Donald Trump’s billionaire supporter Bill Ackman, a prominent hedge fund manager, has called on the president to suspend his sweeping new tariffs on America’s foreign trading partners, due to come into effect on Wednesday, warning the policy could lead to “economic nuclear war.”
Writing on X, Ackman pleaded with Trump to impose a 90-day delay to allow more time for negotiations and said: “Business is a confidence game. The president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe.”
His comments come as the commander-in-chief digs in his heels over the policy, even after stock futures dropped once again.
On Sunday, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 4.1 percent, or 1,531 points, while S&P 500 futures dropped 4.6 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 5.3 percent.
Despite the slump, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social insisting he would follow through on his policies while White House officials spent the weekend defending him.
Meanwhile, millions of demonstrators flooded the streets of the nation’s cities on Saturday in protest at the Trump’s actions since returning to power, as well as those of his senior adviser Elon Musk.
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Trump tariffs: Key points
- Billionaire Trump supporter Bill Ackman calls for 90-day pause on tariffs to avoid ‘economic nuclear war’
- Stock futures drop again as Trump remains defiant on tariffs plan roiling international markets
- FTSE opens sharply down after Asian markets plummet over trade fears
- Elon Musk again distances himself from Trump tariffs
- Trump official forced to explain why president imposed tariffs on penguin-inhabited islands
Even Ben Shapiro disapproves of Trump’s tariffs
12:10
,
Joe Sommerlad
While many conservative media figures are insisting that the stock market’s dive in reaction to the president’s tariff policies is actually a positive, the conservative podcaster is not one of them.
During a recent episode of his show, Shapiro described the tariffs as “probably unconstitutional” and called them “pretty crazy.”
Trump insists there is 'no inflation' in latest tariffs defense
11:55
,
Joe Sommerlad
Here’s the president’s latest bid to defend his tariff strategy as the dire stock market response to it continues unabated:
“Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place. This is despite the fact that the biggest abuser of them all, China, whose markets are crashing, just raised its Tariffs by 34%, on top of its long term ridiculously high Tariffs (Plus!), not acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate. They’ve made enough, for decades, taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA! Our past ‘leaders’ are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Fox News pundit believes Trump tariffs will reverse ‘crisis in masculinity’
11:50
,
Joe Sommerlad
A self-identified “MAGA leftist” (?) believes that Trump’s market-shattering tariffs will reverse the “crisis in masculinity” permeating the nation.
Columnist Batya Ungar-Sargon told Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy yesterday that the supposed crisis stemmed from moves to outsource manual labor jobs overseas – a move that has deprived millions of American men of a sense of purpose in their lives.
Watch: Trump claims world’s biggest tech leaders don’t blame him for tariffs
11:30
,
Joe Sommerlad
Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews on Sunday, the president was asked if he had talked to any tech leaders over the weekend about his economic policy.
He said he had, but declined to name them, insisting only that they approved of his strategy and did not fear the consequences for their businesses.
SNL mocks Trump tariffs: ‘Make America Great Depression Again’
11:10
,
Joe Sommerlad
Saturday Night Live’s James Austin Johnson and Mike Myers were back on duty to send up the president’s increasingly disastrous-looking trade war and Elon Musk’s failed intervention in Wisconsin judicial politics.
Here’s Gustaf Kilander with the full story.
Howard Lutnick admits U.S. workers won’t get jobs in new factories spurred by tariff strategy
10:50
,
Joe Sommerlad
Trump’s commerce secretary seemingly admitted yesterday that American workers would not see long-lost manufacturing jobs return as a result of the president’s new tariff strategy.
Lutnick appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday and promised that “trillions” of dollars would flow into the U.S. in the form of new investments in its manufacturing sector.
Margaret Brennan, the show’s host, questioned whether those factories would be “automated”, as Lutnick had said previously.
Pointing out that the construction of new factories “takes years” and will do nothing to bring down costs of consumer goods for Americans in the short term, Brennan added: “You said that robots are going to fill those jobs. So those aren’t union worker jobs.”
“It’s automated factories,” Lutnick conceded, while promising that American workers would build and “operate” the factories brought to U.S. shores in the coming months and years.
