The White House is standing by the sweeping tariffs that Donald Trump has imposed on some of the United States’ biggest trading partners, despite a global backlash that has left the world’s stock markets jittery.
After the president dug in his heels and insisted he was “not looking at” delaying the program, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow that 70 nations had already approached the administration about agreeing new trade deals to ease the pain.
That followed a wild day on the markets on Monday, during which Trump ratcheted up the tension by threatening China and a false rumor was circulated suggesting he would suspend the levies, which sparked a short-lived rally.
The U.S. Supreme Court has meanwhile sided with the president in the case of a Maryland father who was accidentally sent to a prison in El Salvador, pausing a lower court’s order that would have required the government to bring him home.
The 5-4 decision allows Trump to continue summarily deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act 1798, but the justices said the immigrants targeted are “entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal.”
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Key Points
- Supreme Court sides with Trump over Alien Enemies Act deportations
- Trump insists he is ‘not looking’ at pausing tariffs despite global backlash
- Asian and European markets rally despite China’s vow to fight Trump’s trade war ‘to the end’
- Elon Musk made ‘direct appeal’ to Trump to reverse new tariffs
- Trump says U.S. will have ‘direct talks’ with Iran this weekend
Trump reveals he is getting his annual physical this week: ‘Never felt better’
11:55
,
Joe Sommerlad
The 78-year-old president took to Truth Social Monday to make the announcement, with the medical appointment coming just weeks ahead of his 100th day in office.
“I am pleased to report that my long-scheduled Annual Physical Examination will be done at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Friday of this week,” Trump wrote.
“I have never felt better, but nevertheless, these things must be done!”
I’m sure he will “ace” this one and report that the medics involved said: “Sir, we’ve never seen anything like it.”
Madeline Sherratt has more.
Trump administration fires senior Navy officer at Nato after she appeared on ‘woke’ list
11:35
,
Joe Sommerlad
U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on Nato’s military committee, was fired over the weekend by the Trump administration, U.S. officials said Monday.
Although no reason was given, officials said it was apparently tied to comments she has made that supported diversity in the force.
Chatfield reportedly got a call from Admiral Christopher Grady, the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was told the administration wanted to go in a different direction with the job.
The officials said they believe the decision was made last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but it was unclear whether he received any direction from the president.
Here’s more.
Trump 'planning pricey military parade' for his 79th birthday
11:15
,
Joe Sommerlad
The Trump administration is reportedly planning a military parade through the streets of Washington, D.C., to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary – which just so happens to fall on Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.
Io Dodds has the details.
Economist White House cited to justify tariff plan says Trump has ‘got it very wrong’
10:55
,
Joe Sommerlad
A renowned economist who co-wrote research used by the Trump administration to justify his aggressive tariff hikes says the White House got it “very wrong”.
University of Chicago Economics Professor Brett Neiman, who was also a Biden administration Treasury official, said the Republican’s team have wildly overcalculated tariff rates placed on nearly all countries that export to the U.S.
Rachel Clun has more.
Elon Musk made ‘direct appeal’ to Trump to reverse new tariffs
10:35
,
Joe Sommerlad
The Big Tech boss and special adviser to the president made direct yet unsuccessful appeals to Trump to reverse his tariffs program over the past weekend, according to reporting by The Washington Post.
The exchange marks the highest profile disagreement between the president and the Tesla boss, who understands the complexities of a global supply chain from personal experience and will therefore well understand the likely impact of Trump’s actions on his own businesses.
Musk has been slyly making his unhappiness at the policy clear on his social media platform X, notably posting a clip of free market economist Milton Friedman championing globalisation over protectionism on Monday.
Supreme Court sides with Trump over Alien Enemies Act deportations
10:15
,
Joe Sommerlad
The U.S. Supreme Court moved yesterday to allow the president to continue summarily deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members under a centuries-old wartime law after the administration had already deported dozens of immigrants to a notorious El Salvador prison.
A divided court on Monday night agreed to lift a judge’s order that temporarily blocked the president’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport people from the U.S. while a legal challenge plays out.
But the justices said the immigrants are “entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal” in front of a judge.
“The only question is which court will resolve that challenge,” they wrote.
Those challenges must take place in Texas, not in Washington, D.C., according to the unsigned order.
Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s liberal justices Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor in dissent.
