adams to quit office.
Adams, 64, pleaded not guilty to accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish officials in exchange for favors, including pressuring city fire department officials to allow Turkey to open a new Manhattan consulate despite safety concerns.
For the full story, click here:
Eric Adams corruption case dismissed
A US judge on Wednesday dismissed the federal corruption case against New York City mayor Eric Adams, adding that the charges cannot be brought again.
US district judge Dale Ho’s decision to dismiss the case with prejudice was in line with the recommendation of a lawyer he asked to offer independent arguments, but contrary to the justice department request for a dismissal without prejudice, Reuters reports.
Last September, Adams was hit with a five-count criminal indictment following a lengthy investigation by federal prosecutors into his financial dealings with foreign sources, including Turkish government officials.
According to federal prosecutors, Adams “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him”.
Adams, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, has yet to comment on his case’s dismissal.
Biden’s former health secretary Xavier Becerra announces California governor bid
Biden’s former health secretary Xavier Becerra has announced his run to be California’s next governor.
The 67-year-old Sacramento native and former attorney general of California released a video on Wednesday which Politico first reviewed, saying:
I watched my parents – a construction worker and a clerical worker – achieve the California dream … Can we do that today, with this affordability crisis? Very tough. But we’ve taken on these tough fights … We can do that, but you need a leader who can be tough.
According to Becerra’s campaign, he will not drop out of the race if Kamala Harris – also one of California’s former attorney generals and the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee – decides to join the race.
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In a new video released on Wednesday morning after his record-breaking Senate speech – interspersed with images of Donald Trump and JD Vance – Cory Booker said:
So here’s perhaps one of the greatest leadership lessons there is: that real leaders don’t lecture you on how great they are. They remind you how great we are and how great we can be together. Real leaders don’t spend all their time pointing fingers of blame …
Real leaders don’t stand up and say, ‘Only I can lead you. Follow me.’ Real leaders remind us that we are the leaders that we need … This is a moment that we need real leadership to remind us that this is our nation, that we can heal, that we could help – and most of all, in times like this, that we must all lead out of the darkness.
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David Hogg, gun control activist and vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, also took to X to celebrate Susan Crawford’s win.
Posting several photos of himself with Wisconsin voters, Hogg wrote:
Congratulations to my friends in Wisconsin who I went doorknocking with last month to turn out voters for Judge Susan Crawford!
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Kamala Harris congratulates Wisconsin voters on election Susan Crawford
Kamala Harris congratulated Wisconsin voters on liberal judge Susan Crawford’s win over Brad Schimel, an Elon Musk-backed Republican candidate and former state attorney general.
Speaking in a video address on X, Harris said:
You all are just extraordinary, you love our country, you care. You are making such extraordinary sacrifices on behalf of so many people, on behalf of communities … You all are working on behalf of an individual, a candidate in Judge Crawford who will always fight to protect your freedoms and your rights …
Referring to Musk, Harris went on to add:
There is an unelected billionaire who should not and will not have a greater voice than the working people of Wisconsin.
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Donald Trump proclaims what he has dubbed 'liberation day' as world awaits tariff news
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump has said it is “liberation day” in the US.
Referring to the upcoming tariffs announcement, the president wrote (in all capital letters):
IT’S LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!
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Donald Trump’s planned tariffs will be negative across the world, with the damage depending on how far they go, how long they last and whether they lead to successful negotiations, the European Central Bank head, Christine Lagarde, said on Wednesday.
The Trump administration on Wednesday is set to announce “reciprocal tariffs” targeting nations that have duties on US goods. That move would come after it slapped new import levies on products from Mexico, China and Canada – the top US trading partners – as well as on goods including steel and autos.
“It will be negative the world over and the density and the durability of the impact will vary depending on the scope, on the products targeted, on how long it lasts, on whether or not there are negotiations,” Lagarde said in an interview on Ireland’s Newstalk radio.
