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The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Morning Report newsletter SubscribeIn today’s issue:
U.S., U.K. unveil trade framework Trump urges Congress to raise taxes on wealthy American Pope Leo XIV: “Build bridges” Ukraine ratifies U.S. minerals dealPresident Trump needed to show some progress after weeks of assuring Americans that his soaring “reciprocal” tariffs levied on trading partners would lead to a cascade of lucrative country-by-country agreements.
So far, there is one.
With Oval Office flourishes and compliments for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the president on Thursday announced his first framework agreement on trade, which is not yet on paper and unlikely to be replicated.
“The final details are being written up,” Trump said. “In the coming weeks we’ll have it all very conclusive.”
Weeks ago, Trump’s top officials suggested the first trade deals to ripen as a result of the president’s tariff pressures were likely to come from India, Japan and perhaps South Korea. Chinese President Xi Jinping did not race to the phone to call the White House.
The president’s poll numbers on the economy have dropped. Since early April, Trump has dismissed complaints that his tariff policy risks a recession and stirs uncertainty while escalating an economic war with China that Beijing is in no rush to lose.
Trump announced Thursday he’s cutting tariffs on U.K. autos, steel and aluminum. The U.K. agreed to increase market access for U.S. exporters, including for domestic chemicals, machinery and other industrial products. Britain also agreed to “fast-track” American goods, Trump said. Officials said a separate deal will allow imports of 100,000 British cars at only a 10 percent tariff.
Some experts believe the impact of Thursday’s agreement with the U.K. cannot easily become a template with other nations where the U.S. has a large trade deficit.
“It’s a very small win, and it’s limited in scope,” Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council, told CNBC.
Officials from both governments will still need to meet in the coming months to hammer out specific language. That means there’s a possibility the agreement could still fall apart. Britain occupies the No. 11 spot among the United States’s biggest trading partners — it represented 2.9 percent of total U.S. trade in the first quarter of the year — while the United States is Britain’s largest single trading partner. Even so, most of that trading relationship is in services, which aren’t affected by tariffs, according to The New York Times.
The Hill: Five takeaways on Trump’s new trade framework with the U.K.
Trump, asked by a reporter about worker layoffs as container ships carrying exported goods become scarce at major U.S. ports, such as Long Beach, Calif., argued it “means we lose less money ... when you say it slowed down, that's a good thing, not a bad thing." The president said nothing about lost jobs and wages.
One day after saying he would not consider interim tariff reductions with China, Trump said it was possible — if talks go well among Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng during discussions this weekend in Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Europe is using retaliatory negotiating strategies with warnings the European Union is ready to impose tariffs in excess of $100 billion on U.S. goods — if talks do not lead to a positive outcome.
“Tariffs are already having a negative impact on the global economies,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a Thursday statement. “The E.U. remains fully committed to finding negotiated outcomes with the U.S.”
Steel bends: Trump’s tariffs on imported steel aim to boost demand for American steel. So far, they haven’t stopped one of the country’s biggest steelmakers, Cleveland-Cliffs, from closing plants and retreating from its strategy to dominate the industry. The top supplier of sheet steel to automakers in the U.S., has in recent months idled plants and iron-ore mines. The company plans this summer to close three specialty steel plants in Pennsylvania and Illinois.
Aluminum and energy: Domestic power demands and costs are likely to prevent domestic aluminum smelters from thriving in a high-tariff environment for exported aluminum, leading to closures rather than Trump’s envisioned restarts.
SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:
Tax hikes from a Republican president? As The Hill reported, that is now currently under discussion as Republicans try to find a way to increase revenue to pay for many of the president’s tax cut promises from the campaign trail.
Conventional thinking is Republicans will get something done, because allowing all the 2017 tax cuts to expire is simply not an option. However, as all the conversations start to add up, one thing you could start to hear is what happens if the puzzle pieces simply don’t fit?
I was speaking recently to key players who shaped the 2017 tax plan, and they talked up the possibility of simply just extending the current law as is. We are seeing in real-time how hard it can be to address the deficit, lower taxes, and pay for key pieces of the president’s agenda.
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:
▪ Cancer before age 50 is increasing, including breast, colon, kidney and uterine cancers, according to a new government report. Scientists say more research is needed to answer “why,” noting “something profound” in patterns drawn from data.
▪ Less travel; higher costs; an international chill toward the U.S.: That’s written between the lines in a new federal Bureau of Economic Analysis report showing a drop in March travel spending of $1.3 billion.
▪ Billionaire Bill Gates, 69, explained during a New York Times interview why he’s decided to wind down and close the Gates Foundation by 2045. Criticizing Elon Musk during a Financial Times interview, Gates suggested the world’s richest man is “killing the world’s poorest children” with his efficiency advice to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development.
