Donald Trump

United States President Donald Trump has announced he plans to reassign Mike Waltz, removing him from his current role as his national security adviser and nominating him instead to be ambassador to the United Nations.

The revelation on Thursday comes after a morning of intense speculation that Waltz and his second-in-command, Deputy National Security Adviser Alex Wong, had been pushed out of their roles.

“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”

Trump said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would instead step into the role of national security adviser, while continuing in his role as the country’s top diplomat.

“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN,” Trump said.

The president’s message seemed to confirm the first major staffing shake-up of his second term. Earlier in the day, anonymous sources had told major US news outlets that Waltz had been forced out, after his relationship with Trump cooled.

Waltz’s reputation has suffered from an incident in which he appears to have added a journalist to a private chat on the app Signal where details of US military attacks were shared.

But Trump has publicly stood by Waltz and refused to mete out punishment for the Signal scandal.

During his first term, Trump also made a habit of cycling through national security advisers. Over his four years in office, he had four different national security advisers, starting with retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who lasted only four weeks.

Waltz was a former US Congress member, who represented Florida’s 6th district starting in 2019. Although he was re-elected to his seat in 2024, he stepped down from his congressional role in January to join the Trump administration.

Previously, he had served in the US army as a Green Beret, a branch of the special forces.

“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength,” Trump wrote on November 12, when he first announced Waltz as his pick for national security adviser.

But Waltz’s foreign-policy background has been a source of scrutiny. While Trump has positioned himself as a “peacemaker and unifier” during his second term, promising to end world conflict, critics point out that Waltz has historically taken a more hawkish stance.

He served as a counterterrorism adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney under the administration of former President George W Bush, and he opposed the large-scale withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan without concessions from the Taliban.

That made Waltz and his staff a target for some among Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) base. At a White House meeting in April, far-right social media personality Laura Loomer reportedly criticised national security officials, including Waltz.

After that meeting, Trump fired six National Security Council (NSC) officials, although Waltz and Wong were not among them.

On Thursday, Loomer appeared to celebrate Waltz’s and Wong’s departures on social media. “Hopefully, the rest of the people who were set to be fired but were given promotions at the NSC under Waltz also depart,” she wrote.

But Waltz’s standing in the White House was particularly weakened after the revelation that editor Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic magazine was added to a private chat in which top officials discussed a bombing campaign in Yemen.

In his chronicle of the incident, Goldberg said he received an unexpected invitation from a Signal account identified as Waltz’s. At first, Goldberg questioned whether the invitation was real. But after accepting, he found himself in the midst of a conversation with individuals including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio.

They appeared to be discussing upcoming plans to bomb targets associated with the Houthis, a Yemen-based armed group. Those details, shared by Hegseth, included the precise timings and aircraft used in the bombing campaign.

Waltz has admitted his role in the scandal, and the White House has since said the issue was “case closed”.

“I take full responsibility. I built the group,” Waltz told Fox News in March. Of Goldberg, he added: “We’ve got the best technical minds looking into how this happened. But I can tell you for 100 percent: I don’t know this guy.”

To take up his new role as UN ambassador, Waltz will face a Senate confirmation hearing — a process he did not have to undergo as a national security adviser. His involvement in the “Signalgate” scandal is likely to take a central role in his Senate questioning.

The UN ambassador’s position has been open since Trump yanked the nomination of Representative Elise Stefanik on March 27, on the premise that her seat in Congress was too valuable — and too vulnerable — to be put up for grabs in a special election.

Waltz acknowledged his nomination to the ambassadorship in a one-line social media post on Thursday.

“I’m deeply honored to continue my service to President Trump and our great nation,” he wrote.

Ministry of Commerce says ‘door is open’ to talks, but it is willing to ‘fight to the end’ otherwise.

China has said it is considering proposals by the United States to begin negotiations on US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

The US has “recently, through relevant channels, actively conveyed messages to China, expressing a desire to engage in talks”, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Friday.

“China is currently evaluating this.”

Beijing’s remarks come after Chinese state media reported earlier in the week that the Trump administration had “proactively reached out” through multiple channels.