Here’s more on his back-pedalling from John Bowden.
Trump officials struggle to explain tariff strategy but claim Americans won’t feel ‘big effect’
10:30
,
Joe Sommerlad
CNN’s Jake Tapper clashed with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Sunday as she and other cabinet-level officials hit the interview circuit to reassure Americans in the wake of a stock market plunge as the fallout from “Liberation Day” continues.
Trump hosting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at White House on Monday
10:10
,
Joe Sommerlad
After welcoming the World Series-winning LA Dodgers to the East Room this morning, the president will host his Israeli counterpart this afternoon for the second time since his inauguration.
The conversation is likely to take in Gaza, tariffs and the threat posed by Iran.
We’ll bring you all the latest right here later today.
Elon Musk again distances himself from Trump tariffs
09:50
,
Joe Sommerlad
The Tesla and X boss has continued to take jabs at Trump officials defending the president's new tariffs, appearing to want to distance himself from the controversial policy that has been roiling world markets.
The president’s tariffs have tanked global markets and the ultra-wealthy like Musk have already been feeling the blow.
According to a CNBC analysis, Musk has lost just over $30bn since Trump announced his trade war last week.
That loss and continuing volatility may explain why the billionaire has been taking pot shots at Trump officials like Howard Lutnick and economic adviser Peter Navarro.
Trump was asked yesterday about Musk speaking out of turn yesterday but managed to avoid taking his special adviser to task, despite dismissing what he had said.
Reporter: Elon Musk has mentioned zero tariffs between the US and Europe.
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2025
Trump: Europe made a fortune with us. Europe has also had a tremendous surplus with the United States. Europe is a little smaller but they treated us very badly, China has but Europe has also. Europe has… pic.twitter.com/Ejfr2FgH98
Live: FTSE opens sharply down after Asian markets plummet over trade fears
09:30
,
Joe Sommerlad
We’re covering all things Trump right here, but if you’d like dedicated coverage of the market reaction to the tariff uncertainty, you can get live updates on that with Karl Matchett and Tara Cobham below.
Stock futures drop again as Trump remains defiant on tariffs plan roiling international markets
09:10
,
Joe Sommerlad
U.S. stock futures dropped again on Sunday evening after the markets suffered a bloodbath during the week following the president’s tariffs announcement.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 4.1 percent, or 1,531 points, late last night, while S&P 500 futures dropped 4.6 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 5.3 percent.
In early trading in Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped nearly 8 percent.
As the news emerged, Trump put out a statement on his social media platform insisting that he would follow through on his policies, despite them roiling the markets and threatening to disrupt the global financial order.
It read as follows:
We have massive Financial Deficits with China, the European Union, and many others. The only way this problem can be cured is with TARIFFS, which are now bringing Tens of Billions of Dollars into the U.S.A. They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold. The Surplus…
— Trump Posts on (@trump_repost) April 6, 2025
He also dug in his heels on Air Force One yesterday as he returned to Washington from yet another weekend golfing in the Florida sunshine:
Trump: Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something pic.twitter.com/xSjDa5hxbe
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 6, 2025
Trump: I was elected on this. This was one of the biggest reasons I got elected. We’re going to put tariffs— we’ve already put them on. It’s not a question of we will. Those tariffs will make us one trillion dollars pic.twitter.com/ilDdmqUxmx
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2025
Billionaire Trump supporter Bill Ackman calls for 90-day pause on tariffs to avoid ‘economic nuclear war’
08:50
,
Joe Sommerlad
Good morning!
Donald Trump’s billionaire supporter Bill Ackman, a prominent hedge fund manager, has called on the president to suspend his sweeping new tariffs on America’s foreign trading partners, due to come into effect on Wednesday, warning the policy could lead to “economic nuclear war.”
Writing on X, Ackman pleaded with Trump to impose a 90-day delay to allow more time for negotiations and said: “Business is a confidence game. The president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe.”
He continued: “By placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital.”
Here’s Ackman’s post in full:
The country is 100% behind the president on fixing a global system of tariffs that has disadvantaged the country. But, business is a confidence game and confidence depends on trust.
