FINANCIAL TIMES
-In 1987, Donald Trump complained about the global system's disadvantage to the US, arguing that a strong dollar would negatively impact manufacturing, Japan's trade surplus, and military aid costs. He aimed to end deficits, reduce taxes, and allow the economy to grow. Now, nearly four decades later, with his popular vote victory in November's election, Trump believes he is finally in a position to reverse economic history. His "liberation day" speech reflects his core impulses about trade, aiming to unwind the multi-decade process of integrating the global economy. While the global trading system has helped America become the most prosperous nation in history, Trump sees the US as a victim, claiming that the country has been "looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered" by both friends and foes for the past five decades. He believes it is now his turn to prosper.
-Donald Trump's plan to impose massive tariffs on the international trading order has caused a significant drop in US stocks, resulting in a $5.4T loss in two days. The S&P 500 index fell 6%, shedding $5.38T in market value, following the US president's "liberation day" announcement. The blue-chip index's 9.1% fall was the largest since the pandemic began five years ago. Tech stocks, including Apple and Amazon, retreated, pushing the NASDAQ Composite down over 20% from its mid-December peak. Across the Atlantic, Europe's Stoxx 600 shed 8.4%, the UK's FTSE 100 fell 7.5%, and MSCI's Asia index fell 4.5%. Trump's plans to impose a 10% universal tariff and hit many countries with larger reciprocal duties have shaken investor confidence and triggered fears of a slowdown in the world's largest economy. China, the world's largest exporter, announced duties of 34% on all US imports. If the reciprocal tariffs are not withdrawn by April 9, a US recession is expected this year.
-Republican senator Ted Cruz warns of a possible "bloodbath" for his party in the 2026 midterm elections if Donald Trump's tariffs cause the US economy to enter recession. Cruz also predicted a "terrible" fate for the world's largest economy if a full-blown trade war erupts and Trump's tariffs, along with any retaliatory measures on US goods, stay in place long-term. Republican lawmakers have begun to worry about the effects of Trump's tariffs on the economy and their party's prospects for maintaining control of both chambers of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. Republican Chuck Grassley introduced a bill in the Senate to reassert Congressional control of tariff policy, which would expire new levies in 60 days unless approved by Congress and allow lawmakers to cancel tariffs at any point. Support for the bill increased as Republican senators signed on as co-sponsors.
-Italy's EU partners are pressuring Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to choose a side in the transatlantic trade war, as she has an effective veto over a push for Brussels to hit back against US tariffs. Meloni opposes a Franco-German push to escalate the EU's response to the 20% "reciprocal tariff" imposed on its exports. Paris and Berlin are among member states urging the European Commission to hit US services exports, such as technology, in response to Trump's measures affecting over €360bn of its trade. The EU's "trade bazooka" anti-coercion instrument could be blocked by a weighted minority of member states.
-Mexican and Canadian officials were granted a reprieve from further tariffs by Donald Trump due to an exemption for goods exported to the US under their free trade agreement. This was due to the good relationship between the two countries. However, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that the US administration's actions would rupture the global economy and adversely affect global economic growth. In response, he announced 25% tariffs on non-USMCA compliant vehicles imported from the US, which is expected to raise C$8B (US$5.6B) to provide relief packages for workers and businesses.
-Bryan Johnson, 47, believes that we are part of the first generation who won't die due to potential AI breakthroughs. He has reduced his biological age by five years to 42, but his goal is to make his body age 18 using a strict regimen that borrows from existing medicine, technology, drugs, and scientific literature. Johnson is spending millions to measure factors that might make his body age faster, such as water quality and food toxins, and charting every health indicator in his body. In 2023, Johnson received a liter of blood from his 17-year-old son Talmage, but later halted the transfusions due to lack of benefits.
-Dilek Imamoglu, a prominent figure in Turkey, has come to symbolize hope and change amid financial instability, inflation, and rising authoritarianism. His slogan, "Everything will be beautiful," was coined by a young student, Berkay Gezgin. However, Gezgin has been arrested along with Imamoglu. Among those arrested was deputy secretary-general Mahir Polat, a respected art historian with a doctorate in cultural heritage. Polat launched the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Heritage Unit, restored historical buildings, and invested in public spaces, libraries, and art centers. Despite his dedication to culture and art, he is currently incarcerated.