Trump’s trade war with China has resulted in a de facto mutual trade embargo between the world’s two largest economies.

Businesses and investors have been anxiously waiting for signs that Washington and Beijing will ease their steep tariffs on each other’s goods amid fears that a protracted standoff will inflict serious damage on the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund last month lowered its global growth forecast for 2025 to 2.8 percent, down from 3.3 percent in January, while JPMorgan Chase has put the likelihood of a US recession this year at 60 percent.

Trump, who has slapped a 145 percent tariff on Chinese exports, has repeatedly insisted that his administration is in negotiations with Beijing, a claim that Chinese officials have rejected as “groundless”.

On Wednesday, Trump said there was a “very good chance” he would reach a trade deal with China, so long as it was “fair”.

In its statement on Friday, China’s Commerce Ministry said that its stance on the trade dispute had been consistent.

“If there is a fight, we will fight to the end; if there are talks, the door is open,” the ministry said.

“The tariff war and trade war were unilaterally initiated by the US, and if the US wants to talk, it should demonstrate sincerity by preparing to correct its erroneous actions and rescind the unilateral imposition of additional tariffs,” it said, adding that “attempting to use talks as a pretext to engage in coercion and blackmail” would not work with China.

‘Wakeup call’

In an interview with Fox News that aired on Thursday night, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump’s tariffs were badly hurting the Chinese economy and Beijing was keen to talk.

“The Chinese are reaching out, they want to meet, they want to talk,” Rubio told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “We’ve got people involved in that.”

Rubio also said that the tensions were a “wakeup call” for the US and the country should not be as dependent on China.

“Two more years in this direction, and we are going to be in a lot of trouble, really dependent on China,” he said. “So I do think there is this broader question about how much we should buy from them at all.”

Alexandria, Virginia – “Free him now. Free him now.”

Those words rang outside a federal courthouse near Washington, DC, on Thursday, as lawyers argued over the case of Badar Khan Suri, who has been detained by the United States government over his support for Palestinian rights.

Dozens of activists had gathered to show solidarity with Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University. He was arrested in March as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to punish and deport non-citizens accused of fuelling “anti-Semitism” and “illegal protests” on college campuses.

Speaking to the crowd in Alexandria, Virginia, Mapheze Saleh – Khan Suri’s Palestinian American wife – highlighted the impact of his detention on their three children. She said they just wanted their father back.

“Why is this happening to him? Why is the Trump administration persecuting him?” Saleh said. “Because he fell in love and married to a Palestinian, because he dared to express his belief in non-violence and because he spoke out bravely against the genocide of my people in Gaza.”

Before his detention, Khan Suri was in the US on an academic visa, conducting research on peace-building in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the US government has accused Khan Suri, an Indian national, of violating the terms of his visa by “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media”. It has not offered proof of either assertion.

Outside the courthouse on Thursday, Amanda Eisenhour, an activist from Alexandria, said Khan Suri’s case represents the intersection of issues including free speech, constitutional rights and the “tyranny” of the US immigration system.

“It’s also about Palestine,” Eisenhour told Al Jazeera. “I want to make sure that’s always part of the conversation. Dr Khan Suri is a political prisoner because of his association, because of his marriage to somebody who’s Palestinian. We’re now a country that holds political prisoners, and we have to be ready to fight against that.”

As the legal hearing unfolded, activists outside chanted for Khan Suri’s freedom and Palestinian rights under a statue of a blindfolded woman holding scales, symbolising justice without bias.

One protester held up a sign, “Mob bosses disappear people.” Another placard proclaimed, “Due process now.”

A case in Virginia, a client in Texas

In the courtroom, lawyers for both sides questioned the geographical divide between where the hearing was taking place – and where Khan Suri is held presently.

After his arrest in Virginia, immigration officials quickly moved Khan Suri from a local detention centre to one in Louisiana and then in Texas.

Critics say the government has transferred individuals slated for deportation to faraway states to keep them away from their families and legal teams. They also point out that states like Louisiana and Texas are more likely to have conservative-leaning courts.

On Thursday, Khan Suri’s lawyers argued for the scholar to be moved back to his home state of Virginia, where his case is currently unfolding.

