Stocks were up and down around the globe on Monday in another sign of uncertainty ahead of Donald Trump’s promised “Liberation Day” Wednesday, when the next phase of his sweeping tariff agenda is set to take effect.
Come April 2, a 25 percent tax on imported cars, as well as reciprocal tariffs on all U.S. trading partners, will go live, according to the White House.
Concern over these potential macroeconomic changes are being felt across the country and the world.
A majority of U.S. voters said in a recent poll that the Trump administration is not focusing enough on lowering prices, one of his signature campaign promises, while Goldman Sachs now estimates a 35 percent chance of a recession in the next 12 months.
For its part, the administration looks unbothered, despite being slammed for a recent claim from tariff czar Peter Navarro that “tariffs are tax cuts,” even though most economists believe they function the exact opposite way.
The president said over the weekend he “couldn’t care less” if foreign automakers raised prices in the U.S. because of the tariffs, and is reportedly pushing for still more broad-based tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
Trump calls for ‘United States Investment Accelerator’
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.
Independent reporter goes viral for tough question about deportations. Here’s what happened
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’
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.”
Booker’s allies like Chris Murphy of Connecticut pledged to join him.
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?
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.
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
Supreme Court to decide when Catholic religious groups need to pay taxes
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.
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
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
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
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.
Source: independent.co.uk