Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff plans remain under wraps despite the president stating that he’s “settled” on his strategy.
Trump has repeatedly promised to roll out reciprocal dollar-for-dollar tariffs on nations that levy duties on U.S. goods Wednesday in an ambitious attempt to fulfill his administration’s economic agenda.
On Monday evening, the president told reporters in the White House that “I’ve settled, yeah,” amid growing fears that he may foment a global trade war. “Relatively speaking, we’re going to be very kind,” he added.
Share prices fluctuated around the globe on Monday in another sign of uncertainty ahead of Trump’s Liberation Day, after the president threatened over the weekend that his levies could impact “all countries.” Gold prices also soared to an all-time high Tuesday as traders bolt for stable assets. Goldman Sachs estimates a 35 percent chance of a recession in the next 12 months.
Meanwhile, the most expensive judicial battle in U.S. history is set to reach a climax today in Wisconsin, with more than $90 million in funding being poured in by Election Day – including an estimated $20 million from MAGA megadonor Elon Musk.
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Key Points
- Trump 'settled' on Liberation Day tariff plan – but keeps strategy under wraps
- The financial markets no longer believe in Donald Trump’s ‘stable genius’
- Trump again suggests ‘there’s a way’ to run for an unconstitutional third term
- China, Japan, South Korea will jointly respond to U.S. tariffs, Chinese state media says
Gold prices hit record high amid tariff uncertainty
10:03
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James Liddell
As Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” looms, Gold prices hit a record high at $3,148.8 per ounce on Tuesday morning.
Mounting uncertainty and fears of stagflation are, in part, behind the precious metal’s rally, causing traders to bolt toward a stable asset.
Concerns over a U.S. recession are also boosting the demand for gold, with Goldman Sachs estimating a 35 percent chance of it happening within the next 12 months.
Trump says he has 'settled' on Liberation Day tariff plan
09:40
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James Liddell
Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariff plans remain largely unknown despite the president stating that he’s “settled” on his strategy.
Trump has repeatedly promised to roll out reciprocal dollar-for-dollar tariffs on nations that levy duties on U.S. goods for Wednesday on what he calls “Liberation Day.”
On Monday evening, the president told reporters in the White House that “I’ve settled, yeah,” providing little further detail after being pressed on his sweeping tariff agenda, amid growing fears that he may foment a global trade war.
“Relatively speaking, we’re going to be very kind,” he added.
Cornell PhD suing Trump over protest executive orders flees U.S. before deportation
09:31
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Josh Marcus
A Cornell PhD student who was threatened with an immigration arrest during an ongoing constitutional lawsuit against the Trump administration announced on Monday he was fleeing the country.
“Given what we have seen across the United States, I have lost faith that a favourable ruling from the courts would guarantee my personal safety and ability to express my beliefs,” Momodou Taal wrote on X. “I have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted.”
“I feel like a stranger in my country,” his attorney Eric Lee added in a separate statement on X. “What is America if people like Momodou are not welcome here?”
Taal, a citizen of the UK and The Gambia, is one of three academics who sued the Trump administration earlier this month, alleging a pair of January executive orders have the effect of unconstitutionally threatening to deport non-citizens who protest the administration and its allies like Israel.
Read our full coverage.
Trump again suggests ‘there’s a way’ to run for an unconstitutional third term
09:06
,
James Liddell
Donald Trump has again suggested that “there’s a way” for him to run for a constitutionally-barred third term as president.
“People are asking for me to run,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Monday evening. “I don’t know, I haven’t looked into it. They do say there’s a way you can do it. But I don’t know about that.”
During an interview with NBC News Sunday, Trump told Kristen Welker that “there are methods” to enable him to stay in office for an unconstitutional third term and stated that he was “not joking” about considering another four years in the White House.
While heading back to Washington, DC, on board Air Force One on Sunday evening, the president stated that it would actually be “sort of a fourth term” claiming that the 2020 election – which he lost to Joe Biden – was “rigged.”
DOOCY: If you're allowed to run for a third term, is there a thought that Democrats could run Barack Obama against you?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 31, 2025
TRUMP: I'd love that. People are asking me to run. They do say there's a way you can do it. pic.twitter.com/lGAgD9UukN
Pam Bondi wants 20-year sentence for alleged Tesla firebomber in Colorado
08:43
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Josh Marcus
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she intends to seek a 20-year prison sentence against a Colorado man accused of firebombing a Tesla dealership.
Cooper Jo Frederick, 24, was arrested in Fort Collins earlier this month on suspicion of throwing an incendiary device between two vehicles outside a dealership in nearby Loveland on March 7.
It was one of a spate of recent incidents in which Tesla vehicles or buildings — not just in the USA, but also abroad — have been vandalized, defaced with Nazi symbols, or set ablaze, apparently in protest against Elon Musk's role in the Trump administration.
