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Trump's sweeping tariffs take effect GOP budget blueprint in limbo Democrats unite around campaign cash US gears up for Iran talksIn the week since President Trump surprised the world with an aggressive mix of universal tariffs and a catalog of steep reciprocal tariffs that took effect early this morning, the U.S. and China entered a trade war.
Tariffs on Chinese goods are now an astounding 104 percent and Beijing, blasting Trump’s moves as “blackmail,” vows to “fight to the end.” The president predicts China eventually will want to deal.
Dozens of other nations as well as the European Union are now subject to tariffs from 11 percent to 50 percent.
“I know what the hell I’m doing,” Trump told House Republicans Tuesday night during a Washington fundraising dinner.
The president defended his trade policies and told lawmakers “a major tariff” on imported pharmaceuticals will be announced “very shortly.” India and China lead global drug production.
Overnight, investor anxiety contributed to a global stock selloff. U.S. futures were volatile, while Japanese and European stocks opened lower in search of a trade endgame, a reliable timeline or perhaps a U.S. signal that negotiations with tariffed nations will spell some relief — the faster the better.
Economists predict higher inflation, perhaps a recession and a painful period of transition for many businesses, farms, auto manufacturers and millions of U.S. families. The Chamber of Commerce and other top industry groups are weighing a risky option to sue Trump to try to halt the tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reports. A group financed by billionaire Charles Koch and conservative legal activist Leonard Leo already took that step in court.
Another tariff shock is slated to occur on May 3, when the administration will apply tariffs to auto parts. Even cars made in the U.S. will be affected because virtually all vehicles are made with imported components. Repairs will become more expensive.
Auto companies are challenged to plan. How long will the tariffs last? What will U.S. consumers be able to afford? “The traditional playbook is not enough,” Lenny LaRocca, who leads the auto industry team at the consulting firm KPMG, told The New York Times.
The president, who complains the U.S. has been “ripped off” by unfair trade and currency practices, says he’s willing to talk to individual countries to cut deals but unwilling to pause U.S. tariffs while discussions take place.
The U.S. will begin formal talks with Japan, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday. Trump on Tuesday said he had a “great call" with South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo ahead of today’s 25 percent U.S. tariff on goods coming from the Asian ally.
The Hill: GOP lawmakers fear China looms as an obstacle to Trump’s trade vision. A drawn-out trade war with Beijing poses serious economic implications for U.S. companies, including Boeing, Caterpillar, Deere & Co., Nvidia, Intel and Apple.
On the sidelines, top business, banking and hedge fund leaders have questioned the administration’s strategy. They fault the White House tariff calculations and the absence of a timeline, and they warn that Trump’s tariff endeavor may complicate enactment of the permanent tax cuts he seeks by the fall.
The Hill: Why Trump's tariffs may do little to pay for tax cuts.
Some of Trump’s supporters and podcast influencers, including Ben Shapiro and Joe Rogan, have used their megaphones to challenge the president’s approach to tariffs.
Senate Republicans, reacting to Wall Street’s slide and worried about industries in their states, say they’re frustrated by conflicting messages about tariffs coming from the administration.
“It has a different impact on a New York tech firm than it might have on a Hoosier soybean farmer,” Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) told U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during a hearing Tuesday. “And I hope that’s something that’s being factored into your analysis.”
When asked about timing for trade negotiations with other countries, Greer told senators the trade deficit won’t be “solved overnight.”
“What I can say is, I’m moving as quickly as possible, and a lot of these countries are moving very quickly, and we’re working on the weekends. We’re working at night, as folks want to engage on this,” he added.
Greer will field more questions today when he testifies before members of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Democrats in Congress have been quick to predict that Trump will “own” a recession if already ebbing U.S. growth comes to a halt.
The Hill: Former Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, 87, has some thoughts about the president’s tariffs and Howard Lutnick, the newest head of the Commerce Department.
Energy: Oil, gas and coal executives have pushed back against some recent Trump decisions. Coal received the president’s executive attention Tuesday with federal orders to bolster the sagging industry, which has clashed with global ambitions to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Trump seeks fewer restrictions on coal mining, leasing and exports in what the White House said is an effort to meet the needs of energy-hungry data centers for artificial intelligence (AI).
Immigrants: In a major change, the IRS agreed to provide Immigration and Customs Enforcement with tax data to be used to locate migrants without legal status for deportation. Melanie Krause, acting IRS commissioner, is resigning following the decision.
DOGE: Administration funding cuts are forcing scientists to abandon their work and the patients who benefit, The New Yorker reports.
SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:
Could Alaska be a key state in the first round of trade negotiations? Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled Tuesday that Alaskan liquid natural gas exports could play a role in trade discussions with countries such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Alaska’s Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, visited Asia just a week ago to discuss this possibility, and he tells me he believes the deal is “moving ahead.”