-Taiwan's top national security official, Joseph Wu, is in Washington for secret talks with the Trump administration as China intensifies military pressure on Taiwan. Wu leads a delegation for a meeting known as the "special channel," which has been in use between the US and Taiwan for years but was first revealed in 2021. The US has kept the channel under wraps to avoid triggering any provocation by Beijing towards Taiwan. Washington has severed official relations with Taipei after normalizing relations with Beijing in 1979 but maintains unofficial relations with the country. China frequently criticizes US ties with Taiwan. Wu and his team arrived in the Washington area as China's military and coastguard began large-scale exercises around Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army's increasingly sophisticated exercises have raised US concerns about its stance on Taiwan.
-US initial public offerings of $15B fintech Klarna and $50B medtech company Medline have been postponed due to Donald Trump's aggressive tariffs. Klarna, Medline, and ticket company StubHub had planned to go public but were put on hold due to market turbulence. All companies had confidentially filed plans to list shares in recent months. Klarna was planning to start the investor roadshow for its $15B listing next week, while Medline, backed by Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman, planned to file publicly earlier this week with a near-$50B valuation. StubHub and Hinge Health, which had publicly filed their paperwork last month, were holding off before starting talks with potential investors. The companies were under no obligation to float within a specific timeframe and the listing could still happen in the weeks ahead.
-US tourism hotspots and border towns are expecting a decline in visitors from Canada, the country's largest international tourist market, due to Trump's threats of annexation and tariffs. This has led to a patriotic boycott of US goods and increased travel in Canada. Statistics Canada reports a quarter decrease in Canadians returning from road trips to the US in February compared to 2024. Cross-border air travel has also slowed, prompting some airlines to reduce flights to the US.
NEW YORK TIMES
-The Senate approved Republicans' budget blueprint just after 2:30 a.m. on Saturday to clear the way for passing President Trump's domestic agenda, after Democrats forced an overnight session to protest the G.O.P. push to deliver what the president has called "one big beautiful bill" of spending and tax cuts. The 51-to-48 vote, mostly along party lines, was a crucial step in the Republican effort to fast-track budget legislation through Congress and shield it from a filibuster through a process known as reconciliation. Disagreements between Republicans in the House and the Senate about what should be in that bill had paralyzed them for weeks, but they have forged a fragile and complex compromise allowing them to move forward.
-Investors worldwide have expressed dissatisfaction with President Trump's new tariff policy, which was announced as a remaking of the economic order. The S&P 500 fell 6% on Friday, bringing its losses for the week to 9.1%. This was the steepest weekly decline since March 2020. The S&P 500 is approaching bear market territory, a 20% drop from the latest high, indicating extreme pessimism among investors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies have already fallen into a bear market. The meltdown was not driven by a new virus or an unforeseen housing crisis, but by changes in the economic outlook. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 index have already fallen into bear markets.
-Two days after President Trump announced his global tariffs, China retaliated against American goods, causing markets to plummet due to concerns of a persistent trade war. The world braced for Trump to begin imposing nearly across-the-board taxes on imports, marking the first salvo in a potentially costly trade conflict. China, which has already hit Trump with 20% tariffs, announced plans to retaliate, promising to impose a 34% tariff on American goods next week, including agricultural products. This tit-for-tat delivered a significant blow to financial markets, as Wall Street reckoned with the rising odds of an escalating global trade standoff. The S&P 500 fell by almost 6%, pulling it closer to a bear market, while the NASDAQ fell 5.8%, pushing it into bear market territory.
-The Trump administration has rejected a Biden plan that would have required Medicare and Medicaid to cover obesity drugs and expanded access for millions of people. The Biden administration's proposal last November attempted to sidestep the ban on paying for drugs for "weight loss," arguing that the drugs would be allowed to treat obesity and its related conditions. Expanding coverage of the drugs would have cost the federal government billions of dollars, with the Congressional Budget Office estimated the federal expense would amount to about $35B over 10 years. The decision was part of a larger 438-page regulation updating parts of Medicare's Part D drug benefits and Medicare Advantage, the private insurance plans that about half of Medicare beneficiaries now use.