Bondi has vowed to treat these attacks as "domestic terrorism", while Musk and Trump have both claimed without evidence that the incidents were coordinated. So far, no one appears to have been hurt in such incidents.
Io Dodds has the story.
JD Vance appears to defends deportation of father mistakenly sent to Salvadoran mega-prison
08:20
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James Liddell
Vice President JD Vance has attempted to defend the decision to deport Kilmar Armando Abrego, a Salvadoran Migrant with protected status in the U.S., after Immigration and Customs Enforcement admitted to an administration error.
My comment is that according to the court document you apparently didn’t read he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 1, 2025
My further comment is that it’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize. https://t.co/cPnloeyXYk
Even Joe Rogan is worried about Trump sending innocent people to El Salvadorian prison
07:59
,
Josh Marcus
Donald Trump’s boundary-pushing campaign to summarily deport suspected Venezuelan gang members to a notorious Salvadorian prison has alarmed even Joe Rogan, despite the hugely popular podcaster being a usual backer of the president.
“You've gotta get scared that people who are not criminals are getting, like, lassoed up and deported and sent to El Salvador prisons,” Rogan said during an episode that aired over the weekend.
The podcaster called that possibility “horrific” and admitted sending non-criminals out of the country as part of the Trump administration’s attempts to crack down on the Tren de Aragua gang was “bad for the cause.”
During the conversation, alongside fellow podcaster Konstantin Kisin, Rogan appeared to reference the case of Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, a gay makeup artist who sought asylum in the U.S. after facing persecution for his sexuality and political views in Venezuela.
More details in our full story.
Judge blocks Trump from stripping deportation protections for 350,000 Venezuelans: ‘Smacks of racism’
07:00
,
Josh Marcus
Donald Trump’s administration is temporarily blocked from stripping temporary legal status from tens of thousands of Venezuelans, a move a federal judge said “smacks of racism.”
Nearly 350,000 Venezuelans were set to lose their temporarily protected status April 7, cutting off their permissions to live and work in the country and cancelling protections against their removal from the United States.
That directive from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threatens to “inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States,” according to Monday’s decision from District Judge Edward Chen in California.
Alex Woodward has the story.
WATCH: Trump would 'love' to run against Obama in likely illegal third term
06:00
,
Josh Marcus
Doocy: If you were allowed for some reason to run for a third term, is there a thought Democrats would try to run Obama against you?
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 31, 2025
Trump: I would love that. pic.twitter.com/idRAqWSJRJ
Here’s more on why Trump is looking at a third term — and the legal and constitutional provisions that would bar such a move.
Trump calls for 'United States Investment Accelerator'
05:00
,
Josh Marcus
The Trump administration put forth an executive order Monday calling for the Department of Commerce to establish a “United States Investment Accelerator,” guiding entities pursuing $1 billion-plus investments in the U.S. through the country’s “slow, complex, and burdensome American regulatory processes.”
If a big-money investment accelerator sounds a little bit Silicon Valley-ish, that’s not a coincidence.
The Trump campaign, and now administration, has been the closest with the tech world of any Republican administration in recent memory.
During the campaign, we had this look at why 2024 was the Big Tech election.
WATCH: Trump and Kid Rock sign executive order on ticket scalping
04:00
,
Josh Marcus
President Trump is joined in the Oval Office by Kid Rock for the signing of an executive order targeting unfair scalping of concert tickets:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 31, 2025
"This is a great first step." pic.twitter.com/yb9tKmUAgk
Independent reporter goes viral for tough question about deportations. Here's what happened
03:00
,
Josh Marcus
Since Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term in January, one of the easier ways to get answers from his top aides about news of the day is to hang out on the White House’s driveway near a row of television camera positions that White House reporters call Pebble Beach. That’s where administration officials have to pass by to get to or from any appearances they want to make on TV channels.
That’s where I was on Monday, standing with other members of the White House press corps, when Karoline Leavitt stopped to take a few questions after an early afternoon interview on Fox News.
After she answered a few queries from colleagues on Trump’s planned April 2 tariff spree — something the president has taken to calling a “liberation day” even as most business leaders are shuddering at the possibility of new import taxes that will raise prices for American consumers — Leavitt indicated that she would take a question from me on behalf of The Independent.
I tried asking her about a government document that had been filed on a public court docket in litigation seeking to halt Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans who the government has accused of being part of Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan street gang which the Trump administration has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Andrew Feinberg has the full story on what happened next.
Cory Booker takes to Senate floor for all-night speech against Trump and Elon Musk rule of law 'crisis'
02:24
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Josh Marcus
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker hit the Senate floor on Monday night, promising to give a marathon speech until he was physically unable, a protest against Donald Trump and Elon Musk creating what he sees as a rule of law “crisis.”
