Trump’s tariffs spark international recession fears as White House hints at commerce take care of China: Live updates
Donald Trump’s tariffs raise the chance of a U.S. recession, and a subsequent global recession to “almost 100 percent,” Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, told the BBC on Tuesday.
The U.S. economy will be one of the hardest hit by the aggressive tariff plans, the IMF warned earlier in the day as it slashed forecasts for global economic growth, with the U.S. dropping to just 1.8 percent, from a previous forecast of 2.7 percent.
The global economic growth forecast was cut by half a percentage point, with downgrades in nearly all countries amid ongoing uncertainty from the Trump administration’s trade policy.
The White House continues to claim that trade agreements are being negotiated, with Trump even saying in a statement: “We’re doing very well in respect to a potential trade deal with China.”
This came after Vice President JD Vance admitted that President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff increases will profoundly change the U.S. economy and other nations.
In a speech in India, Vance said the “rebalancing” from aggressive tariffs would “produce great benefits for American workers.”
COMMENT: Could Trump, the ‘puerile president’, now sink the global economy?
James Moore writes:
The puerile president wrote on social media: “There can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW.”
In recent days, such has been the ferocity of Trump’s personal attacks on Powell over his handling of the US economy that, on Monday, the value of the dollar sank to its lowest point in three years. Stocks, already bruised by the “Trump Slump” from global tariffs, have taken a further hit.
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Watch: White House asked about countries warning citizens against visiting U.S.
COMMENT: Pete Hegseth is an alpha male who doesn’t have time for your Deep State questions
Holly Baxter writes:
Last week, the Pentagon quietly placed three top aides — Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick — on administrative leave in connection with a widening probe into leaked internal messages from a private Signal chat. The messages, which allegedly revealed internal dissent and strategic planning inside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s inner circle, have prompted national security concerns and questions about internal vetting at the Department of Defense.
That, of course, comes hot on the heels of the whole “bombing the Houthis while sharing fist-bump emojis and American flags” thing we all had to contend with a few weeks prior.
If you were hoping for sober accountability or a show of calm leadership in response, however, Tuesday morning’s Fox & Friends interview with Hegseth delivered instead…something else entirely.
Read on…
Watch: Vance admits tariffs will cause ‘profound changes’
Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight are Trump’s ambassadors to Hollywood — but what are they doing?
At the start of the year, President Donald Trump appointed three “special ambassadors” to Hollywood: Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Jon Voight.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
White House ‘close’ to general tariff agreements with Japan and India, report says
Politico reports that the White House is nearing general agreements on trade with Japan and India to stave off massive U.S. tariffs, but many of the more challenging details are likely to be decided at a later date.
Given the short time frame the Trump administration has given itself, in the absence of full-fledged trade deals, officials are working to agree what three people close to the White House described as “memorandums of understanding” or a broad “architecture” for future deals, the outlet reports, noting that those people were granted anonymity to discuss the details of internal deliberations.
It “may take months to hammer out the final deals,” said one person, conceding, “these things are complicated.”
Watch: Vance children steal limelight during meeting with Indian PM
JD Vance’s children steal limelight during meeting with Indian prime minister Modi
Watch: Trump claims ‘doing very well’ regarding trade deal with China
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement from President Donald Trump: “We’re doing very well in respect to a potential trade deal with China.”
Leavitt told reporters that there are 18 proposals on paper for trade deals with various countries, and the trade team is meeting with 34 countries this week.
“We feel everyone involved wants to see a trade deal happen — and the ball is moving in the right direction.”
Meanwhile, China is warning its trading partners not to strike deals with the U.S. that would be detrimental to the Chinese economy.
There are also fears of the trade war escalating into a cold war between the world’s two largest economies.
Watch: White House says Trump stands behind embattled Hegseth
Press Secretary Karoline Hegseth was asked about embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at today’s White House briefing.
She told reporters that President Donald Trump continues to stand behind Hegseth.
Department of Education to resume collections on defaulted student loans
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has announced that the Education Department will resume involuntary collections for defaulted student loans on May 5th.
They will recoup loans and go after “tax refunds, federal pensions and even their wages,” of those who owe money.
“If you take out a loan, you have to pay it back — Very simple,” Leavitt said.
Source: independent.co.uk