“Because let’s not forget quite often those escalations of tariffs, because they prove harmful, even for those who inflict it, lead to negotiation tables where people actually sit down and discuss and eventually remove some of those barriers.”
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Democrats have been reacting to the Wisconsin supreme court result in celebratory mood, as one might expect.
Posting on Elon Musk’s X social media network, Tim Walz wrote simply:
Wisconsin beat the billionaire.
Elizabeth Warren said:
Wisconsin cannot be bought. Our democracy is not for sale. And when we fight, we win. Congratulations, @CrawfordForWI
Meanwhile, the Democrats’ official account called Musk a “loser”, complete with mocking imagery.
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In its first abortion-related case since Donald Trump retook control of the White House, the US supreme court will hear oral arguments on Wednesday morning in a case challenging South Carolina’s attempt to effectively “defund” Planned Parenthood because the reproductive health giant performs abortions.
The case, Medina v Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, deals with a 2018 executive order from the South Carolina governor Henry McMaster that blocked clinics that provide abortions from receiving reimbursements via Medicaid, the US government’s healthcare program for low-income people, despite the fact that those reimbursements don’t actually cover abortions. “Payment of taxpayer funds to abortion clinics, for any purpose, results in the subsidy of abortion and the denial of the right to life,” McMaster said at the time.
However, federal law bans Medicaid from covering the vast majority of abortions, which only comprised about 4% of Planned Parenthood’s activities in fiscal year 2022. Instead, people use Medicaid to cover Planned Parenthood’s other services. In the same year, the organization performed nearly half a million Pap tests and breast exams as well as 4.6m STI tests and treatments. It also provided birth control services to more than 2.2 million people.
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a Planned Parenthood affiliate that operates two clinics in South Carolina, teamed up with a patient who sought birth control, Julie Edwards, to sue over McMaster’s order. Lower courts have since kept the order from going into effect.
US health agency layoffs gut mine safety, infertility and smoking programs
From experts in mine safety to smoking and infertility – mass layoffs hit branch after branch of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s plan to downsize nearly a quarter of the 82,000-person workforce took effect.
Even as the sprawling nature of layoffs became apparent on Tuesday, a complete accounting was elusive. Layoffs were undertaken with few public details, with even apoplectic congressional lawmakers left in the dark.
The result was a day of desperate crowdsourcing, as employees themselves and experts outside government became aware of programs and positions eliminated – and then processed how it would ultimately impact American lives.
Layoff notices started coming down earlier in the day, embodied by lines of staffers wrapping the sidewalk of the “Parklawn” building in Maryland – waiting to see if their badges would still work, and employees in building elevators carrying boxes of personal belongings.
A combined more than $80m was spent on the race, topping the previous record of $51m that was spent in the 2023 Wisconsin state supreme court race.
Elon Musk and affiliated groups spent more than $20m alone. Musk reprised some of the tactics that he used last fall to help Trump win, including offering $100 to people who signed a petition opposing “activist judges” and offering $1m checks to voters.
Pointing to the potential to redraw House districts, Musk had said the race “might decide the future of America and western civilization”.
Democrats seized on Musk’s involvement in the race to energize voters who were upset about the wrecking ball he and his unofficial “department of government efficiency”, or Doge, have taken to federal agencies.
They raised the stakes of an already high-stakes contest by holding out Wisconsin as a test case for Musk, saying that if he succeeded, he would take his model across the country.
The result in Wisconsin means that liberals will keep a 4-3 ideological majority on the state supreme court.
That majority is hugely significant because the court will hear major cases on abortion and collective bargaining rights. The court could also potentially consider cases that could cause the state to redraw its eight congressional districts, which are now drawn to advantage Republicans.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city, reported “historic turnout” for a spring election, with election officials saying in a statement Tuesday evening that due to the “unprecedented high turnout,” seven polling places ran out of ballots. The city’s elections commission said it was working to replenish resources to voters during the evening rush.
Susan Crawford won the race for a seat on the Wisconsin supreme court on Tuesday, a win which the liberal judge said showed “our courts are not for sale”.