.@SenBooker: "I rise with the intention of getting in some good trouble, I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able."
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 31, 2025
Watch live here --> https://t.co/Fjt4bacwLg pic.twitter.com/mdsmFSdiQq
Booker’s allies like Chris Murphy of Connecticut pledged to join him.
In 2016 during my filibuster to demand progress on gun safety, @CoryBooker stayed on the floor with me for all 15 hours.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 31, 2025
An hour ago he just began his own filibuster to protest Trump’s lawlessness and corruption.
I’m returning the favor. Here on the floor with him all night. https://t.co/8dUduPzGCS
Here’s more on why some believe Donald Trump is pushing the U.S. toward a constitutional crisis.
Why is Kid Rock at the White House with Trump?
02:13
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Josh Marcus
Kid Rock, clad in an extremely patriotic custom suit of some kind, was at the White House on Monday with Donald Trump, where the pair touted an executive order seeking to crack down on ticket scalpers in the live music industry.
President Trump is joined in the Oval Office by Kid Rock for the signing of an executive order targeting unfair scalping of concert tickets:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 31, 2025
"This is a great first step." pic.twitter.com/yb9tKmUAgk
The order directs the Federal Trade Commission to enforce existing fair-competition rules against scalpers and calls on federal trade officials to recommend any new legislation that might be needed.
Read the full order here.
Watch: Karoline Leavitt spars with The Independent after being challenged over deportations
02:00
,
Ariana Baio
Supreme Court to decide when Catholic religious groups need to pay taxes
01:00
,
Josh Marcus
A group of Catholic Church-affiliated charities believes their religious exemptions from a state tax have been unfairly revoked after they were deemed not religious enough, and it appears the U.S. Supreme Court is sympathetic to its case.
The groups involved in the ruling are Headwaters, Barron County Developmental Services, Diversified Services, and Black River Industries. The group are all meant to offer services to people with developmental disabilities, and are open to non-Catholics.
They're arguing that their First Amendment rights to free exercise have been violated by the state of Wisconsin.
In an earlier ruling, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the groups, which operate under the authority of the Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of Superior weren't religious enough to warrant tax exemption, NBC News reports.
Graig Graziosi has the story.
Trump administration is reviewing billions federal funding to Harvard
Tuesday 1 April 2025 00:00
,
Ariana Baio
The Trump administration is reviewing the $9 billion in funding provided to Harvard University over alleged antisemitism – the latest move in its threat to withhold money to colleges and universities over pro-Palestinian protests.
Federal court pauses Trump attempt to remove protected immigration status from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans
Monday 31 March 2025 23:45
,
Josh Marcus
A California federal court on Monday postponed a Trump administration attempt to remove the Temporary Protected Status of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans legally inside the U.S.
An judge found that that a group of Venezuelan TPS holders who brought a lawsuit were likely to succeed in their claims that the decision was “unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus” against Venezuelan nationals.
Here’s more on the background to the orders at issue.
Trump commutes sentence for Hunter Biden associate
Monday 31 March 2025 23:30
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Ariana Baio
Trump commuted the sentence of Jason Galanis, a former business associate of Hunter Biden who was sentenced to 189 months in prison for his role in a securities fraud scheme.
Galanis, who assisted a Republication investigation into the Biden family, received his commutation on Friday.
It arrived shortly after Trump bestowed an unconditional pardon to Devon Archer, another business partner of Hunter Biden and Galanis.
Elon Musk pours money into key elections across the country as he rants about Soros’ influence
Monday 31 March 2025 23:00
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Richard Hall
Elon Musk is pouring money into key elections across the country in support of Republican and conservative candidates, while at the same time complaining about the influence of fellow billionaire George Soros.
Richard Hall reports:
Lawsuit challenges Trump's sweeping election policy order
Monday 31 March 2025 23:00
,
Josh Marcus
A coalition of organizations filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the Trump administration’s recent executive order on elections, which would require new proof of citizenship rules to vote and limit mail-in ballots.
The suit, filed in District of Columbia federal court, alleges that the Trump administration’s order wrongly claims state powers to dictate the nature of elections.
“Through this unconstitutional action, the President intrudes on the states’ and Congress’s authority to set election rules in an attempt to make it far more difficult for eligible U.S. citizens to exercise their fundamental right to vote,” according to the complaint.
Here’s more on the executive order that touched off the legal challenge.
As Trump prepares trade war, recession odds are up: Goldman Sachs
Monday 31 March 2025 22:45
,
Josh Marcus
There’s an increasing risk of a recession beginning in the next 12 months as Donald Trump pursues a sweeping campaign of tariffs against U.S. trading partners, according to research from Goldman Sachs.
The firm raised its recession estimate to 35 percent, up from a previous 20 percent prediction, per a research note on Sunday.