This was Trump’s reaction on Truth Social last night:
The Supreme Court has upheld the Rule of Law in our Nation by allowing a President, whoever that may be, to be able to secure our Borders, and protect our families and our Country, itself. A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA!
— Trump Posts on (@trump_repost) April 7, 2025
The 5-4 decision – with the court’s women dissenting – follows a federal appeals court’s rejection of the president’s attempt to throw out a ruling from District Judge James Boasberg.
The judge is also weighing whether to hold government officials in contempt for allegedly defying his court orders to return deportation flights to the United States before dozens of Venezuelan immigrants landed in a Salvadoran prison facing the prospect of indefinite detention.
Alex Woodward has more.
Trump says U.S. seeking new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after Gaza truce collapse
09:55
,
Joe Sommerlad
Also in the Oval Office yesterday, the president said the U.S. is “looking at another ceasefire” after Israel shattered a two-month truce with Hamas by launching some of its deadliest strikes last month.
Speaking alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump also said he didn’t “understand why Israel ever gave up” control of Gaza, which the American property tycoon inevitably described as “an incredible piece of important real estate”.
Repeating his extraordinary claim that the United States should take ownership of Gaza and that Palestinians could be “moved around to other countries”, Trump claimed the war-torn Gaza Strip could then be renamed the “Freedom Zone”.
Trump says U.S. will have ‘direct talks’ with Iran this weekend
09:35
,
Joe Sommerlad
Representatives for the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct extended diplomatic talks on Saturday, restarting a dialogue over the Iranian nuclear weapons program between the two nations.
Trump claimed that “direct talks” would occur Saturday between Washington and Tehran during his sitdown with Netanyahu yesterday following bilateral discussions between the two leaders.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran... it’ll go on Saturday,” he said.
“We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it.
“So we’re going to see if we can avoid it, but it’s getting to be very dangerous territory. And hopefully those talks will be successful.”
He added that it was in Tehran’s “best interest” for the talks to be “successful.”
Here’s a full report from Andrew Feinberg and John Bowden.
Asian and European markets rally despite China’s vow to fight Trump’s trade war ‘to the end’
09:15
,
Joe Sommerlad
London's FTSE 100 rose in the first few minutes of trading this morning, as a sense of optimism returned to the financial markets after several days of heavy losses in response to Trump’s tariff aggressions.
The index, which tracks the UK’s top 100 listed companies, was up more than 1 per cent shortly after markets opened today.
All other indexes on the London Stock Exchange were also in the green.
It follows a more positive session for Asian markets, with some indexes making gains after suffering from steep falls in previous days.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw strong gains of 6.41 percent during opening trading while the Topix gained 6.81 percent.
In South Korea, the Kospi rose 1.7 percent and the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 2.35 percent.
China's Shanghai Composite limped up to 0.8 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 3 percent, recovering some of the massive losses it suffered yesterday when it plunged 13.2 percent.
All of which is all the more surprising given that China responded angrily to Trump’s latest threat to hike tariffs on its goods to 50 percent yesterday by warning it would “fight to the end” with countermeasures of its own.
Trump insists he is ‘not looking’ at pausing tariffs despite global backlash
08:56
,
Joe Sommerlad
Good morning!
Donald Trump looks set to stand by the sweeping tariffs he has imposed on some of the United States’ biggest trading partners, despite a global backlash that has left the world’s stock markets jittery.
While the trade measures caused a wild day of ups and downs on Monday, the president dug in his heels and insisted his administration was “not looking at” pausing the tariffs during an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and insisted instead that they would make America “rich.”
Trump: No other president is going to do this, what I am doing. And I will tell you what, it is an honor to do it pic.twitter.com/7zrp0jpMpI
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2025
Reporter: There have been some mixed messages from your administration, you're talking about negotiations and yet others in your administration are saying these tariffs are actually permanent
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2025
Trump: Both can be true. We need open borders pic.twitter.com/xCPA2WrMH7
Reporter: Would you be open to a pause?
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2025
Trump: We’re not looking at that.. pic.twitter.com/ei6EHi6n8Q
Reporter: How do you ensure that these tariffs don't drive U.S. Trading partners into the hands of the Chinese?
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2025
Trump: I'm not worried about it. I'm not worried about it. The Chinese have turned out to be not very good at that pic.twitter.com/BVmw3YbZM6
Trump: Our country was the strongest, believe it or not, from 1870 to 1913. You know why? It was all tariff based we had no income tax. Then in 1913, some genius came up with the idea of let's charge the people of our country, not foreign countries that are ripping off our… pic.twitter.com/5VuaOZPtTD
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 7, 2025
We’ll be concentrating on all things Trump on this blog but you can follow dedicated coverage of the markets’ response to the tariffs with Tara Cobham below.
Watch: Trump threatens additional tax increase on Chinese imports as markets spiral amid trade war
08:00
,
Ariana Baio
Trump tariffs send shockwaves through Swiss chocolate industry ahead of Easter
07:00
,
Mourad El-Touni
Swiss chocolate makers face a bittersweet Easter season, grappling with soaring cacao prices and new US import tariffs.
The Trump administration's recently announced tariffs have sent shockwaves through Swiss industries, from chocolate to watches, though many are adopting a wait-and-see approach.
At Geneva's Festichoc chocolate festival, the new tariffs were a topic of discussion, but the overall mood remained positive.
Julie Jammes, marketing manager for Canonica, a Geneva chocolatier with three San Francisco stores, said, "We’re waiting a little longer, but it’s clearly a shock for us."
Canonica has yet to decide on a course of action.
The Swiss government is also taking a cautious approach, despite the 31 per cent tariffs imposed on Swiss goods – significantly higher than the 20 per cent levied on EU exports.
Even Ben Shapiro slams Trump over tariffs in new video
06:00
,
Graig Graziosi
While many conservative media figures are insisting that the stock market's dive in reaction to Donald Trump’s tariff policies is actually a positive.
Ben Shapiro, a podcaster long known for his strict adherence to conservative politics, is not one of them.
On Friday, during an episode of his podcast, Shapiro said Trump's tariffs are "probably unconstitutional" and called them "pretty crazy."
GOP senator believes there would be less ‘fake news’ if violence were used against reporters
05:00
,
Madeline Sherratt
A GOP senator insinuated there would be less “fake news” in the world if people were allowed to use violence against reporters.
Oklahoma’s Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted a video on X Saturday from inside the U.S. Capitol. In the clip, he recounted the shooting of Kentucky Congressman William Taulbee by a news reporter in 1890.
“There's a lot we can say about reporters of the stories they write, but I bet they would write a lot less false stories — as President Trump says, 'fake news' — if we could still handle our differences that way," Mullin is heard saying in the clip.
Mullin spoke of an incident involving Charles Kincaid, a congressional reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Louisville Times, and Congressman Taulbee.
Fox News pundit believes Trump tariffs will reverse ‘crisis in masculinity’
04:00
,
Madeline Sherratt
A self-identified “MAGA leftist” believes that President Donald Trump’s market-shattering tariffs will reverse the “masculinity crisis” permeating the nation.
Batya Ungar-Sargon, a noted columnist, told Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy Sunday that the “crisis in masculinity” stemmed from the decision to outsource manual labor jobs overseas — a move that has deprived millions of American men of a purpose.
“Donald Trump is actually saying ‘no more’ to this and to the crisis in masculinity — which is of course why young men feel so attracted to what he’s offering,” Ungar-Sargon said.
ICYMI: Stock market goes haywire with massive swings after ‘fake news’ reports about future of Trump’s tariff plan
02:00
,
Ariana Baio
An untrue report about a possible 90-day pause on President Donald Trump’s widespread tariffs caused massive swings in the stock market - as all the major markets went from major losses to significant gains back to steep losses in a matter of minutes.
Read more here:
Watch: Trump says he 'loves' idea of sending American 'wiseguys' to prisons in El Salvador
01:00
,
Ariana Baio
Interior Department’s unusual demands have ‘alarmed’ officials
Tuesday 8 April 2025 00:00
,
Ariana Baio
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and his staff have reportedly used his position leading the agency to make a series of bizarre demands from his staff — including that they bake fresh chocolate-chip cookies, according to a report.
Katie Hawkinson reports:
Elon Musk’s X launches crackdown against misleading ‘parody’ accounts
Monday 7 April 2025 23:00
,
Andrew Griffin
Elon Musk’s X says it is launching a crackdown on “parody” accounts.
