Donald Trump has told NBC News that he “couldn’t care less” if automakers raise their prices in response to his new tariffs on imported cars, which he also says are “permanent.”
The president told Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he believed it would encourage people to buy American-made vehicles. Nearly half of the vehicles sold in the U.S. are imported, as well as almost 60 percent of parts in cars assembled in the country.
While Vice President JD Vance said during his visit to Greenland on Friday that he doesn’t believe military action will ever be needed on the island amid Trump’s claims that the U.S. requires control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory, the president also told Welker he would “never take military force off the table” but believed there was “a good possibility” it could be done without resorting to that.
Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, scolded the Trump administration’s rhetoric, taking issue with its “tone” while emphasizing a commitment to Arctic security and cooperation with the U.S.
“We do not appreciate the tone in which it is being delivered. This is not how you speak to your close allies,” he said.
Trump lambasts ‘Radical Left Judges’ for following law on deportations
In his first Truth Social post of the day, an angry President Donald Trump lambasted Judge James Boasberg and other “Radical Left Judges” for hearing cases that hinder his administration’s desire for unfettered mass deportations with no checks or oversight.
The president wrote:
People are shocked by what is going on with the Court System. I was elected for many reasons, but a principal one was LAW AND ORDER, a big part of which is QUICKLY removing a vast Criminal Network of individuals, who came into our Country through the Crooked Joe Biden Open Borders Policy! These are dangerous and violent people, who kill, maim and, in many other ways, harm the people of our Country. The Voters want them OUT, and said so in Record Numbers. If it was up to District Judge Boasberg and other Radical Left Judges, nobody would be removed, the President wouldn’t be allowed to do his job, and people’s lives would be devastated all throughout our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Poll finds three-quarters of US scientists are considering leaving the country thanks to DOGE cuts
Three-quarters of U.S. scientists say they’re considering leaving the country following moves to slash scientific programs by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, a poll has found.
In recent days, the administration has laid off researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to lay off 10,000 workers. The agency oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration.
There have also been major cuts to funding, as Julia Musto reports.
Watch: Belligerent Trump ‘pissed off’ with Putin, threatens Iran with bombing
A belligerent-sounding Donald Trump told Kristen Welker of NBC News that he is “pissed off” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and threatened to impose secondary tariffs on Russia’s oil over any failure to reach a deal to end the war in Ukraine if he thought it was Putin’s fault.
The president also said the two leaders would speak this week.
On Iran, Trump also said of any deal over the development of nuclear weapons: “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing — and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
Report: Trump tells advisers to be more aggressive in trade war
Despite worries from allies on Wall Street and Capitol Hill about the impact of tariffs and calls for a more measured approach, Trump continues to advocate for sweeping trade actions under the belief that it will be beneficial for the American economy.
Continue reading…
Trump says auto tariffs are ‘permanent’ and he ‘couldn’t care less’ if auto CEOs raise prices
In a phone interview with Kristen Welker of NBC News, President Donald Trump said the tariffs he imposed on imported cars are “permanent” and he “couldn’t care less” if auto company CEOs raise prices on vehicles to account for them.
Welker asked if the tariffs were “truly permanent,” to which the president replied: “Absolutely, they’re permanent, sure. The world has been ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more. And all we’re doing is being fair, and frankly, I’m being very generous … Very generous.”
Asked about what his message is to auto CEOs, Trump said: “The message is congratulations, if you make your car in the United States, you’re going to make a lot of money. If you don’t, you’re going to have to probably come to the United States, because if you make your car in the United States, there is no tariff.”
Welker noted there had been reporting that Trump warned auto CEOs not to raise prices. The president said: “No, I never said that. I couldn’t care less if they raise prices, because people are going to start buying American-made cars.”
He added: “I couldn’t care less. I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, people are gonna buy American-made cars. We have plenty.”
Welker asked Trump to confirm the point, to which he replied: “No, I couldn’t care less, because if the prices on foreign cars go up, they’re going to buy American cars.”
Susie Wiles appears to reveal she told Trump the 2020 election wasn’t stolen from him
In a rare interview, Donald Trump’s chief of staff appeared to reveal that she once told the president the 2020 election was not stolen from him.
Speaking to Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, on Fox News, Susie Wiles was asked what was “the toughest thing you ever had to tell him.”
Read more from Phil Thomas:
Vance and other officials told Trump to fire Waltz — why didn’t he?
Reporting by multiple outlets suggests that while President Donald Trump has been outwardly supportive of his national security adviser since the Signalgate security breach fiasco, internal discussions about Mike Waltz’s future were somewhat different.
Read on…
UK PM preparing for trade war as Trump tariffs on Britain ‘look inevitable’
The prime minister has suggested he could follow the EU and Canada’s lead on retaliatory tariffs, vowing to “act in the national interest” and “leaving everything on the table”.
David Maddox reports.
Tourists are avoiding the USA after Trump’s border crackdown
The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants has a whole other group of people scared to come to the U.S: tourists.
Federal statistics show that overseas visitors to the U.S. dropped 2.4 percent in February 2025, the first full month of Trump’s presidency, compared to the same time last year.
And some experts fear a permanent chilling effect that could displace the USA’s decades-long status as a hub for both business travel and vacations.
Io Dodds reports from San Francisco.
Source: independent.co.uk