-More than 500 law firms have signed a legal brief supporting Perkins Coie, the first firm to receive an executive order restricting its business. The firms, totaling 504, declared that President Trump's crackdown on the law firm industry poses a "grave threat" to the rule of law and the system of constitutional governance. The brief was drafted by Donald B. Verrilli Jr., a solicitor general during President Barack Obama's administration. Perkins Coie sued the Trump administration, and a judge has temporarily blocked the president's order, which jeopardized its ability to represent government contractors and limited its access to federal buildings. A wide-ranging effort has been underway to collect signatures for the brief.
-A federal judge has permanently barred the Trump administration from limiting funding from the National Institutes of Health, which supports research at universities and academic medical centers. The ruling restores billions of dollars in grant money but sets up an almost certain appeal. Judge Angel Kelley's ruling was one of the first final decisions in the barrage of lawsuits against the Trump administration. The government asked the court to enter the verdict earlier to move ahead with an appeal. The decision was an initial win for various medical research institutions, who warned that the policy change threatened American scientific prowess and innovation, estimating that the change could force them to cover a nearly $4B shortfall.
-The firing of over a half-dozen national security officials on Laura Loomer's advice has caused concern among some Trump officials. The situation exemplifies Trump's tendency to seek information from shady sources. However, in his second term, he has fewer people to keep these voices away. Loomer explained that Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, was chosen by Gen. Mark Milley, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, whom she deemed a traitor. Haugh's deputy, Wendy Noble, was close to James Clapper, a former director of national intelligence and critic of Trump.
-The New York State Education Department has reacted strongly to the Trump administration's threats to withdraw federal funding from public schools over certain diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The department's deputy commissioner for legal affairs, Daniel Morton-Bentley, stated that while the administration seeks to censor anything it deems 'diversity, equity & inclusion,' there are no federal or state laws prohibiting the principles of D.E.I. Morton-Bentley also noted that the federal government has not defined what practices it believes violate civil rights protections. The letter was sent after the federal government issued a memo to education officials asking them to confirm the elimination of all programs it argues unfairly promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
-A video captured the moment Israeli troops opened fire on a group of medics in Gaza in late March. The video, discovered on the cellphone of a paramedic who was found along with 14 other aid workers in a mass grave in Gaza, shows that the ambulances and fire truck they were traveling in were clearly marked and had their emergency signal lights on when Israeli troops hit them with a barrage of gunfire. Officials from the Palestine Red Crescent Society presented the nearly seven-minute recording, which was obtained by The New York Times, to the UN Security Council.
-A federal judge has given the Trump administration until the end of Monday to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was inadvertently deported to El Salvador last month. The judge, Paula Xinis, ruled that federal officials acted without "legal basis" when they arrested Garcia and put him on a plane to a notorious Salvadoran megaprison without due process. The decision is a sharp rebuke to the Trump administration, who had acknowledged that Garcia's deportation was a mistake. The judge's ruling could put her on a collision course with the White House, as President Trump and his top aides have repeatedly attacked other federal judges who have questioned their attempts to carry out their deportation policies.
NEW YORK POST
-Former Vice President Kamala Harris was shocked by her loss to President Trump in November 2024, having "bought the hype" that her campaign was in good shape in the run-up to Election Day. The Hill correspondent Amie Parnes, co-author of "FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House," told the podcast "Somebody's Gotta Win with Tara Palmeri" that Harris was completely shocked and Tim Walz was shocked as well. Walz was so "stunned" by Harris' crushing defeat that he was unable to speak. Harris was also asked if a recount was necessary, and she was asked if she was sure about the situation. Parnes reported that some members of Harris' team felt they were being "gaslit" by senior campaign officials, who were confident that "things were looking good" for the Democratic nominee. Harris "bought the hype," according to the journalist, and thought she was on a path to victory. The book "FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House" provides a detailed account of Harris' shock and the subsequent confusion surrounding her election loss.
-JPMorgan has increased its likelihood of the US economy entering a recession to 60% due to President Donald Trump's tariff plans. The lender, led by CEO Jamie Dimon, had previously put the chances of a recession at 40% before the announcement of tariffs on Wednesday. JPMorgan's chief economist Bruce Kasman believes that disruptive US policies have become the biggest risk to the global outlook all year. The latest news reinforces their fears, as US trade policy has turned less business-friendly than they had anticipated. JPMorgan's probability scenario tree now raises the risk of a recession to 60%, as the US and possibly the global economy could be forced into recession if sustained. Trump's tariffs include a 10% baseline tariff on most US imports and higher reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries.