President Donald Trump opened his second public Cabinet meeting by deflecting blame after the latest economic indicator showed a sharp dip in the first months of his second presidency.
Quite the summation: “Trump promised that his second term would mark the beginning of a new golden age. The early economic returns look more like pewter,” POLITICO’s Sam Sutton writes.
The details: The U.S. gross domestic product declined by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, according to a new Commerce Department report out today, marking its worst performance in three years. Economists had predicted the GDP to advance by 0.4%.
What Trump said: Flanked by his top lieutenants, Trump pushed the numbers from the first quarter of his new term onto former President Joe Biden: “That’s Biden, that’s not Trump,” Trump said, referencing the GDP report. “We came in in January, these are quarterly numbers … I was very against everything that Biden was doing in terms of the economy, destroying our country in so many ways.”
The context: The economic measure for Trump is a major reversal from the strong 2.4% expansion in the final full quarter of Biden’s presidency and is a “far cry from the boom times Trump allies and top CEOs had anticipated after the president was reelected,” Sam writes.
The road ahead: “The first quarter decline was largely the result of quirks in the way economic activity is measured. More reliable data on consumer spending and business investment suggested that growth slowed in the first quarter but didn’t contract,” NYT’s Ben Casselman reports. “While the first quarter figures showed basically solid growth beneath the tariff-induced noise, forecasters widely expect spending and investment to slow in the months ahead, as tariffs drive up prices and uncertainty keeps businesses on hold.”
Trump remains steadfast in his claims that the tariffs will help, not hurt the economy. In a post on Truth Social, Trump once again tried to sew the numbers to his predecessor, labeling it “Biden’s Stock Market.” He predicted that his tariffs will turn the economy around, but warned that the effects won’t be immediate. “This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that [Biden] left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”
The market reaction: “Wall Street tumbles as economy contracts for first time since 2022,” Reuters’ Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal
ALSO POPPING ON TRUTH SOCIAL: “Trump renews attacks on CBS’ ‘60 Minutes’ amid mediation talks for lawsuit,” by POLITICO’s Amanda Friedman
TV TONIGHT — Trump is scheduled to phone in to a NewsNation town hall beginning at 8 p.m. with moderator Chris Cuomo. Also on the agenda: Bill O’Reilly, Stephen A. Smith, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Sarah Palin. The full rundown
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1. MEANWHILE, ON THE HILL: The Senate is gearing up for a potential vote today — led by Democrats and GOP Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — that would curtail the White House’s sweeping authority to impose tariffs. Though Senate leadership has warned GOP lawmakers to line up behind Trump and toe the party line, Speaker Mike Johnson this morning opened the door, if only a tiny bit, to congressional action on tariffs if things get bad enough.
Johnson has undertaken a procedural move to block any effort in the House to cancel Trump’s tariffs, though he hinted at an Axios event today that Congress would intervene if necessary: “I think the [executive branch] has a broad array of authority that’s been recognized over the years” related to trade, Johnson said. “If it gets close to where the imbalance is there, then we would step in.”
Still, the speaker maintained that Trump’s tariffs haven’t crossed that line quite yet. “I mean, what are we, about three weeks into the tariff policy of this new administration? I don’t think it’s appropriate for Congress to jump in the middle of that and try to legislate,” he said. More from POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill
2. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Fissures are growing in committee markups on Republicans’ megabill spending package over everything from passenger vehicle fees to the ongoing Medicaid cut debate with the self-imposed Memorial Day deadline to pass the “big, beautiful bill” looming.
The latest action: Under pressure from GOP leadership, House Transportation Committee Republicans nixed the $20 annual car registration fee from the panel’s markup of the reconciliation bill today,POLITICO’s Chris Marquette reports.
The local angle: Meanwhile, as lawmakers hash out various cuts to Medicaid, D.C. officials, including Mayor Muriel Bowser, are fighting to keep an “armageddon” from happening for the 40% of residents who rely on public health care, WaPo’s Jenna Portnoy. Additionally, the effort to pass a bill restoring the city’s budget won’t have the votes to pass now unless hard-line Republicans can get their various add-ons attached to the bill, Meredith reports. “Those could include a provision blocking noncitizens from voting in D.C.”
3. MIXED MESSAGES: Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has publicly hedged on if his fellow Democrats should continue to make trips to El Salvador to advocate for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and other detainees deported by the Trump administration. But there seems to be some confusion on his messaging behind the scenes. “Two Democratic aides and a lawmaker” told The Bulwark’s Adrian Carrasquillo that Jeffries has “discouraged further excursions to the country.” Shortly after the report spread online, NYT’s Annie Karni dumped a bucket of cold water on the story: “Deleted a tweet of an article claiming Jeffries wants Dems to stop going to El Salvador, which I’m told is very much not the case. Jeffries is not discouraging any members from taking actions that call out Trump administration policies.”
4. RUSSIA-UKRAINE LATEST: Ukrainian officials are in Washington today hoping to finalize a deal to hand over a share of critical minerals in Ukraine in exchange for continued support from the U.S.,AP’s Samya Kullab and Hanna Arhirova report. Though U.S. officials have yet to confirm whether they are ready to put pen to paper, Trump has been pushing Kyiv to grant access to its deposits of lithium, titanium, and other earth element resources. Talks faltered after Trump’s explosive Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy back in February. Still, Kyiv now says their economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko “is currently in Washington for the final coordination of the agreement’s technical details.”
5. INSIDE STEFANIK’S SPLIT: After Elise Stefanik’s nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. was unceremoniously yanked to protect House Republicans’ slim majority, the New York Republican is eying a run for the governor’s mansion while “pinning most of the blame for what happened on Speaker Mike Johnson,” NYT’s Annie Karni reports. Yesterday, Stefanik publicly pushed back on Johnson’s claims he was “having conversations” with her and fellow New York Rep. Mike Lawler about their prospective gubernatorial runs and “is doing little to hide the fact that she finds Mr. Johnson to be dishonest.”
Quite the anecdote: “In early April, when the White House called Ms. Stefanik to whip her vote on the president’s budget, she expressed frustration on a three-way call with Mr. Trump and Mr. Johnson that the speaker had yet to deliver on any of the promises he had made to her. Under pressure from the White House, Mr. Johnson called her and told her he had a lot of angry members to deal with … Ms. Stefanik, who was once close with Mr. Johnson and spent part of election night with him in his hometown, Shreveport, La., pushed back and told him bluntly, ‘I’m the angriest one.’”
6. SCOTUS WATCH: The Supreme Court appears likely to allow the creation of the nation’s first religious public school after hearing oral arguments today over the constitutionality of a Catholic public charter school in Oklahoma, WaPo’s Justin Jouvenal reports. “The sea change could have vast — and unpredictable — implications for the nation’s parochial and traditional public schools alike, sparking efforts to create similar schools in other states. … While all three liberal justices expressed deep skepticism about a religious charter school, there was no clear indication that any conservative members of the court would join them in voting against the school.”
Intrigue on the bench: Before the arguments, Justice Amy Coney Barrett formally recused herself from the proceedings, a rare move for a member of the bench, NYT’s Abbie VanSickle and Sarah Mervosh report. Though Barrett gave no explanation for why she removed herself, it “may have to do with her close friendship with Nicole Stelle Garnett, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who was an early adviser for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, the school involved in the dispute.”
7. HEGSETH’S OTHER HALF: In a buzzy new profile, WaPo’s Dan Lamonthe reports how some inside the Pentagon are raising eyebrows over Jennifer Hegseth, wife of embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and her growing influence at the department. Jennifer Hegseth has taken over coordinating her husband’s media appearances and has “effectively” conducted job interviews for potential political appointees. Her attendance at certain diplomatic meetings has “puzzled attendees,” while her literal presence in her husband’s office looms just as large. Sources say “they were struck by the appearance of numerous jumbo photographs of [Hegseth’s] wife and family in his office. Though it’s common, one person said, for a defense secretary to display some photos of loved ones, Hegseth’s exhibit is atypical.”
FWIW: Trump was met with laughter when he cheekily introduced Pete Hegseth, who was seated directly to the president’s left, as the “least controversial person” in the room during this morning’s Cabinet meeting.
8. FBI FILES: “FBI reassigns agents from iconic photo of them kneeling during George Floyd protest,” by CNN’s Evan Perez: “The reassignments, viewed as demotions by many inside the FBI, come nearly five years after the episode that ignited controversy inside the bureau. FBI officials offered no explanation for changing the roles to less coveted positions for the agents, according to sources. … A former FBI official said punishing agents involved in the incident now raises concern that the bureau is bypassing its regular disciplinary process, which can take months and even more than a year to review incidents.”
Sheryl Crow says she calls Andy Ogles and Marsha Blackburn’s offices “every day.”
OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED celebrating with RENEWPR President Ben Finzel and his husband and COO Mark Pimble at the firm’s 10th anniversary party at The GeorgeTown Club last night: Darra Gordon, Jaymes Black, Annette Larkin, Arvind Manocha, Gideon Malone, Adam Ebbin, Mark Sickles, Patrice Lahlum, Jessie Stolark, Judi Greenwald, Marcene Mitchell, Taylor Gross and Jared Parks, Stephen McCauley, Maria Rodriguez, Mike Bento, Dale Curtis, Adam Shapiro, Dan Whitten, Laura Gross, Morgan Dye, Carlos Anchondo, Nicole Schuman, Michael Lustig, Carmella Glover, David Ellis, Joe Fuld and Chris Jones.
TRANSITIONS — Media buyer Viewpoint Media announced its launch, spinning off from Uplift Campaigns’ media buying operation. Cora Swanson will lead the organization with Jamie Patton, Andy Barr, Lili McFarlane, Ann Bremer and Sam Almy. … Mindset has added Sarah Alexander and Gary Rubin as senior directors. Alexander was most recently energy and coastal policy adviser to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Rubin was most recently deputy head of regulatory interpretations at Wells Fargo.
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