“We hope the court sees through these unlawful government tactics, keeps Dr Suri’s case here in Virginia, orders that he be released or, at minimum, orders that he be returned to Virginia, where he’ll be close to his legal counsel and to his family,” said Samah Sisay, staff lawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is involved in the case.

But the Trump administration made an opposing request, pushing for the court case to be transferred to Texas.

Ultimately, Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles demanded answers about why Khan Suri was moved so swiftly out of Virginia. She gave the government’s lawyers 24 hours to respond.

The Georgetown scholar’s lawyers have reason to be optimistic about the outcome. Federal district courts have asserted jurisdiction in similar cases, and on Wednesday, a judge in Vermont ordered the release of Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, who is also facing deportation.

‘That’s not the America we want to be’

Since Trump began his second term in January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suggested that he revoked the visas of hundreds of foreign students who engaged in protests or criticism of Israel.

But the push to deport Khan Suri has been one of the most prominent cases.

To justify removing Khan Suri and other student activists, Rubio has cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, a Cold War-era law. One rarely used provision allows the secretary of state to deport non-citizens who pose “potentially serious adverse foreign consequences” for the US.

The Trump administration has not charged Khan Suri with a crime. But officials have accused him of “connections to a known or suspected terrorist”: his father-in-law.

“Suri was married to the daughter of a senior advisor for to [sic] Hamas terrorist group,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a social media post.

But Khan Suri’s supporters point out that his father-in-law, Ahmed Yousef, has not been associated with Hamas for years and has even criticised the group on multiple occasions.

Yousef had served more than a decade ago as an adviser to former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader who was killed by Israel in Iran last year.

Regardless, legal experts say familial ties are not a criminal offence or grounds for deportation.

Hassan Ahmad, a Virginia-based lawyer representing Khan Suri, said the allegation about the Georgetown scholar’s father-in-law sets the case apart from the push to deport other pro-Palestine students.

“We’re talking not just about the First Amendment, freedom of speech. We’re talking about the constitutional freedom of association as well,” Ahmad said.

“And that’s something that distinguishes Dr Suri’s case, in that here they’re going after him based on not anything that he said or retweeted or forwarded or liked or spoke to anyone [about], but based only on his association. That’s not the America we want to be.”

Eden Heilman, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia, which is helping to represent Khan Suri, also said deporting someone based on their personal connections is a “very scary premise”.

“If that’s what the government has done, which they are alleging they are doing with Dr Suri, we are in an unprecedented time in terms of our constitutional threats,” Heilman told reporters on Thursday.

Moreover, social media accounts that appear to belong to Khan Suri do not show any direct support for Hamas or hostility towards the Jewish people. Instead, the scholar has used his social media presence to decry Israeli atrocities in Gaza and highlight apparent war crimes against Palestinians.

“Israel is bombing hospitals in Gaza to turn the land inhabitable, in order to build the case for making Palestinians in Gaza think of migrating to the Sinai desert,” Khan Suri wrote in October 2023.

In recent months, Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza, a plan that rights advocates say amounts to ethnic cleansing.

A ‘Kafkaesque’ situation

Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, who represents a district in northern Virginia where Khan Suri lived, attended Thursday’s hearing to show support.

“I’ll be doing everything I can to help Dr Khan [Suri] and his family, and I encourage each one of us to do all that we can to tell these stories, to help educate the American people about what’s happening in this threat to our Constitution, to our rights,” Beyer said in a video message on Thursday.

“It is Kafkaesque that somebody can be kidnapped without reason, without acknowledgement, without logic, without charges and taken off to be locked in a prison in Texas, not knowing what happens next.”

Anita Martineau, a Northern Virginia resident, told Al Jazeera people should not be “kidnapped” for their speech. She attended a protest outside the hearing, holding a poster that read, “Bring Khan Suri back now.”

“It’s absolutely unconstitutional, and it needs to stop,” Martineau said. “American people and anyone in this country, whether they’re citizens or residents, they all need to stand up. We need to speak with one voice.”

Melissa Petisa, an activist with the group Alexandria for Palestinian Human Rights, also called for Khan Suri to be “released immediately”. She added that Trump is targeting students as a tactic to distract from the escalating carnage in Gaza.

