U.S. stocks ended the day higher on Tuesday after remarks by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that while any negotiations with China over Donald Trump’s tariffs may be a “slog,” he believes there will be a de-escalation of the current trade tensions, describing the situation as not sustainable.
Bessent’s comments were made at a closed-door event on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings and came the same day that the IMF warned the U.S. economy would be hit hardest by Trump’s aggressive tariffs plan.
In its forecast of global economic growth, the IMF dropped the U.S. from 2.7 percent to 1.8 percent for the year, while downgrading nearly all countries and shaving half a percentage point off global growth.
The White House continues to claim that trade agreements are being negotiated, with basic terms reportedly close to being agreed with Japan and India.
At a swearing-in ceremony for SEC chair Paul Atkins, Trump sought to allay market fears by saying the China tariffs will come down, and that he had no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, having previously said the opposite.
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Key Points
- Trump admits China’s tariffs will drop ‘but it won’t be zero’
- Trump says he has no intention of firing Fed Chair Powell
- Markets rise as Bessent says China-U.S. tariff standoff will de-escalate
- World ‘entering a new era’ as IMF slashes U.S. economic forecast
- Top economist says almost 100% chance of U.S. recession if Trump doesn't retreat on tariffs
RFK Jr. appears on Fox News to tout petroleum-based food dye ban
01:38
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Katie Hawkinson
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared on Fox News to celebrate his ban on petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation’s food supply.
“The food our kids are eating today is not really food,” Kennedy told Jesse Watters. “It's food-like substances, and some of it was made in petroleum refineries, and we need to give our kids real food.”
Kennedy also doubled down on his claim that autism diagnoses in the U.S. are “20 times worse than COVID-19” in terms of “the economic impact, the social impact, the moral impact on our country.”
Kennedy previously claimed autism “dwarfs the COVID epidemic and the impacts on our country because COVID killed old people.”
Six security guards charged after woman’s removal from Republican town hall
01:00
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Oliver O'Connell
Six men who forcibly removed a woman from a Republicantown hall meeting have been hit with a string of charges, following the chaotic incident in northern Idaho.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Trump tariffs: What are companies saying, and doing?
00:30
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AP
Companies from a wide range of industries are having trouble assessing the impact of tariffs because of the constant uncertainty over whether and where the taxes will be imposed next or postponed, sometimes on a daily or weekly basis. Some tariffs remain in place against key U.S. trading partners, but others have been postponed to give nations time to negotiate.
As a result, companies have been giving somewhat shaky financial forecasts during their latest round of earnings updates.
Here's how several big companies are dealing with the tariff confusion:
Amid Trump feud, Top producer at 60 Minutes quits over lack of ‘journalistic independence’
00:15
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Oliver O'Connell
The executive producer of 60 Minutes, Bill Owens, revealed Tuesday that he’s resigning, saying that he had lost his journalistic independence amid an onslaught of attacks on the program by Donald Trump.
“Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes, right for the audience,” Owens told a shocked staff in a memo obtained by The New York Times.
“So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward,” he added.
Gustaf Kilander and Justin Baragona report.
Trump admin sues Uber for making subscriptions too hard to cancel
00:00
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Oliver O'Connell
The Federal Trade Commission is suing Uber, claiming the ride-share company makes it too difficult to cancel its subscription service, Uber One.
The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleges the company charged consumers for Uber One without their consent, failed to deliver promised savings and made it difficult for users to cancel the service despite its “cancel anytime” policy.
Michelle Del Rey has the details.
Colombian president says US has revoked his visa and appears to mock Trump as ‘Donald Duck’
23:45
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Oliver O'Connell
Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro has claimed that U.S. officials have revoked his visa, a claim the State Department would not immediately confirm.
Petro was speaking during a televised meeting of his cabinet called to address an outbreak of yellow fever, according to The City Paper Bogotá. The president spent several days in January engulfed in a conflict with the Trump administration about accepting Colombian nationals deported from the United States, before backing down.
John Bowden has the story.
A Venezuelan delivery driver was ‘disappeared’ after making a wrong turn. The Trump administration claims they know where he is
23:30
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Oliver O'Connell
In January, a delivery worker in Michigan had picked up an order from McDonald’s and was on his way to its destination when he made a wrong turn on a bridge into Canada.
When Ricardo Prada Vásquez tried to re-enter the country from the Ambassador Bridge, the 32-year-old Venezuelan immigrant was detained by immigration authorities.
Alex Woodward reports on what happened next.
