The president has made no secret of his affinity for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s leadership style and he got to experience it first-hand Thursday in a cabinet meeting that has been described as “Kremlin-esque.”
Here’s a sample of the toadying on display courtesy of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins:
Richard Hall has this account.
Joe Sommerlad11 April 2025 10:55
With the president facing accusations from Democrats of enabling “insider trading” with this week’s tariff shenanigans, attention is being drawn to this exchange between Trump, financial investor Charles Schwab and NASCAR team owner Roger Penske at the White House on Wednesday, in which the former jokes about the two men making hundreds of millions of dollars from the chaos.
Here’s more from Mary Papenfuss.
Joe Sommerlad11 April 2025 10:35
The administration is reportedly canceling the Social Security numbers of immigrants who came to the U.S. legally and adding their identities to a closely guarded database tracking deaths.
The move, treating the individuals as if they had literally died in the eyes of the government, is the latest in the administration’s larger campaign to revoke the status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who got temporary authorization to remain in the U.S. under the Biden administration.
In recent weeks, the administration has pulled the status of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who were granted temporary legal status, while stripping protections from potentially around one million people who entered the U.S. legally using a Border Patrol app while they awaited asylum claims.
The Social Security effort, reportedly initiated at the request of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has a goal of making sure the “financial lives” of the targeted immigrants are “terminated,” Social Security Administration acting commission Leland Dudek said in an email.
Joe Sommerlad11 April 2025 10:15
If you’re wondering how the markets liked that return rally from Beijing, take a look at this shot of the German Dax taken from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange just now.
(Reuters)
Joe Sommerlad11 April 2025 10:05
Beijing has increased its tariffs on American imports to 125 percent, raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to up-end global supply chains.
The hike, hitting back against Donald Trump’s decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to a whopping 145 percent, will come into effect on Saturday.
Reacting to the news, the U.S. dollar index fell 1.2 percent to 99.50, marking its lowest level since April 2022.
As quoted by state broadcaster CCTV, Chinese President Xi Jinping said: “There are no winners in a trade war, and going against the world will only lead to self-isolation.”
He added: “For over 70 years, China’s development has relied on self-reliance and hard work – never on handouts from others, and it is not afraid of any unjust suppression.”
China’s mission to the World Trade Organisation said it had filed an additional complaint to the trade body over U.S. tariffs.
(AFP/Getty)
Joe Sommerlad11 April 2025 09:55
The president’s admission yesterday that the United States will face “transition cost and transition problems” as a result of his global tariff plan appears to be the reason gold prices have soared to record highs this morning amid a sell-off on global stock markets.
Experts say investors are rushing to “safe-haven” assets as Trump again threatened to impose the full rate of his “reciprocal” levies if countries fail to strike a deal with him within 90 days.
“There will always be transition difficulty – but in history, it was the biggest day in history, the markets,” he said on Thursday.
“So we’re very, very happy with the way the country is running. We’re trying to get the world to treat us fairly.
“We think we are in very good shape. We think we are doing very well. Again, there will be a transition cost and transition problems, but in the end, it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
London’s FTSE 100 has meanwhile opened 0.76 percent higher in early trading, easing any worries that it would follow last night’s S&P 500 into the red.
You can follow live updates on the markets with Barney Davis below.
Joe Sommerlad11 April 2025 09:50
The president has paid tribute to the six people who were killed when their helicopter went down in New York City’s Hudson River yesterday, also taking up a gripe with Mexico over its alleged violations of a water treaty that he says is leaving South Texas parched.
You can follow all the latest developments on the crash with Alex Croft below.
Joe Sommerlad11 April 2025 09:45
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled Donald Trump’s administration must “facilitate” the return of a wrongfully deported Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia imprisoned in a brutal El Salvador jail.
With no noted dissents, Thursday’s unsigned order from the nation’s high court states that the administration “should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”
A lower court judge who ordered Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States must now “clarify” the ruling, “with due regard to the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs,” the justices noted.
That order “properly requires the government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador, and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” according to the court’s decision.
“The intended scope of the term ‘effectuate’ in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority.”
A separate statement from the court’s three liberal justices said “the proper remedy is to provide Abrego Garcia with all the process to which he would have been entitled had he not been unlawfully removed to El Salvador.”
Joe Sommerlad11 April 2025 09:40
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the Donald Trump administration as the fallout from the president’s tariff U-turn continues.
Joe Sommerlad11 April 2025 09:35