“We’re here because we want to show solidarity with Dr Suri,” Petisa told Al Jazeera. “We’re also here because we’re showing solidarity with Palestine.”

May 1 (UPI) — A newly created Religious Liberty Commission is tasked with reporting on religious liberty in the United States, threats against it and how to preserve religious liberty for future generations.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the commission during a National Day of Prayer event on the White House lawn on Thursday.

“We’re bringing back religion, and we’re bringing it back quickly and strongly,” Trump told attendees at the National Day of Prayer event.

“For America to be a great nation, we must always be ‘one nation, under God,'” Trump said.

Parental rights in religious education, school choice, conscience protections, attacks on houses of worship, free speech for religious entities and institutional autonomy are the commission’s key focus areas.

It will have a chair and a vice chair to ensure the commission fulfills its mission.

The executive order says it is necessary to “ensure Americans can freely practice their faith without government interference.”

According to the executive order, recent federal and state policies have undermined religious freedom by targeting conscientious objectors, stopping parents from enrolling their children in faith-based schools, threatening the funding and non-profit status of religious entities and excluding religious groups from government programs.

It says the Biden administration’s Justice Department “targeted peaceful Christians while ignoring violent anti-Christian offenses.”

The Religious Liberty Commission will investigate such matters and recommend policies to “restore and safeguard religious liberty for all Americans,” the executive order reads.

The White House afterward named Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as the commission’s chairman and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson as its vice chairman.

Eleven others are appointed to the commission:

• Ryan Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
• Bishop Robert Barron, bishop of Minnesota’s Diocese of Winona-Rochester.
• Carrie Prejean Boller, a former Miss California USA and 2009 Miss USA first runner-up.
• Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and a member of the Catholic University of America’s board of trustees.
• Pastor Franklin Graham, president and chief executive officer of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
• Allyson Ho, a partner and appellate attorney at the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm.
• Dr. Phil McGraw, host of the “Dr. Phil” television show.
• Eric Metaxas, a writer, speaker and radio host who has testified before Congress regarding anti-Semitism.
• Kelly Shackelford, president and chief executive officer of First Liberty Institute.
• Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, which is the nation’s oldest Jewish congregation.
• Pastor Paula White, founder and president of Paula White Ministries and the National Faith Advisory Board.

Trump also briefly discussed his plans for “one big, beautiful bill” that would include tax cuts impacting working families, including an income tax deduction for interest paid on car loans when buying American-made vehicles.

He said the bill will support Medicaid for those who are in need and make America healthy and well again.

A United States judge has issued a permanent injunction preventing the administration of President Donald Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA) to deport Venezuelans from South Texas.

Thursday’s ruling is the first of its kind — and is likely to be swiftly appealed.

It follows similar, if temporary, orders barring the government’s use of the law, as Trump seeks the rapid removal of undocumented immigrants from the country.

In his 36-page decision, US District Court Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr ruled that the Trump administration had “exceeded the statutory boundaries” of the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law.

Trump had issued an executive proclamation on March 15 to invoke the law against members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. He argued that Tren de Aragua was “perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States”, thereby justifying such extreme measures.

The Alien Enemies Act, after all, had been invoked only three times before, most recently during World War II.

But Judge Rodriguez said the threat of Tren de Aragua fell far short of the standards necessary to use the Alien Enemies Act, though he did concede the gang participated in activity that “unambiguously is harmful to society”.

“The Court concludes that [Tren de Aragua’s activities] do not fall within the plain, ordinary meaning of ‘invasion’ or ‘predatory incursion’ for purposes of the AEA,” the judge wrote.

“The Court concludes that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful.”

Since the Trump administration did “not possess the lawful authority under the AEA”, Judge Rodriguez ruled it could not use the law to “detain Venezuelan aliens, transfer them within the United States, or remove them from the country”.

Judge Rodriguez is a Trump-appointed judge who assumed his current post under the Republican leader’s first term in 2018. His decision applies to the Southern District of Texas, including cities like Houston.

But while it is the most sweeping ruling of its kind, it joins an array of legal cases and court decisions weighing the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act.

