Trump dwell updates: White House insists 90-day pause on tariffs was ‘his strategy all along’
President Donald Trump has announced that he’s pausing his high tariffs on a large number of countries for 90 days, even as he raised the levies on China.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was issuing a 90-day pause and “a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10 percent.”
He also said that he’s raising the tariffs on China to 125 percent, “based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets.”
The president said the measures were “effective immediately.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted when speaking to reporters on Wednesday that “this was his strategy all along.”
This comes after Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on some of America’s biggest global trading partners went into effect, and after China responded to a huge 104 percent levy by introducing an 84 percent retaliatory levy on U.S. imports in return.
Earlier, the president urged the public to stay calm.
“BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well,” he wrote in a previous post on Truth Social. “The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!”
Whitmer ‘surprised’ by being brought into Oval Office
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was “surprised” by the decision to bring her into the Oval Office today.
The presence of the Democratic governor and possible future presidential candidate confused many observers.
A Whitmer spokesperson said she was “surprised” that she was brought into the Oval Office during President Donald Trump’s news conference on Wednesday “without any notice of the subject matter.”
“Her presence is not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made at that event,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Trump praised Whitmer during the encounter before signing orders directing the Justice Department to investigate two of his critics and targeting a law firm whose work he opposes.
Alarmed environmentalists say Trump’s coal order will harm Americans’ health and wallets
The president said the move would revive an industry “that was abandoned despite the fact that it was the best, certainly the best in terms of power, real power.”
“I call it beautiful, clean coal,” he said. “We’re ending Joe Biden’s war on beautiful, clean coal, once and for all.”
But, environmentalists say increased coal-fired plants would harm Americans — and that the president’s terminology is egregiously inaccurate.
Julia Musto reports.
Trump backer Bill Ackman mercilessly teased after hailing president’s ‘Art of the Deal’ tariffs climbdown
Billionaire Trump backer Bill Ackman was relentlessly mocked on X after suggesting that President Donald Trump’s trade policy reversal was “brilliantly executed.”
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Here’s a couple of examples:
Trump signs another executive order targeting law firm
President Donald Trump has signed another executive order targeting a law firm whose work he opposes.
The latest one applies to Susman Godfrey, whose lawyers represented Dominion Voting Systems in a lawsuit that accused Fox News of falsely claiming that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election. Fox News ultimately agreed to pay nearly $800 million to avoid trial.
White House staff secretary Will Scharf said the order will mean that the firm cannot use government resources or buildings.
Trump has issued a series of orders meant to punish firms, including ordering the suspension of lawyers’ security clearances and revoking federal contracts. He has succeeded in extracting concessions from some that have settled, but others have successfully challenged the orders in court.
‘WTF! Who’s in charge?’: Trump administration accused of ‘market manipulation’ with tariff reversal
Alex Woodward reports:
Then, minutes after the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange, Trump announced: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”
Four hours later, the president reversed course. He paused and lowered tariffs on goods from most nations for 90 days while raising tariffs on imports from China to 125 percent. Markets soared. White House officials — who just one day earlier said Trump would never back off — said “this was his strategy all along” and “the art of the deal” at work.
Social media erupted with accusations that the president played a reverse “pump and dump” scheme with the American economy: driving stock prices down only to buy them up before prices rose again. Democratic Senator Adam Schiff is calling for an investigation into insider trading.
Continue reading…
Trump admin to remove all members of president’s HIV advisory council
The Trump administration plans to remove all members of a presidential advisory council on HIV/AIDS and has provided no timeline for replacing them as the government overhauls its prevention and treatment efforts for the disease, Reuters reports.
The 30-year-old Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) had more than 30 members before President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, as noted in an archived version of its web page.
Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, confirmed that the agency is ending the volunteer service of the council’s members, stating that this is common practice for a new administration. He did not specify a timeline.
Two sources familiar with the matter informed Reuters that all council members were to be removed. Since PACHA’s existence is required by statute, Nixon said it will “continue to provide advice, information, and recommendations” to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He did not indicate who would perform those tasks or when new members may be appointed.
Trump may have paused tariffs, but small businesses are already hurting…
Richard Hall writes:
A tattoo equipment supplier in Pennsylvania is worried they won’t make it to summer. A three-person team making optical scanners in San Diego saw their bills double overnight. A coffee shop in New Orleans may be forced to raise its prices.
Read on…
Kash Patel has been replaced by Army Secretary Driscoll as acting head of the ATF, AP sources say
FBI Director Kash Patel has been removed as the acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and has been replaced with the Army secretary, three people familiar with the matter said.
It was not immediately clear why Patel was replaced by Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll to lead the Justice Department agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws. One person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel move, said Patel was removed at the end of February, just days after he was sworn in.
But that was never publicly announced. Patel on Wednesday afternoon remained on the agency’s website and was identified as the acting director in an April 7 press release. In March he posted on social media a note he sent to the ATF workforce that read “special message from the acting director.” And senior ATF leaders were only informed Wednesday of the change, according to another person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the move.
Laura Loomer is pitching her new opposition research firm to White House officials, report says
Ariana Baio reports:
Loomer, a conspiracy theorist and close Trump ally, launched her research firm, Loomered Strategies, just last month, offering opposition investigation, “executive level vetting” and rapid response.
Read more…
Today, in priorities… Make America’s Showers Great Again
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to roll back water efficiency standards on appliances this afternoon.
That prompted the president to muse about how he likes to let the water run in the shower and how new faucets are disappointing.
“In my case, I like to take a nice shower to take care of my beautiful hair,” Trump said.
Anytime you see a new faucet, he said, “you know it’s going to be a long wash of the hands.”
Source: independent.co.uk