The finding is based on “the sharp recent deterioration in household and business confidence, and statements from White House officials indicating greater willingness to tolerate near-term economic weakness in pursuit of their policies,” the Wall Street stalwart wrote.
The prediction comes as a series of sweeping tariffs, including a 25 percent levy on foreign-made cars and reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners, are set to take effect on Wednesday, on what the White House has dubbed “Liberation Day.”
More details in our full story.
Chuck Grassley plans a bill to stop judges from carrying out their checks-and-balances powers
Monday 31 March 2025 22:30
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Katie Hawkinson
Senator Chuck Grassley is introducing a bill to stop judges from issuing nationwide injunctions, which experts say are an essential part of the judicial branch’s ability to check the power of the executive branch.
Grassley, a 91-year-old Republican from Iowa and president pro tempore of the Senate, is introducing a bill to end nationwide injunctions because they “have become a favorite tool for those seeking to obstruct [President Donald Trump’s] agenda,” according to an op-ed he wrote for the Wall Street Journal.
Grassley says his bill will ensure “lower courts could no longer block legitimate executive action by issuing orders to nonparties to the lawsuit.”
Federal judges have issued at least a dozen nationwide injunctions against Trump’s policies since he took office in January, temporarily blocking a range of orders, including those seeking to ban transgender people from military service and end the Constitutional right to birthright citizenship.
The DOGE-MAGA alliance has its first big tests in Florida and Wisconsin
Monday 31 March 2025 22:15
,
Josh Marcus
This week will be perhaps one of the most important in Donald Trump’s nascent second term as president. Wednesday will kick off his “Liberation Day” when his proposed tariffs will go into effect. Congress continues to negotiate his proposed “one big, beautiful bill” to cut taxes and ramp up defense and border spending while increasing oil production.
So far, there have been few ways for voters to register dissatisfaction on a large scale, save for a few one-off special elections to fill state legislative seats, where Democrats overperformed, a byproduct of how the Democratic Party has become one of highly-educated and high-propensity voters.
But Tuesday will be the first test for Democrats to see if they can turn dissatisfaction with Trump into votes or if Republicans can create a firewall – and if Trump indeed has a mandate.
Read the latest analysis from Eric Garcia’s newsletter.
Editorial: The financial markets no longer believe in Donald Trump’s ‘stable genius’
Monday 31 March 2025 22:00
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Editorial
The president’s obsession with tariffs risks a repeat of the mistakes of the 1930s – and on ‘Liberation Day’, the world may pay a heavy price
GOP leaders say Trump is 'messing' with media about third term
Monday 31 March 2025 21:45
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Ariana Baio
Multiple Republican leaders in Congress downplayed Trump’s assertions that he will seek an unconstitutional third term as president, saying the president was just messing with the media.
“You see it with like Greenland, like with the Panama Canal – there’s a lot of things the president talks about ultimately it gets people talking and it addresses some other issues too,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters.
Scalise said there was “no proposal” to change the Constitution.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters, “You guys keep asking the question and I think he’s probably having some fun with it and probably messing with you.”
DOGE employee put in charge of Institute of Peace
Monday 31 March 2025 21:35
,
Associated Press
An official allied with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has been put in charge of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a congressionally created and funded think tank targeted by President Donald Trump for closure, according to a federal court filing Monday.
Two board members of the Institute of Peace have authorized replacing its temporary president with Nate Cavanaugh, the filing says. They ordered him, it says, to transfer the institute's property to the General Services Administration, the federal government's real estate manager, which is terminating hundreds of leases at DOGE's behest.
The action follows a Friday night mass firing of nearly all of the institute's 300 employees. Former employees say only a small number did not get notification, including colleagues who are abroad, who were given until April 9 to return to the U.S., and the regional vice presidents, who direct the areas where they are based.
Democrats in Pennsylvania are angry. John Fetterman’s old rival is listening
Monday 31 March 2025 21:15
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John Bowden
Amid Trump’s unprecedented slash-and-burn of the federal government, many Democratic voters feel their party is not doing enough to fight back. John Bowden reports from State College, Pennsylvania on a former congressman looking to meet the moment:
'No exemptions' for farmers on tariffs, White House says
Monday 31 March 2025 21:00
,
Ariana Baio
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said there would be “no exemptions” for farmers on the incoming tariffs that Trump plans to impose on Wednesday.
How the Trump administration is using tattoos to lock up immigrants in El Salvador
Monday 31 March 2025 20:52
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Alex Woodward
The results of a scorecard appear to be enough to determine whether Venezuelan immigrants can be sent to a notorious El Salvador prison and remain there indefinitely.
Under Donald Trump’s order invoking the Alien Enemies Act for the fourth time in U.S. history, Venezuelans over age 14 who are determined to be “members” of the Tren de Ar