The site has an exemption for accounts that impersonate other people if they are labelled as doing so for comedy. But, often, that loophole is used by scammers who pretend to be other famous users in an attempt to trick people into scams or amplifying their content.
Now, X says that those parody accounts will be required to add keywords at the front of their name and will no longer be able to use the same pictures of the accounts they “depict”.
“These changes are designed to help users better understand the unaffiliated nature of PCF accounts and reduce the risk of confusion or impersonation,” the company said. We encourage all affected accounts to update their profiles before the enforcement date.”
The new rules will go into effect on 10 April.
Goldman Sachs raises recession odds to 45%
Monday 7 April 2025 22:30
,
Ariana Baio
Goldman Sachs raised the odds of a recession from 35% to 45% on Monday, the second time in one week it raised those chances.
Watch: NewsNation describes Trump skipping return of dead soldiers as ‘golf diplomacy’
Monday 7 April 2025 22:00
,
Ariana Baio
Trump threatens additional tax increase on Chinese imports as markets spiral amid trade war
Monday 7 April 2025 21:30
,
Andrew Feinberg, Katie Hawkinson
President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to slap an additional 50 percent tax on Chinese imports after the Chinese government retaliated against his latest unprovoked set of tariffs by announcing a reciprocal 34 percent levy last week.
The move would make the effective import tax rate on Chinese goods a whopping 104 percent by adding the 50 percent levy on top of the 34 percent tax he announced last week and the 20 percent import tax rate that had been in place until recently.
Read more:
Dow and S&P close down after volatile day
Monday 7 April 2025 21:15
,
Ariana Baio
Both the Dow and S&P 500 closed on small percentage point drops on Monday after a volatile day for the US stock market.
The Dow fell around 0.9 percent, or roughly 350 points, while the S&P 500 fell around 0.2 percent, or 11 points.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed after a small rise of 0.09 percent, roughly 15 points up.
Supreme Court lets Trump keep wrongfully deported Maryland father in El Salvador prison, for now
Monday 7 April 2025 21:09
,
Alex Woodward
The Supreme Court is temporarily blocking a judge’s order that called on Donald Trump to bring back an illegally deported Maryland father who was sent to El Salvador’s notorious prison.
After Trump appealed to the nation’s highest court hours before a midnight deadline to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, Chief Justice John Roberts issued a single-page order that pauses the lower court’s order indefinitely as a legal battle over his detention plays out.
On April 4, a federal judge ordered the administration to return Abrego Garcia after government attorneys admitted he was wrongfully deported due to an “administrative error” and then argued that the case was no longer in their hands.
Abrego Garcia was sent to the mega prison in his home country on March 15, joining dozens of mostly Venezuelan immigrants on removal flights after the president secretly invoked the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport alleged Tren de Aragua gang members.
Trump claims the EU was formed 'to harm' the US
Monday 7 April 2025 21:00
,
Ariana Baio
Trump asserted the European Union was formed “to really do damage” to the U.S. and trade.
“That's the reason it was formed. It was formed with all of the countries from Europe, I guess most of them, not all of them, but most of them. And they formed together to create a little bit of a monopoly situation, to create a unified force against the United States for trade,” Trump said on Monday during an Oval Office meeting with Netanyahu.
The president complained that the EU has not purchased enough imports from the U.S.
Trump says there will be 'direct talks with Iran'
Monday 7 April 2025 20:40
,
Ariana Baio
President Donald Trump said the U.S. would be having “direct talks with Iran” on Saturday over nuclear weapon access.
“Whatever happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.”
Treasury secretary says US will open trade negotiations with Japan
Monday 7 April 2025 20:30
,
Ariana Baio
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, on Monday, that Japan will be sending a team to negotiate tariffs with the U.S. following “constructive” negotiations.
Following a very constructive phone discussion with the Government of Japan, @POTUS @realDonaldTrump has tasked me and @USTradeRep to open negotiations to implement the President’s vision for the new Golden Age of Global Trade with @JPN_PMO Shigeru Ishiba and his Cabinet. https://t.co/oSXTh5ONOe
— Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) April 7, 2025
Trump is ‘not looking’ at pausing tariffs
Monday 7 April 2025 20:28
,
Ariana Baio
The president confirmed to reporters on Monday that his administration was “not looking at” pausing the sweeping tariffs.
Netanyahu promises to ‘eliminate trade deficit’ with U.S.
Monday 7 April 2025 20:24
,
Ariana Baio
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Monday that Israel will “eliminate the trade deficit with the United States… very quickly.”
The prime minister took a sympathetic position to Trump’s tariffs saying Israel “can serve as a model for many countries” in response to the tariffs.
“I recognize the position of the United States. It says, you know, we're allowing other countries to put tariffs on us, but we don't put tariffs on them,” Netanyahu said.
“I can tell you that I said to the President a very simple thing, we will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States. We intend to do it very quickly. We think it's the right thing to do. And we're going to also eliminate trade barriers, a variety of trade barriers, that have been put up unnecessarily.
Trump threatens to veto tariff bill: report
Monday 7 April 2025 20:00
,
Ariana Baio
The president is reportedly prepared to veto a bill that would limit the scope of his presidential authority when it comes to imposing tariffs, Axios first reported.
After Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on nearly every one of the U.S.’s trading partners, senators introduced a bipartisan bill that would require the president to notify Congress of the tariffs ahead of time and give Congress authorization power.
But even if it passes, Trump will veto it.
"If passed, this bill would dangerously hamper the President's authority and duty to determine our foreign policy and protect our national security," according to a statement of administration policy that was sent to congressional offices and obtained by Axios.
"If S. 1272 were presented to the President, he would veto the bill."
Johnson defends Trump tariffs: 'give the president space'
Monday 7 April 2025 19:45
,
Ariana Baio
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson defended Trump’s tariff plan on Monday while speaking with reporters, saying “his strategy is playing out.”
“We have to give the president space. His strategy is playing out. It’s been less than a week. I think he’s owed that,” Johnson said, according to Punchbowl News.
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON on whether he trusts TRUMP on tariffs:
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 7, 2025
“We have to give the president space. His strategy is playing out. It’s been less than a week. I think he’s owed that.”
Trump’s tariffs may have ended his ambition to ‘Drill, baby, drill’
Monday 7 April 2025 19:20
,
Chris Wright
Import taxes were meant to light a fire under manufacturing – but, says Chris Wright, an unintended casualty may be America’s energy security
Japan Prime Minister urged Trump to reconsider tariffs
Monday 7 April 2025 19:00
,
Ariana Baio
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged President Donald Trump to reconsider his sweeping tariffs, during a phone call on Monday morning.
Ishiba told the president he was concerned that the tariffs would negatively impact Japanese companies’ capacity to invest in the United States. He reminded Trump that Japan has been the largest investor in the US for five years.
The prime minister suggested he and Trump find ways to garner broader cooperation between both countries without the use of tariffs, such as enhancing investments.
Trump and Ishiba agreed to continue having constructive discussions.
RFK praises anti-vaxxer hours after attending funeral of 8-year-old who died from measles
Monday 7 April 2025 18:45
,
Julia Musto
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is facing renewed scrutiny after praising the work of a doctor who has been known for discussing the dangers of vaccines - while the secretary was attending the funeral of the second child who died from the rampant West Texas measles outbreak.
Kennedy, who visited the outbreak area Sunday, attended the funeral of the unvaccinated unnamed 8-year-old girl: the second death of a young unvaccinated child in the state.
He wrote on social media that he was in the state to learn how federal employees can better partner with Texas health officials to control the spread of the highly contagious respiratory virus, noting that “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.”
Just hours later, Kennedy commended the practice of “extraordinary healers” Dr. Ben Edwards and Richard Bartlett, “who have treated and healed some 300 measles-stricken Mennonite children using aerosolized budesonide and clarithromycin.”
Netanyahu arrives at White House
Monday 7 April 2025 18:30
,
Ariana Baio
White House cancels press conference with Netanyahu
Monday 7 April 2025 18:18
,
Ariana Baio
The White House has canceled Trump’s 2:30 p.m. planned press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The two are still expected to meet in the Oval Office office where reporters will be present.
Bernie Sanders skewers law firms that made $100M deals with Trump
Monday 7 April 2025 18:15
,
Madeline Sherratt
Senator Bernie Sanders scolded law firms that have made $100 million deals with President Donald Trump after a series of executive orders from the White House.
Multiple law firms, including Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Paul Weiss, Milbank LLP, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, recently agreed to perform pro bono work for the Trump administration over the next four years and beyond.
Now, the aging Vermont senator is having his say.