“I do believe that there are many countries coming to Washington to actually negotiate these deals, and I think it will get worked out, hopefully by June,” Dunleavy told me Tuesday night. “I think it’s [fluctuation] a short-term issue, but I do believe it’s going to provide a mid-term and long-term benefits to the United States, and our trading partners.”
This is part of the balancing act for Republican lawmakers: selling the potential long-term benefits of trade deals while they and their constituents are living in this moment of market fears and potential price hikes.
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:
▪ Plans are underway for a massive event on the National Mall to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary in June — and perhaps the military parade Trump has been dreaming about for years.
▪ In a plus for insurers, the government said it will pay private Medicare Advantage plans next year about $25 billion more than it calculated in January.
▪ Since 2023, National Weather Service alerts have been translated into multiple languages to save lives. A lapsed contract with an AI company responsible for the translations leaves the service with English-only alerts.
LEADING THE DAY
© The Associated Press | Rahmat Gul
The House is facing a budgetary limbo as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) tries to corral his fractious conference around a spending bill that seeks to implement Trump’s wide-ranging agenda.
Congress has struggled for months to pass a budget resolution amid pushback from fiscal hawks. Senators recently passed their own budget blueprint, but the framework is now stuck in suspended animation in the lower chamber as hard-line conservatives dig in on their opposition despite pressure from Trump.
“We had a lot of members whose questions were answered, and I think we’re moving, making great progress right now,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday after leaving the White House.
“I think we’ll be moving forward this week,” he added — a notable change from leadership’s previous target of a Wednesday vote. The Rules Committee will meet this morning to discuss the budget.
Trump, however, is putting on the pressure, demanding on Tuesday that House conservatives get on board with his legislative agenda.
“They have to do this. We have to get there. I think we are there. We had a great meeting today,” Trump said in an address to the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner in Washington. “But just in case there are a couple of Republicans out there. You just gotta get there. Close your eyes and get there. It’s a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding. Just stop grandstanding.”
▪ The Hill: Trump said Tuesday he’s supportive of “major spending cuts” after the meeting with Johnson.
▪ Politico: Trump faces a House Republican mutiny.
The criticism among spending hawks — largely aimed at the level of spending cuts in the measure — persisted even after a handful of Republicans visited the White House on Tuesday afternoon to meet with Trump, who endorsed the budget resolution and has encouraged GOP lawmakers to line up behind it.
“The math still doesn’t add up,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said after the meeting at the White House. “The Senate budget still, in my view, produces significant deficits.”
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who was not at the meeting, told The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell he is “a pretty firm no” and that dozens of others are in the same camp as him.
That poses a significant math problem for Johnson, who is pushing for a vote on the resolution this week before the House breaks for two weeks to celebrate Passover and Easter. But he has few votes to spare: He can afford to lose only three GOP votes, assuming united Democratic opposition and full attendance.
PARTIAL VICTORY: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with the Trump administration by enabling officials to fire thousands of federal workers in their probationary period, saying the government employee unions that sued don’t have legal standing. The emergency ruling, for now, lifts one of two lower court orders reversing the mass terminations. Another injunction, which has not yet reached the high court, remains in effect and still protects many employees’ jobs.
The Hill: The American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit on behalf of two Venezuelan migrants who expect to be deported under the Alien Enemies Act and face possible removal to a Salvadoran prison.
FIRST AMENDMENT: The White House’s decision to punish The Associated Press by eliminating its access to the president is unconstitutional, a federal judge said Tuesday. The preliminary injunction against the White House by Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, is a major blow to the administration’s efforts to curtail the AP’s access to the president after the news organization refused to adopt the name “Gulf of America” for the Gulf of Mexico.
HIGH COURT: Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a staunch conservative by any reasonable standards, is increasingly in the MAGA firing line for taking positions on important cases that diverge from Trump.
“For the folks of MAGA world, they don’t really care about the label of ‘conservative,’ they care about your loyalty to the president,” Doug Heye, a former communications director of the Republican National Committee, told The Hill’s Niall Stanage for The Memo.
WHERE AND WHEN
The House will meet at noon. The Senate will convene at 10 a.m. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will be featured during a prime-time CNN town hall. The president will have photos taken with racing champions at 2 p.m. Trump will sign executive orders at 2:30 p.m. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov at 1:15 p.m. He will meet with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at 3 p.m., also at the State Department.ZOOM IN
© The Associated Press | Ryan M. Kelly
CAMPAIGN CASH: Democratic candidates are raking in large sums of money for Senate, House and down-ballot campaigns — a sign that grassroots enthusiasm remains strong. The Hill’s Caroline Vakil reports that in Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) raised a whopping $11 million in his first quarter of fundraising while Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger raked in $6.7 million. Even two Democrats running in two House special elections in Florida raised a combined $15 million despite campaigning in comfortably Republican districts.