The law allows the US government to detain and deport citizens of an enemy country in times of war or invasion. Its usage, however, has been highly controversial, with critics calling it unconstitutional.

The Alien Enemies Act was used as justification, for example, to incarcerate tens of thousands of Japanese Americans and other foreign nationals in camps during World War II. That incident resulted in the US formally apologising and offering compensation to Japanese American survivors decades later.

Trump is believed to be the first president to invoke the Alien Enemies Act outside of wartime. Using nativist rhetoric, he has sought to frame undocumented migration to the US as an unbridled “invasion” of criminals, threatening US communities with violence.

Since taking office for a second term, Trump has designated criminal groups like Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organisations, a category that makes non-citizen members inadmissible to the US.

But the Supreme Court has ruled (PDF) that, for removals made under the Alien Enemies Act, foreign nationals are entitled to a judicial review of their cases.

Lower courts have also questioned whether the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act violated that right to due process.

Judges in Colorado, Manhattan and Pennsylvania have issued temporary injunctions against the law’s use, and in Washington, DC, Judge James Boasberg has overseen a high-profile case where three planes of deportees were sent to prison in El Salvador under the law, despite an injunction against its use.

Last month, Boasberg ruled there was “probable cause” to find the Trump administration in contempt of court for violating his order. Hearings in that case are continuing, but Trump and his allies have argued that Boasberg has overstepped his judicial authority by interfering in matters of foreign policy.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been among the plaintiffs fighting the Alien Enemies Act’s use in court, and on Thursday, it applauded Judge Rodriguez’s decision.

“The court ruled the president can’t unilaterally declare an invasion of the United States and invoke a wartime authority during peacetime,” ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said in a statement. “Congress never meant for this 18th-century wartime law to be used this way.”

Adriana Pinon, the legal director of the ACLU’s Texas branch, also framed the decision as a win for immigrant rights.

“This permanent injunction is a significant win for preventing unlawful, unilateral executive action that has been stoking fear across Texas, especially within border communities,” she said.

“Immigrants are, and always have been, an integral part of this state and nation. They, too, are protected by US laws and the Constitution.”

The Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, a conservative-leaning court.

May 1 (UPI) — Reports say President Donald Trump will nominate National Security adviser Mike Waltz as the nation’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Unnamed sources earlier told Politico, the New York Times, ABC News and other news outlets that Waltz was about to become the first senior-level adviser released by Trump.

Hours after the reports surfaced, Trump announced his plans to nominate Waltz to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump also said he will name Secretary of State Marco Rubio to replace Waltz as national security adviser on an interim basis.

The Senate must confirm Waltz’s ambassadorship and his eventual permanent replacement as National Security adviser.

Trump previously nominated Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but she withdrew her consideration for the position.

Stefanik might run for election as New York’s governor, which has led to tensions between her and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., The Hill reported.

Waltz’s possible replacement as National Security adviser had been discussed for weeks within the White House, ABC News reported.

Some have suggested special envoy Steve Witkoff might step into the role if it becomes vacant.

Witkoff is representing the United States in negotiations with Russia, Iran and Hamas to try to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Other potential replacements include Stephen Miller, who is Trump’s primary policy adviser; Richard Grenell, who is the president’s special envoy for special missions; and Sebastian Gorka, who is the National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism, Politico reported.

Deputy National Security Adviser Alex Wong also might leave his position, the news outlets reported.

Waltz is a military veteran, a former member of Congress from Florida from 2019 until 2025, and a former member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Waltz accidentally included The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg in a secure Signal app chat discussing pending aerial strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on March 15.

Goldberg afterward reported he had been included in the chat due to a mistake made by a Waltz staffer, who intended to include someone else in the chat and not Goldberg.

The military strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen have continued since March 15.

Trump says they won’t end until the Houthis stop attacking commercial shipping and U.S. military assets in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and in the air.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for the latest updates.

April 30 (UPI) — Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday night broke a 49-49 tie in the U.S. Senate to kill a bipartisan resolution to end President Donald Trump‘s tariffs.