LEADING THE DAY
© Associated Press | Andrew Harnik
TAX THE RICH: The White House is making a last-ditch push to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans as part of Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” as Republican lawmakers craft the final details of the tax and budget package. The proposal, write The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell, would allow the expiration this year of the top marginal income tax rate that Trump signed into law in 2017 for the highest-income Americans, while Republicans would extend the 2017 tax cuts for the lower tax brackets.
Punchbowl News reported Thursday that Trump asked Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) directly to back the policy. Republicans had previously said the option of a new millionaires tax was on the table as they crafted the bill, shocking and prompting swift pushback from many conservatives who had advocated for decades to make refusing to raise taxes part of party orthodoxy.
Still, the inclusion of any tax hike would be a massive reversal for House Republican leadership, which indicated in recent weeks that the prospect was off the table. Last month, Johnson said he “would not expect that” when asked about hiking up the top tax rate.
“We have been working against that idea. I’m not in favor of raising the tax rates because that’s, our party is the group that stands against that, traditionally,” Johnson said on Fox News during an interview.
▪ Politico: GOP leaders on Capitol Hill signaled Thursday they are scaling back their tax-cutting ambitions after running into difficulty making deep spending cuts and facing stern warnings from Republican deficit hawks.
▪ The Hill: Democratic lawmakers are asking GOP leadership to reject Medicaid cuts in favor of going after Medicare Advantage “upcoding” as a way of saving federal dollars and addressing waste, fraud and abuse.
▪ The Hill: Key New York House Republicans say they are rejecting a proposal from GOP leadership to raise the state and local tax, or SALT, deduction cap to $30,000.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Trump on Thursday appointed Fox News host, former judge and loyal supporter Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
The announcement comes after Trump on Thursday withdrew the nomination of Ed Martin to be the top prosecutor in Washington, D.C. Martin will instead be an associate deputy attorney general and pardon attorney for the Justice Department — not subject to Senate confirmation. He’ll also lead a task force Attorney General Pam Bondi created to investigate what she’s described as the “weaponization” of federal law enforcement.
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton was fired Thursday. The nation’s disaster agency, which Trump has suggested abolishing, is now without a top official three weeks before the start of the Atlantic hurricane season and as Congress scrutinizes FEMA’s proposed budget. Hamilton was informed of his termination by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar and Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump adviser and informal chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Politico’s E&E News reported.
Hamilton was fired a day after he told a House Appropriations subcommittee, “I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
Reacting to the firing, Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement that Hamilton bucked his bosses to advocate for the agency. “Clearly this brainless idea — that Trump and Kristi Noem keep touting — is not faring well even in MAGA world,” Thompson said.
AIR TRAVEL: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called for billions of dollars of investment in the country’s air traffic control system following a series of issues that have plagued it, most recently communication issues at the Newark, N.J., airport that stranded hundreds of flights. Duffy said at a press conference Thursday that he will ask Congress to grant “upfront appropriations” for all the money needed to update technology and equipment, which he said will be an effort that could take three to four years.
“In essence, all the front-facing equipment for controllers, all the back-end systems for controllers, all brand new,” Duffy said. “All new hardware, all new software, is going to be built into this brand-new air traffic control system.”
The Washington Post: Trump accelerates upgrades of air traffic control systems amid Federal Aviation Administration departures.
PEACE CORPS: Staff members in the world-recognized program, which was first launched in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy, fear deep GOP budget cuts could end U.S. promotion of goodwill and development abroad.
The Hill: Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday. Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be Librarian of Congress.
POLITICS: Democrats are blasting former President Biden’s return to the spotlight following his Thursday interview on “The View,” his second major post-presidency interview. During the sit-down, Biden slammed Trump’s second administration, denied reports of his mental decline during his term, and took responsibility for Democratic losses in 2024, telling the show’s hosts, “I was in charge, and he won.”
But some Democrats are criticizing Biden’s recent appearances.
“Elections are about the future. Every time Joe Biden emerges, we fight an old war,” said Democratic strategist Anthony Coley, who worked for the Biden administration. “Every interview he does provides a contrast to Trump that’s just not helpful for the Democratic brand, which needs trusted messengers and fighters who can reach independents and moderates and inspire the base. Joe Biden ain’t that.”
The New York Times’s “Interesting Times” opinion podcast: The Democratic senator taking cues from Trumpism. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) argues voters want to know who’s screwing them.
WHERE AND WHEN
The House will meet at 1 p.m. for a pro forma session. The Senate will convene Monday at 3 p.m. The president will sign executive orders at 4 p.m. in the Oval Office. The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1 p.m.ZOOM IN
© Associated Press | Vatican Media
HABEMUS PAPAM: On a third ballot, cardinals on Thursday elected Robert Prevost, 69, whose chosen name is Pope Leo XIV, as the Roman Catholic Church’s 267th papal leader to succeed the late Pope Francis. Here’s what to know about the Chicagoan who has spent much of his life in Peru and the Vatican.
The selection of the first American pope is a historic one that breaks the norms of the Catholic Church. The idea of an American pope has historically been considered a long shot because cardinals typically pick leaders from non-superpower nations. The first words from Leo, which are closely watched by Catholics, were “Peace be with you all.”
A member of the Order of St. Augustine, Leo resembles Francis in his commitment to the poor and migrants, and to meeting people where they are. In his first address from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, he mentioned Francis twice and explicitly said he wants to pick up where the late pope left off on that very balcony on Easter.
“We have to be a church that works together to build bridges and to keep our arms open, like this very piazza, welcoming,” Leo told the crowd.
Trump congratulated the new pope. "It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country," Trump said on social media.
Leo celebrated his first Mass as pontiff this morning, presiding in the Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who elected him to succeed Francis and follow in his social justice-minded footsteps.
▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from Prevost’s election as the first American pope.
▪ USA Today: How a Chicago native became pope.
▪ Axios: Here's how Pope Leo XIV has already made history.
▪ The New York Times: In Illinois, the pope’s brother reflects on history.
ELSEWHERE
© Associated Press | Ukrainian Presidential Press Office
UKRAINE: Ukraine’s Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly voted to ratify the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for a closer relationship with Washington. Meanwhile, a Russian-declared ceasefire for Moscow’s Victory Day celebrations failed to halt fighting in the three-year war on Ukraine.
Ukraine has labeled the unilateral ceasefire a “farce,” accusing Russia of 734 violations since the truce came into effect early into Thursday morning. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine was responding "appropriately" to every attack.
▪ The Washington Post: Russia exudes confidence at its Victory Parade. Russian President Vladimir Putin linked the victory in War War II to an expected victory in Ukraine.
▪ Reuters: Ukraine is starting to consider a shift away from the U.S. dollar, possibly linking its currency more closely to the euro amid the splintering of global trade and its growing ties to Europe.
GAZA: Fears of famine in Gaza grew Thursday as a major aid group said it had run out of food. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes killed at least 100 people, including children, across the besieged enclave. The Trump administration is pressing the United Nations, aid organizations and U.S. allies to participate in a new Israeli plan to resume distribution of limited amounts of humanitarian assistance in Gaza.
The U.S. effort comes as the U.N. and virtually all other organizations have refused to participate in the plan, saying it is against “fundamental humanitarian principles” and violating international law.
▪ BBC: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there is "uncertainty" about the condition of three of 24 hostages previously believed to be alive in Hamas captivity in Gaza.
▪ Axios: Trump met Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close confidant of Netanyahu, on Thursday and discussed the nuclear talks with Iran and the war in Gaza.
▪ CNN: Netanyahu has vowed to “defend ourselves alone” against Yemen’s Houthi rebels after Trump struck a deal with the Iran-backed group.
OPINION
■ A pope from Chicago can help bridge Catholic divides, by The Washington Post editorial board.
■ Trump stages a trade-war retreat, by The Wall Street Journal editorial board.
THE CLOSER
© Associated Press | Aaron Chown
And finally … ??? Congratulations to the winners of this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Canada was our puzzle theme and readers did not disappoint.
? Here’s who went 4/4: Stan Wasser, Lynn Gardner, Richard E. Baznik, Phil Kirstein, Rick Schmidtke, Peter Sprofera, Jeremy Serwer, Carmine Petracca, Pam Manges, Tom Chabot, Frank Docktor, Jess A. Elger, Susan Reeves, Jay Rockey, Sawyer Walters, Linda L. Field, Terry Pflaumer, Jenessa Wagner, Mark R. Williamson, Korey Hartwich, Jaina Mehta Buck, Brian Hogan, Foster Curry, William Chittam, Ned Sauthoff, Michael McGinnis, Lori Benso, Stan Jones, Terry Connelly, Lou Tisler, Mark Ryan, Catherine Wolf, Tim Burrack, John Trombetti, William Moore, Savannah Petracca, Ran Dunnell, Steve James and Korey Hartwich.
The head of state of Canada is King Charles III.
On 9/11, Gander International Airport in Newfoundland handled diverted civilian flights in response to the terror attacks in the U.S. and sheltered 6,600 passengers and crew in a Canadian town with a population of roughly 11,000.
Canadian troops fought alongside U.S. troops in World Wars I and II and the Gulf War, so the correct answer from our quiz menu was “all of the above.”
It is true that the U.S. and Canada share the longest border between any two countries.
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