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) April 6, 2025
President @realDonaldTrump has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical…
It’s worth adding that the financier was not always so critical of the president, expressing his confidence in Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as recently as December:
December 2024: I think the overarching theme is President Trump will do nothing that interferes with the success of the country, the success of the economy.. other than our national defense, that’s his number one issue. I think he is being very thoughtful about tariffs. I think… pic.twitter.com/lEhOL1584D
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2025
Today: Lutnick profits when our economy implodes
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2025
12/24: Howard Lutnick is going to be a very strong advocate for promoting our United States and trade in a thoughtful way pic.twitter.com/TQhbr7GaOT
Trump is ‘probably finished’ after current presidential term is over: AG Pam Bondi
08:00
,
Kelly Rissman
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an interview this Sunday on Fox News that President Donald Trump is “probably finished” as commander-in-chief after his current term ends.
Bondi was speaking on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream when she was asked about Trump’s various remarks surrounding a third term in office.
“I wish we could have him for 20 years as our president, but I think he's gonna be finished probably after this term.”
When questioned on her use of the word “probably,” Bondi replied: “We’d have to look at the constitution.”
Bondi picked up on Bream’s use of the phrase “heavy lift” when describing what actions would need to be taken in order to remain in office past 2028.
“There are methods which you can use,” Trump insisted on NBC News in a telephone interview last Sunday.
Read the full story.
ICYMI: Minister calls two Labour MPs being denied entry to Israel 'unacceptable'
06:00
,
Kelly Rissman
Trump and Musk denounced as thousands protest in cities across US: ‘The politics of Mussolini’
04:00
,
Kelly Rissman
Millions flocked to the streets across the country in protest of President Donald Trump’s administration’s cuts to health program funding, mass firings of federal workers and steps toward shuttering entire agencies.
“Hands Off” protests, organized by nearly 200 advocacy groups, cropped up in more than 1,000 locations across the U.S. and around the globe Saturday in what became the largest day of collective action since Trump was inaugurated for a second time.
The protests aimed to put a stop to the “most brazen power grab in modern history,” organizers said. Millions — from Los Angeles to London — marched to advocate for civil rights, healthcare, democracy, workers’ rights and LGBTQ+ rights that have been under “assault” by the Trump administration and GOP Congress members, they added.
The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has taken a chainsaw to the federal government, haphazardly firing thousands of federal workers, cutting humanitarian aid programs, and planning to shutter federal office buildings.
The Trump administration is drowning in court battles as it swiftly moves to deport a host of immigrants, implement sweeping tariffs, and attempts to ban transgender Americans from serving in the U.S. military.
Read the full story.
Measles outbreak claims life of second child as outbreak continues to spread
03:00
,
Kelly Rissman
Another child has died from measles in Texas. President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is reportedly is planning a trip to Texas after learning of the second death. Kennedy is reportedly planning to attend the child's funeral, according to The Guardian.
An 8-year-old girl died early on Thursday morning from "measles pulmonary failure" while she was being treated at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, according to the New York Times.
Her death is the second tied to a measles outbreak in West Texas and the second tied to the disease in the U.S. in a decade. Dozens of residents in the region — including in bordering states — have been infected.
The UMC Health System said on Sunday that the girl had not been vaccinated against the disease and had no underlying health conditions that contributed to her death.
The first death in the region was also an unvaccinated child who died in February. There may be a third death — an unvaccinated individual in New Mexico — who tested positive for measles. Health officials are still trying to confirm if measles was the individual's cause of death.
Graig Graziosi has the story.
Musk again distances himself from Trump tariffs by scoffing at Lutnick’s attempt to explain duties on penguin island
02:47
,
Graig Graziosi
Tesla and X boss Elon Musk has continued to take jabs at Trump officials defending the president's new tariffs, appearing to want to distance himself from the controversial policy that has been roiling world markets.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs have tanked global markets, and the ultra-wealthy like Musk have been feeling the blow. According to a CNBC analysis, Musk has lost just over $30bn since Trump announced his tariffs. On Sunday, stock futures were down across the big three indexes, and analysts predicted that U.S. markets would open lower on Monday.
That loss and continuing volatility may explain why Musk has been taking pot shots at Trump officials like U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and one of the architects of the president's tariff plan, Peter Navarro.
READ MORE:
Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks out on Trump’s future plans
02:00
,
Kelly Rissman
Senator Bernie Sanders has broken his silence over President Donald Trump’s teasing that he will seek a third term in the Oval Office in 2028.
The 83-year-old Vermont senator was asked if he, like many Republicans, laughs off the suggestion of a third term.
“No, I don’t. The idea of a third term? Why not? They don't believe in the rule of law. They don't believe in the Constitution. So, yeah, I would take that seriously,” he told CBS News.
Last week, Trump told NBC News in an interview that he was considering “methods” to seek a third term.
Later, on Air Force One from Florida to Washington, he elaborated to reporters that “I have had more people ask me to have a third term, which in a way is a fourth term because the other election, the 2020 election, was totally rigged.” Trump lost that election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Still, Trump added: “I don’t want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, we’ve got a long time to go.”
Read the full story.
WATCH: 'Hands Off' protests are held throughout the United States on April 5th
01:00
,
Kelly Rissman
Stock futures drop again as Trump remains defiant on tariffs plan roiling international markets
Monday 7 April 2025 00:49
,
Graig Graziosi
U.S. stock futures dropped again on Sunday evening after the markets suffered a bloodbath during the week following President Donald Trump’s tariffs announcement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 4.1 percent, or 1,531 points, late on Sunday, while S&P 500 futures dropped 4.6% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 5.3 percent.
As the news emerged, Trump put out a statement on his social media platform insisting that he would follow through on his policies, despite them roiling the markets and threatening to disrupt the global financial order.
READ MORE:
ICYMI: Why did Russia escape Trump’s tariffs?
Monday 7 April 2025 00:30
,
Kelly Rissman
Almost no countries were spared from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs; even small, uninhabited islands in the Indian Ocean were included in the exhaustive list. But one country was notably missing: Russia.
One of the United States’ largest adversaries was omitted from the list of countries slapped with even the 10 percent baseline tariff – a move that raised some eyebrows given Trump’s previously friendly relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But other countries, including the uninhabited Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, which have a population of 59 and Svalbard and Jan Mayen, islands in the Arctic Circle with approximately 2,000 people, were hit with tariffs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Wednesday that Russia was exempt because the U.S. doesn’t trade with them under heavy sanctions placed on the country after it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Ariana Baio has the story.
Democratic Senator predicts 'most enduring image' of Trump's second term
Monday 7 April 2025 00:00
,
Kelly Rissman
California Sen. Adam Schiff predicted the most “enduring image” of Trump’s second term.
The weekend after the Dow ended down 2,000 points, President Donald Trump spent the weekend in Jupiter, Florida playing in the Senior Club Championship at his golf club.
Schiff predicted to NBC News on Sunday that Americans will remember “the president out on a golf cart while people’s retirement is in flames.”
Here’s the full clip.
President Trump out on a golf cart while people's retirements go up in flames.
— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) April 6, 2025
That may end up being the most enduring image of his presidency. pic.twitter.com/gV3puDfUWm
Ukrainian refugees accidentally told to leave in mistaken email
Sunday 6 April 2025 23:30
,
Kelly Rissman
Ukrainians legally in the U.S. were told in an email mistakenly sent Friday by the Department of Homeland Security that their parole status had been withdrawn and that they had to self-deport, according to Politico.
The email, sent to an unidentified number of people, prompted widespread fear among those who came to the U.S. to flee the full-scale Russian invasion that began in February 2022. The refugees have been increasingly concerned about their legal status in the country, as President Donald Trump said last month that they could revoke their residency status.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the outlet that the U.S. has not yet revoked the temporary parole status handed to the 240,000 Ukrainians who came to the U.S., fleeing the war under former President Joe Biden.
A reversal, which has been indicated by the White House, could lead to the quick deportation of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.
Read the full story.
Trump official admits US workers won’t get jobs in new factories spurred by tariff strategy
Sunday 6 April 2025 23:15
,
Kelly Rissman
Donald Trump’s secretary of Commerce seemingly admitted on Sunday that US workers would not see long-lost manufacturing jobs return as a result of the president’s new tariff strategy, which places duties on nearly all US imports.
Howard Lutnick appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday and promised that “trillions” of dollars would flow into the US in the form of new investments in America’s manufacturing sector. Margaret Brennan, the show’s host, questioned whether those factories would be “automated”, as Lutnick had said previously.
Pointing out that the construction of new factories “takes years” and will do nothing to bring down costs of consumer goods for Americans in the short term, Brennan added: “You said that robots are going to fill those jobs. So those aren't union worker jobs.”
“It’s automated factories,” Lutnick conceded, while promising that American workers would build and “operate” the factories brought to US shores in the coming months and years.
John Bowden has the story.
WATCH: Conservative commenter Ben Shapiro lashes out at Trump for tariff policy
Sunday 6 April 2025 23:00
,
Kelly Rissman
New report reveals how Jeffrey Goldberg’s number got into Mike Waltz’s phone
Sunday 6 April 2025 22:45
,
Kelly Rissman
A White House internal investigation into how Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was included in a group chat where top Trump officials were planning an attack on Houthi targets has produced a complicated explanation for the security failure.
According to the report, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, accidentally added Goldberg's number to his iPhone, thinking he was saving another official's number.
It's the process by which Goldberg's number ended up in Waltz's phone where things become complicated.
The unlikely series of events reportedly began in October, when Goldberg emailed the Trump campaign concerning a story that was running in the Atlantic focused on the then-candidate Trump's comments about wounded military members.
The campaign disputed the story by including Waltz—who was serving as Trump's national security surrogate—in the email.
Read the full story.
Trump administration sued by government watchdog group over FOIA office closure
Sunday 6 April 2025 22:30
,
Kelly Rissman
Government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has sued the Trump administration after it “abruptly eliminated” the Freedom of Information Act office.
In a filing submitted in a federal Washington, DC court Friday, the group called the closure “contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious agency action.”
The group said it filed five FOIA requests on April 1 to the Centers for Disease Control via email, as the agency’s website dictates.
In response, the filing says, the group received an automated email saying: “Hello, the FOIA office has been placed on admin leave and is unable to respond to any emails.”
On April 2, the group received another email: “I cannot tell if our automated reply is functional, so I am responding while I am still able to access CDC systems. The entire CDC FOIA Office has been placed on administrative leave prior to a mandated June 2 separation date.”
Best signs from the nationwide 'Hands Off' protests
Sunday 6 April 2025 22:15
,
Kelly Rissman
As thousands came together on Saturday in nationwide protests to denounce President Donald Trump’s administration, several rallygoers held noteworthy signs emblazoned with clever phrases and imagery to relay messages of defiance.
Dubbed the “Hands Off” protests, rallies cropped up across the U.S. and the globe, with the sole purpose of putting a stop to the “most brazen power grab in modern history,” according to organizers.
While many attendees marched empty-handed, others displayed handmade signs featuring fighting words aimed at Trump, JD Vance, and tech billionaire Elon Musk, leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, which has cut tens of thousands of government jobs.
Favorite sign so far. pic.twitter.com/MlTRAp22Xs
— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) April 5, 2025
One Wisconsinite held a sign that read: “Wisconsin hates Elon Musk so much it could be one of his kids.” The message, in reference to the Tesla CEO’s strained relationships with his estranged daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, appeared to entertain The Handmaid’s Tale actor Bradley Whitford, who shared a picture of the woman and her sign on X.
Inga Parkel has the story.
AG says Trump is ‘probably finished’ after current presidential term is over
Sunday 6 April 2025 22:00
,
Kelly Rissman
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an interview this Sunday on Fox News that President Donald Trump is “probably finished” as commander-in-chief after his current term ends.
Bondi was speaking on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream when she was asked about Trump’s various remarks surrounding a third term in office.
“I wish we could have him for 20 years as our president, but I think he's gonna be finished probably after this term.”
When questioned on her use of the word “probably,” Bondi replied: “We’d have to look at the constitution.”
Bondi picked up on Bream’s use of the phrase “heavy lift” when describing what actions would need to be taken in order to remain in office past 2028.
“There are methods which you can use,” Trump insisted on NBC News in a telephone interview last Sunday.
Here’s the full story.