The resolution came hours after Trump acknowledged during a Cabinet meeting there will be shortages and rising prices, saying: “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally. But we’re not talking about something that we have to go out of our way. They have ships that are loaded up with stuff, much of which — not all of it — but much of which we don’t need.”

Two senators who would have voted for the resolution, Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, of Rhode Island, were absent.

Whitehouse was traveling to South Korea and McConnell was ill, The Hill reported.

Voting with all 46 Democrats were Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The approved motion tabled the resolution.

Earlier Wednesday, the Senate rejected a resolution 49-49 to block the president’s global tariffs by revoking his emergency order because it needed more than 50% for passage. A baseline tariff of 10% has been imposed on most treading partners with reciprocal tariffs paused until July 9.

The tariff plans were announced on April 2, which Trump called “Liberation Day.” China has been slapped with a 145% tariffs though electronics were later exempted and are at 20%.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, then moved to ensure that tariff opponents couldn’t bring the resolution back up for consideration. Vance broke the tie.

Senate Republican leaders had dismissed the importance of Wednesday’s vote.

“I think the broad majorities of Republicans are giving the administration … some space to figure out if they can get some good deals,” Thune said. “We’re awaiting the results of that. I wouldn’t attach too much weight to it.”

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, of Virginia, who co-sponsored the resolution, said: “They are so dead set on this tariff idiocy that is wrecking the economy that they’re going to bring the vice president over to completely own it. Great, let them do it. Let them do it. The American public needs to know who to blame for this. And they are showing everybody tonight who is to blame for this.”

The measure wasn’t going anywhere after a Senate vote with unlikely House passage and a veto by Trump.

“Tariffs are taxes, plain and simple,” Paul said before the vote. “Tariffs don’t punish foreign governments, they punish American families. When we tax imports, we raise the price of everything, from groceries, to smartphones to washing machines to just about every conceivable product.”

Trump said he understands how Americans may be unhappy with the tariffs during an interview on NewsNation.

“You have to be able to dodge and move and be flexible,” Trump said.

He noted that he scrapped auto tariffs after listening to automaker leaders opposed to them.

“And now, if I didn’t do that, it would have been very, very tough for them, and so what I am is flexible, and if I didn’t do that, it would be very tough for these companies, and these companies,” he said. “It’s a transition period.”

Trump said on NewsNation that there are potential deals with three Asian nations. The scheduled reciprocal ones were India 27%, South Korea 25%, and Japan 24%.

“It can wait two weeks,” Trump said.

Despite Americans’ opposition to tariffs in polls, Trump said: “I’m an honest guy, and I, we have to save the country.”

He said Republicans could face troubles during the midterms in 2026.

“I’ve got to explain it,” Trump said. “I’ve got to have people that can explain it, but I can tell you that right now, we have over 100, 100 countries that are calling us like morning, noon and night, dying to make a deal. We’re in a great position of strength. We’ll make great deals.”

The U.S. gross national product contracted at 0.3%, according to data released Wednesday, the worst quarter since 2022.

A recession is defined as consecutive quarters of negative GDP.

Tech giants beat Wall Street expectations after weeks of volatility in US stocks.

Tech giants Microsoft and Meta posted better-than-expected results in the first quarter of the year, offering some reprieve to investors after months of turbulence unleashed by United States President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, reported a net quarter profit of $16.64bn, or $6.43 per share, for the January–March period – up 35 percent year-on-year.

Revenue rose 16 percent, ending at $42.31bn and higher than Wall Street expectations of about $41.4bn.

Microsoft posted a net quarter profit of $25.8bn, or $3.46 per share, and up 18 percent year-on-year.

The company’s revenue came to $70.1bn, up 13 percent year-on-year and ahead of analysts’ expectations.

Both companies cited artificial intelligence (AI) as a major driver of growth, helping to ease investors’ concerns about a possible slowdown in demand for the burgeoning technology.

Meta recently incorporated AI tools into its advertising business, its top source of revenue, while Microsoft reported strong growth in its cloud computing business.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, which has also invested heavily in AI, last week reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue of $90.23bn.

The results are a boost for the US tech sector, whose share prices have been on a rollercoaster ride since Trump returned to the White House on January 20.