It’s official – Donald Trump is bad for the world economy
23:12
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The Independent
Though covered by a thin veneer of nuanced “econospeak”, the message of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could not be clearer: Donald Trump is bad for the world economy and will make America poorer, not wealthier – now, tomorrow and far into the future.
The assessment of the IMF’s economists – who are listened to intently by investors, even if not President Trump – is damning. The downgrade in the growth forecasts for the United States this year alone amounts to almost 1 per cent of GDP – a loss of some $200bn, of which about half is a direct result of the tariffs announced on and after the ironically named “Liberation Day” on 2 April. Mr Trump was at least wise to postpone his foolish initiative by one day.
The losses to output and the negative effects on the living standards of Americans will continue to accumulate well into the long term. Rather than “trillions” of dollars flowing into the US Treasury, the impact of tariffs will be negative virtually everywhere on the planet. Trade wars have no winners and countless losers. As Mr Trump said, no other president has ever done anything like this before – but it’s not in a good way.
Continue reading...
Musk says time at DOGE will drop significantly in May
23:00
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Oliver O'Connell
Elon Musk says starting in May, his time spent with the Department of Government Efficiency will “drop significantly,” and he'll allocate more time to Tesla.
The company has faced backlash and angry protests over Musk’s leadership of DOGE.
The Austin, Texas, company said Tuesday that quarterly profits fell by 71%, far below analyst estimates. And Tesla’s revenue fell 9% in the January through March period, below Wall Street’s forecast.
Tesla’s stock has fallen more than 40% this year but rose slightly in after-hours trading.
Here’s Musk speaking on Tesla’s earnings call today:
"Starting probably next month, in May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly," Elon Musk says in $TSLA's earnings call.
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) April 22, 2025
Earlier, he explained he was doing the work: "If the ship of America goes down, we all go down with it, including Tesla and everyone else." pic.twitter.com/GLkgLhJtAo
Trump admin submits court-ordered daily report on Kilmar Abrego Garcia confidentially
22:53
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Oliver O'Connell
The Trump administration has submitted today’s court-ordered daily status report on Kilmar Abrego Garcia confidentially.
This is the first time that’s happened.
Judge Paula Xinis torches government attorneys once again, finding their refusals to answer questions from Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers “specious” and in “bad faith.”
Trump administration attorneys are ordered to come up with legal arguments to defend their “vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege” they’ve used as “a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance” with court orders.
“Defendants have known, at least since last week, that this Court requires specific legal and factual showings to support any claim of privilege. Yet they have continued to rely on boilerplate assertions. That ends now,” Xinis wrote.
Xinis also calls out the administration for its “continued mischaracterization of the Supreme Court’s Order” to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release.
The judge also notes that the government must provide some evidence to defend allegations that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13. “Defendants cannot invoke the moniker of MS-13 as responsive to the Court’s previous order … then object to follow-up interrogatories seeking the factual bases for the same,” Xinis wrote.
The government must answer questions from Abrego Garcia’s attorneys by 6 p.m. tomorrow night.
Judge blocks Trump's shutdown of government-funded news broadcasts
22:50
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Reuters
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Tuesday to halt efforts to shut down Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, whose news broadcasts are funded by the government to export U.S. values to the world.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who is overseeing six lawsuits from employees and contractors affected by the shutdown of U.S. Agency for Global Media, ordered the administration to “take all necessary steps” to restore employees and contractors to their positions and resume radio, television and online news broadcasts.
USAGM placed over 1,000 employees on leave and told 600 contractors they would be terminated after the agency abruptly shut down the broadcasts in March.
The ruling was a “significant victory for press freedom,” said Andrew Celli, an attorney representing VOA employees in the lawsuits.
VOA was founded to combat Nazi propaganda at the height of World War Two, and has become a major international media broadcaster.
Congress has funded and authorized the broadcasts to provide an “accurate, objective, and comprehensive” source of news in other nations and export the “cardinal American values of free speech, freedom of the press, and open debate,” Lamberth wrote. Congress made the broadcasts mandatory and did not allow the executive branch to unilaterally terminate or defund them, he ruled.
Trump advisor Kari Lake announced the shutdown on March 15, placing nearly all USAGM employees on leave, saying the agency was “irretrievably broken” and biased against President Donald Trump.
As Musk runs DOGE for Trump, revenue and profits plunge at Tesla
22:49
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Oliver O'Connell
Tesla delivered disappointing earnings just after the bell on Tuesday, missing Wall Street expectations.