Strategists and fundraisers point to different reasons why the party is still seeing strong numbers, suggesting Trump and his administration are galvanizing voters and an anxious Democratic donor base wanting to help the party. But some members, too, are looking to engage more directly with candidates and campaigns as opposed to larger Democratic groups.
VIRGINIA: After notching a win in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race and boasting closer-than-expected finishes in two Florida House races, Democrats are setting their sights on Virginia’s November elections, when voters are set to choose a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and House of Delegates. The election will be a bellwether not only for Trump’s presidency but Elon Musk’s cost-cutting operations, which have hit the commonwealth especially hard.
“It is his work and efforts that are going to be litigated in this election,” Heather Williams, the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, told The Guardian. “We see the DOGE efforts take on a local spin, meaning they’re not just talking about the machete that he wielded without any care or concern but the very real local impact and how it is affecting individuals.”
▪ The Hill: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee rolled out a list of 35 House Republicans it plans to target in the 2026 midterms on Tuesday.
▪ Politico: Democrats begin to confront their age problem in primary campaigns.
▪ The Hill: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced his campaign for the Senate on Tuesday after previously hinting at launching a bid against his incumbent GOP colleague Sen. John Cornyn (Texas).
▪ The Hill: Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), after some mulling, says he will not be a Senate candidate next year.
ELSEWHERE
© The Associated Press | AP Photo and Mark Schiefelbein
IRAN: Iran and the U.S. will hold indirect talks in Oman this weekend, Iran’s foreign ministry confirmed. The clarification comes after Trump on Monday said in the Oval Office that the talks between the two countries would be “direct.” Leading the U.S. delegation is Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff. It will mark the first dialogue between the two nations since Trump's first term, when he withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran negotiated by former President Obama. When Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, the U.S. imposed tough sanctions and what Trump called "maximum pressure" on the country.
▪ CNN: An emboldened U.S. and a weakened Iran will hold nuclear talks. Is there space for a deal?
▪ The New York Times: Some Israelis favor attacking Iran, expressing skepticism about talks.
ISRAEL: The Israeli Supreme Court gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government a deadline Tuesday to find a compromise over the prime minister’s firing of his top intelligence chiefs. The decision has further polarized an already divided Israel: Supporters of the government view Ronen Bar as disloyal to Netanyahu. Critics, meanwhile, consider his removal a dangerous precedent that undermines independent democratic institutions.
The courtroom battle could open the door to a constitutional crisis.
▪ The Washington Post: Amer Rabee, a Palestinian American teen, was fatally shot by Israeli troops in a West Bank village.
▪ NPR: Fewer military reservists in Israel are willing to report for duty.
▪ Reuters: As calls for Hezbollah to disarm gain momentum, a senior official said the group is ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons.
UKRAINE: The U.S. “will have no patience for bad faith negotiation or violation of commitments” as it seeks to end the war in Ukraine, acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Shea told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.
“We will ultimately judge President Vladimir Putin's commitment to a ceasefire by Russia's actions,” Shea told the 15-member council.
▪ The Economist: Ukraine thinks it can hold off Russia as long as it needs to.
▪ CNN: Ukraine says it captured two Chinese nationals fighting in the Russian army.
▪ NBC News: The Trump administration is considering launching drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico as part of an ambitious effort to combat criminal gangs trafficking narcotics across the southern border.
OPINION
■ Trump and Netanyahu steer toward an ugly world, together, by Thomas L. Friedman, columnist, The New York Times.
■ I’m a lawyer named Mark Cohen. That’s all Laura Loomer got right about me, by Mark Cohen, opinion contributor, The Washington Post.
THE CLOSER
© The Associated Press | Colossal Biosciences
And finally … ? Wolves cloned with prehistoric fossil DNA have resulted in a hybrid species similar in appearance to an extinct forerunner, according to Dallas-based biotech company Colossal Biosciences.
Dire wolves, Aenocyon dirus, roamed North America before dying out 12,500 years ago, only to live on as inspiration for a creature featured in the HBO TV series “Game of Thrones.”
Beginning last year, white, fluffy wolf pups are said to have resulted from an elaborate gene-editing experiment aimed at de-extinction through surrogacy. The offspring are 99.9 percent gray wolf, but their snowy appearance suggests a dire wolf ancestor.
See ABC News video HERE.
“It carries dire wolf genes, and these genes make it look more like a dire wolf than anything we’ve seen in the last 13,000 years. And that is very cool,” Love Dalén, an adviser to Colossal Biosciences told CNN. He’s a professor in evolutionary genomics based at the Centre for Palaeogenetics at Stockholm University.
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