Markets plunged as Wall Street opened on Thursday morning after Donald Trump unveiled his latest wave of tariffs on what the president called “Liberation Day.”
Trump’s announcement sent shockwaves through markets around the globe, and shortly after the bell rang at the New York Stock Exchange. By the end of trading, on a historically bad day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped by 1,680 points or 4%. The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, and the tech-focused Nasdaq was down 6% or 1,053 points — its largest points drop in a single day.
Amid the market meltdown, Trump took the time on Thursday to show off his “Gold Card” to reporters aboard Air Force One. For $5 million, wealthy immigrants can buy the card to gain U.S. residency.
The president announced that blanket 10 percent tariffs will be imposed on all nations in a speech at a “Make America Wealthy Again” event in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon.
About 60 countries deemed the “worst offenders” — including China, Vietnam, and Japan — face higher reciprocal levies nearing, in some cases, 50 percent, leaving world leaders reeling. The baseline tariffs go into effect on Saturday, and reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday.
As U.S. allies and trading partners prepare their responses, and fears of recession and stagflation swept the globe, the president told reporters outside the White House that the tariffs rollout was “going very well.”
El Salvador deportation flights: Judge considers holding Trump officials in contempt for defying court orders
Lawyers for Donald Trump’s administration are refusing to answer who gave the order to ignore a federal judge’s ruling that blocked the government from deporting dozens of immigrants under the president’s use of the Alien Enemies act.
District Judge James Boasberg grilled government lawyers at a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to determine whether the government intentionally defied his court orders to turn planes around before they were emptied out into a notorious prison in El Salvador last month.
The administration appeared to be acting in “bad faith” after his court orders, Boasberg said.
Alex Woodward reports.
Brown University to see half a billion in federal funding halted by Trump administration
The Trump administration is planning to halt more than half a billion dollars in contracts and grants awarded to Brown University, adding to a list of Ivy League colleges that have had their federal money threatened as a result of their responses to antisemitism, a White House official said.
Nearly $510 million in federal contracts and grants are on the line, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the plan and spoke on condition of anonymity.
In an email Thursday to campus leaders, Brown Provost Frank Doyle said the university was aware of “troubling rumors” about government action on its research money. “At this moment, we have no information to substantiate any of these rumors,” Doyle said.
It comes two days after President Donald Trump’s administration halted research grants at Princeton University. Dozens of universities are facing federal investigations into antisemitism following a wave of pro-Palestinian protests last year, but the administration has focused special attention on elite colleges.
Analyst warns price of America’s favorite mid-size truck could go up by $15,000
According to at least one Goldman Sachs analyst, the trucks are, therefore, expected to see a big price hike, as Steffie Banatvala reports.
RECAP: Dow and NASDAQ see historically bad day, among worst ever, as Trump tariffs spark sell-off
On a historically bad day on Wall Street, the NASDAQ broke a record with its largest single-day point drop in the market’s 50-year history as investors responded to President Donald Trump’s tariff plan.
Both the NASDAQ and Dow Jones suffered their worst days since March 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Dow fell 1,679 points, which ranks in the top five for most points lost in a single day. The NASDAQ fell 1,050 points for its largest one-day drop.
Kelly Rissman recaps a tumultuous day in New York.
COMMENT: The real and present danger of Trump playing TV bingo with the US economy
Sean O’Grady writes:
Donald Trump says that Americans have been “plundered”, “raped” and “scavenged” by “foreign cheaters” for decades. Such bizarre, violent language. So unpresidential. And plain wrong.
Some might wonder how the US – were his assertions correct – could have come to be the largest and most successful economy in the history of the world. Its citizens have never been richer. But this may not be the case for much longer.
Trump keeps telling folk that foreign countries pay tariffs. They don’t. American shoppers will. Will American shoppers see their Vietnamese-made Apple iPhones in Walmart go up by 46 per cent? Will people in those hard-pressed towns in the rust belt be made to pay more for a home made with Canadian timber?
The answer is “yes”.
Read on…
Why did Russia escape Trump’s tariffs?
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.
Ariana Baio explains.
The markets are collapsing — how can you recession-proof your finances?
That’s the advice of personal finance influencer Vivian Tu, better known as YourRichBFF. A former Wall Street trader, Tu now heads up her own financial education and advice company — and recommends we all take a deep breath.
Mike Bedigan reports.
Fox host fumes about media focusing on economic ‘pain’ of Trump’s tariffs
Fox Business anchor Charles Payne fumed that the mainstream media was focusing too much attention on the economic “pain” that President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs could inflict on average Americans, calling the coverage “mind boggling” and that “we need to rethink all of this.”
Justin Baragona reports.
Watch: Trump tells reporter not to bring up Signalgate story again
Here’s everything you need to know about the egregious security breach the Trump Administration is trying to put behind it.
Dr Oz confirmed to take lead of Medicare and Medicaid agency
Former heart surgeon and TV pitchman Dr. Mehmet Oz was confirmed Thursday to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Oz became the agency’s administrator in a party line 53-45 vote.
The 64-year-old will manage health insurance programs for roughly half the country, with oversight of Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage. He steps into the new role as Congress is debating cuts to the Medicaid program, which provides coverage to millions of poor and disabled Americans.
Oz has not said yet whether he would oppose such cuts to the government-funded program, instead offering a vision of promoting healthier lifestyles, integrating artificial intelligence and telehealth into the system, and rethinking rural health care delivery.
Source: independent.co.uk