“It is difficult to measure the impacts of shifting global trade policy on the automotive and energy supply chains, our cost structure and demand for durable goods and related services,” the company said in a letter to investors, adding it would be revisiting guidance in its Q2 update.
Michelle Del Rey has the details.
Trump admits China’s tariffs will drop ‘but it won’t be zero’
22:43
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Oliver O'Connell
President Donald Trump on Tuesday conceded that the 154 percent tax Americans currently pay for most imported goods from China will come down as a result of trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
Speaking in the Oval Office after a brief swearing-in ceremony for Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins, Trump said talks with China were “doing fine” because “everybody wants to have involvement” in American markets.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, D.C.
Fired Hegseth aide said he was ousted over his loyalty to Trump
22:33
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Oliver O'Connell
A former top adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was accused of leaking sensitive information to the media, claims he was fired as part of an elaborate deep state plot.
Dan Caldwell, who was one of three officials escorted from the Pentagon last week, maintains that he was not responsible for the leaked information, which has since prompted calls for his former boss to be dismissed.
Speaking to Tucker Carlson on the conservative commentator’s podcast Monday, Caldwell instead suggested that the purge was linked to his loyalty to Hegseth and President Donald Trump.
James Liddell has the story.
Trump says he has no intention of firing Fed Chair Powell
22:28
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Oliver O'Connell
President Donald Trump says he has “no intention” of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he appointed in his first term.
“None whatsoever. Never did,” says Trump, before again voicing his strong desire for Powell and the Fed to lower interest rates.
Trump says he has no intention on firing Powell. Adds that he never did have an intention on firing Powell. pic.twitter.com/6AkBwOLkfT
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 22, 2025
As recently as this afternoon, the White House reiterated Trump’s displeasure with Powell.
Leavitt: I think the president made his position on the Fed and Powell quite clear. The president believes they have been making moves and taking action in the name of politics rather than in the name of what is right for the American economy.
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 22, 2025
The president has the right to… pic.twitter.com/vGWyaC288a
Fears over the independence of the Federal Reserve and Powell’s future have had a huge impact on the markets recently, causing big drops on Wall Street whenever Trump has criticized him.
Last week, Trump posted on Truth Social that Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough!”
Watch: Trump says of China 'If they don't make a deal, we'll set the deal'
22:24
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Oliver O'Connell
.@POTUS on China: "Ultimately, they have to make a deal because otherwise they're not going to be able to deal in the United States ... If they don't make a deal, we'll set the deal." pic.twitter.com/a6xnGH2s5c
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 22, 2025
Watch: Trump administration to resume defaulted student loan collections
22:15
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Oliver O'Connell
Earth Day marks the chance to help save the planet. The environment was already on the edge before Trump took office
22:00
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Oliver O'Connell
Tuesday marks the 55th anniversary of the United States’ Earth Day movement. As the world continues to get hotter and hotter, each passing day is but another that could be used to combat the terrifying and existential threat of human-caused climate change.
Julia Musto reports from New York.
Another week, another Republican town hall descends into chaos
21:30
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Oliver O'Connell
Florida Representative Byron Donalds faced hundreds of his constituents on Monday during a contentious town hall filled with boos, jeers, cheers and shouting – the latest Republican to field aggressive questioning in the public forum.
Donalds, a close ally of President Donald Trump, defended the administration’s policies and positions as he fielded confrontational questions about Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency, the Israel–Hamas conflict, diversity, equity and inclusion, and more.
However, he struggled to get through answers as audience members interrupted him several times to boo or shout at him.
Ariana Baio has the story.
Hegseth’s fate is tied up in the debate over attacking Iran — here's why
21:15
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Oliver O'Connell
John Bowden writes:
...in conservative circles, the discussion over Hegseth’s fate has evolved from palace intrigue and a simple discussion about the secretary’s professionalism to a deeper debate over the two main factions vying for control of the second Trump administration’s foreign policy agenda.
Read on...
Wall St ends trading day higher on Bessent comments
21:14
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Oliver O'Connell
Wall Street rebounded on Tuesday as a spate of quarterly earnings reports and hints at the de-escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions brought buyers in from the sidelines.
A broad rally boosted all three major U.S. indices by more than 2%, as investors looked past Trump's ramped-up rhetoric against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is widely considered a stabilizing force for the markets.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, when asked about Trump's attacks on Powell, said the Fed's independence is “foundational” to better economic outcomes.