“Today Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy,” Crawford said in a speech at her victory night event in Madison. “Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price. Our courts are not for sale.”
With more than 84% of the vote tallied, Crawford led Schimel by nearly 10 percentage points.
In remarks on Tuesday night, Schimel said he and his team “didn’t leave anything on the field” and announced that he had conceded the race in a call to his opponent before taking the stage. When his supporters began to boo, Schimel stopped them. “No, you gotta accept the results,” he said, adding: “The numbers aren’t gonna turn around. They’re too bad, and we’re not gonna pull this off.”
Musk said hours after the result that “The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary” and that the most important thing was that a vote on the addition of voter ID requirements passed.
The UK government will not engage in a “kneejerk” response to any tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, as it warned there will be a “difficult period” ahead in trade relations with the US and called for calm, Alexandra Topping reports.
The education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government had been “working through every eventuality”. “We still have negotiations under way with our US counterparts about securing an economic deal, but we will always act in the national interest and the interest of the British people.”
However, others are urging Keir Starmer to take a different approach, as Andrew Sparrow reports in the UK politics live blog. While the main opposition party, the Conservatives, have supported the UK PM’s stance of attempting to curry favour with Trump, other parties such as the Liberal Democrats have urged the UK to form a united front with the EU and Canada to retaliate.
Trump set to announce new round of tariffs on what he has called 'liberation day'
Donald Trump is due announce new tariffs at the White House on Wednesday afternoon and is threatening to unleash a global trade war on what he has called “liberation day”.
Global stock markets, corporate executives and economists have all been shaken but no details of Wednesday’s plans have been made available ahead of the announcement. The president is set to speak at 4pm ET (9pm GMT, 10pm CET). White House officials said the implementation of the tariffs would be immediate.
Trump hopes to bring manufacturing back to the US, respond to what he considers unfair trade policies from other countries, increase tax revenue and incentivize crackdowns on migration and drug trafficking.
The implementation of his tariffs has so far been haphazard, with multiple rollbacks and delays and vague promises that have yet to come to fruition. The threats have soured US relations with its largest trading partners. Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has called them “unjustified” and pledged to retaliate. The European Union has said it has a “strong plan” to retaliate.
Ahead of the announcement, Trump repeated the idea of imposing so-called reciprocal tariffs, where the US would tax imports at the same rates that a country uses for US exports. Trump has specifically mentioned countries like South Korea, Brazil and India, along with the EU, as being possible targets for reciprocal tariffs.
“The world has been ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more,” Trump told NBC over the weekend. “All we’re doing is being fair.”
Democrats hail major win as Susan Crawford delivers blow to Trump and Musk in Wisconsin
Susan Crawford’s victory in the race for a seat on the Wisconsin supreme court has been hailed as a major win for Democrats after the contest was framed as a referendum on Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s popularity.
Crawford, a liberal judge from Dane county, defeated Brad Schimel, a former Republican attorney general and conservative judge from Waukesha county, after Musk and groups associated with the tech billionaire spent millions to boost his candidacy in what became the most expensive judicial contest in American history.
More than $80m was spent on the race, with Musk and affiliated groups spending more than $20m alone. Musk reprised some of the tactics that he used last fall to help Trump win, including offering $100 to people who signed a petition opposing “activist judges” and offering $1m checks to a smaller number of voters.
However, two US House of Representatives seats in Florida, vacated by cabinet appointees, went to Republicans on Tuesday, dashing Democratic hopes for an upset victory in the first federal special elections held since the president began his second term.
Democratic candidates Josh Weil and Gay Valimont were on track to lose the solidly red districts by much smaller margins than the more than 30 points that Democrats lost them by in November.
Elsewhere, Cory Booker, the Democratic US senator from New Jersey, broke the record for longest speech ever by a lone senator – beating the record first established by Strom Thurmond, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
“I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” Booker said near the start of his speech. “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our nation is in crisis.” He concluded his speech after 25 hours and five minutes.