Having been battered for weeks by the White House's erratic and multi-front tariff disputes, the S&P 500 is currently about 14.4% below its record closing high reached on February 19.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that while trade negotiations with Beijing will likely be “a slog,” he believes that there will be a de-escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 129.13 points, or 2.50%, to end at 5,287.33 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 429.52 points, or 2.71%, to 16,300.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,013.56 points, or 2.66%, to 39,183.97.
With reporting from Reuters
White House insists it can still seal 75 trade deals in 90 days
21:00
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Oliver O'Connell
...and yet is only in talks with 34 countries.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, D.C.
Bessent predicts U.S.-China trade talks will be a 'slog' but sees de-escalation soon
20:50
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Oliver O'Connell
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believes there will be a de-escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions, but negotiations with Beijing have not yet started and would be a “slog,” according to a person present at closed-door remarks he gave to investors at a JP Morgan conference on Tuesday.
Bessent described the current bilateral trade situation as a two-way embargo, and neither side views the status quo as sustainable, the person told Reuters. The treasury secretary added that the Trump administration’s goal was not to decouple the world’s two largest economies.
Instead, Bessent expressed hope for a “big, beautiful rebalancing” of China’s economy towards more consumption and the U.S. economy towards more manufacturing, but it was unclear whether Beijing was ready to do that, the source said.
The private investment conference took place in Washington, D.C., on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings. Bloomberg first reported on some of Bessent’s remarks.
Currently, the U.S. has 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, and China has 125 percent tariffs on American-made goods.
Bessent predicts that a de-escalation would occur in the “very near future” and would provide “a sigh of relief” for markets, the person said.
Bessent’s comments contributed to positive corporate earnings momentum on Wall Street, which rebounded from Monday’s sell-off sparked by President Donald Trump’s criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Major U.S. stock indexes were up more than 2% in afternoon trading.
In other remarks, Bessent indicated that the Trump administration would be willing to offer Argentina’s government some financial support if a global shock derailed the South American country’s economic recovery, the person said.
Such help would be contingent on Javier Milei’s government remaining committed to reforms and ensuring that any difficulties were not Argentina’s fault. Bessent was in Buenos Aires last week to show support for the reforms and a $20 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
With reporting from Reuters
Trump tariffs: Dow is heading for its worst April since the Great Depression
20:40
,
Oliver O'Connell
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to have its worst April since 1932 after losing almost 1,000 points on Monday, Dow Jones Market Data shows.
Similarly, the S&P 500 has had its worst performance since inauguration day for any new president dating to 1928, Bespoke Investment Group has found.
Concerns about President Donald Trump’s trade policies and the possibility that he may remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have prompted investors to expect bigger losses in the near future. There are few who believe that the White House’s negotiations with trade partners will resolve any issues quickly enough to reduce the tension, according to The Wall Street Journal.
White House asked about independence of Federal Reserve
20:30
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Oliver O'Connell
At today’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the independence of the Federal Reserve.
Leavitt responded: “I think the president made his position on the Fed and Powell quite clear. The president believes they have been making moves and taking action in the name of politics rather than in the name of what is right for the American economy.
“The president has the right to express his displeasure with the Fed and believes interest rates should be lower.
“I also spoke to Kevin Hassett about the Fed. He's called into question the Fed's Independence and whether they are actually doing things out of the best interest of the economy or if they are doing it for partisan reasons. The president wants to see interest rates lower. He's made that quite clear.”
Watch that moment here:
Leavitt: I think the president made his position on the Fed and Powell quite clear. The president believes they have been making moves and taking action in the name of politics rather than in the name of what is right for the American economy.
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 22, 2025
The president has the right to… pic.twitter.com/vGWyaC288a
COMMENT: Could Trump, the ‘puerile president’, now sink the global economy?
20:20
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Oliver O'Connell
James Moore writes:
As chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell is one of the world’s most important and consequential economic figures. He is also, according to Donald Trump, the man who gave him the job, “a major loser”.
The puerile president wrote on social media: "There can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW.”
In recent days, such has been the ferocity of Trump’s personal attacks on Powell over his handling of the US economy that, on Monday, the value of the dollar sank to its lowest point in three years. Stocks, already bruised by the “Trump Slump” from global tariffs, have taken a further hit.
Continue reading...
Watch: White House asked about countries warning citizens against visiting U.S.
20:10
,
Oliver O'Connell
Reporter: Several countries have warned citizens about travel to the U.S.. Do have a message for people who might be reconsidering business or tourism travel to the U.S.?
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 22, 2025
Leavitt: I think most recognize the U.S. Is a great place to do business, a beautiful place to visit and… pic.twitter.com/BvFFv85Cp2