The market value of the top seven US tech companies – Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla, Apple and Alphabet – plunged by 24 percent, or $4.2 trillion, in the first 100 days after Trump’s inauguration.

Trump’s tariffs, including a 145 percent duty on China, have disrupted businesses and unnerved investors, who are anxiously awaiting his next moves following his announcement of a 90-day pause on so-called “reciprocal” duties targeting almost all countries.

The US economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025, the US Department of Commerce said on Wednesday, adding to fears that the US is likely to tip into a recession this year.

In an earnings call with investors, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta is “well-positioned to navigate the macroeconomic uncertainty” of recent months.

The company also released a standalone AI app this week, MetaAI, and plans to spend between $64bn and $72bn on capital expenditure in 2025 to complete construction on data centres.

Three Republican senators join Democrats in voting for resolution to oppose US president’s trade policy.

The United States Senate has rejected an effort to block US President Donald Trump’s tariffs amid bipartisan concerns about the impact of his trade salvoes on the economy.

The upper house of the US Congress voted 49-49 to knock back the resolution on Wednesday, hours after government data showed that the US economy shrank for the first time in three years.

Three Republican senators – Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – voted for the measure in a rare rebuke of Trump from within his own party, along with all present Democrats and Independents.

“The United States Senate cannot be an idle spectator in the tariff madness,” Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who represents Oregon, said ahead of the vote.

“The Congress has the power to set tariffs and regulate global trade.”

The resolution was widely viewed as a symbolic gesture since it was unlikely to have gained traction in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and would ultimately be subject to Trump’s veto power.

“It’s still a debate worth having, because, you know, if a month from now, we have massive tariffs go on, and we have a massive sell off in the stock market, and we didn’t have a first good quarter in growth, and if it’s worse again in the second quarter, people would start asking, ‘Is it good policy, or is it a bad policy?’” Paul, who co-sponsored the resolution, said of the failed vote.

Trump has played down fears that his sweeping tariffs, including a 145 percent duty on China, could tip the US into recession.

The US Department of Commerce on Wednesday reported that the economy contracted 0.3 percent during the first three months of the year, a period that occurred before Trump imposed his steepest tariffs.

A recession is typically defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

April 30 (UPI) — The United States and Ukraine on Wednesday created a Reconstruction Investment Fund that includes rare earth mineral rights in the European nation.

The arrangement, which was signed in Washington, D.C., serves as compensation for munitions sent to defend Ukraine against Russia after the invasion in February 2022. It is seen as a move toward peace between the Moscow and Kyiv.

President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were originally set to sign the minerals deal on Feb. 28, but the plan was scrapped after a tense exchange between them in the Oval Office in which Trump accused him of “gambling with World War III.”

“Thanks to President Trump’s tireless efforts to secure a lasting peace, I am glad to announce the signing of today’s historic economic partnership agreement between the United States and Ukraine establishing the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund,” U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said. “As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war.

“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term. President Trump envisioned this partnership between the American people and the Ukrainian people to show both sides’ commitment to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. And to be clear, no state or person who financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.”

The United States wants access to more than 20 raw materials, including some non-minerals, such as oil and natural gas, as well as titanium, lithium, graphite and manganese. The minerals are used in electric vehicle batteries.

The Trump administration has been in a trade war with China, where 90% of the rare minerals are located.

Ukraine’s Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydensky posted on X: “Together with the United States, we are creating the Fund that will attract global investment into our country.

Bessent, in a video posted on X, spoke about the fund: “This partnership allows the United States to invest alongside Ukraine to unlock Ukraine’s growth assets, mobilize American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine’s investment climate and accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery.”

Zelensky said on March 1 that he wanted the deal to be completed as he thanked the United States for supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

Specific details of the minerals deal, including whether the United States is providing any form of security guarantee after the war ends, have not been made public.

“We made a deal today where we get, you know, much more in theory, than the $350 billion but I wanted to be protected,” Trump said Wednesday night during an interview on NewsNation. “I didn’t want to be out there and look foolish.”

The Untied States had committed about $135 billion in wartime military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine through February 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank that closely tracks wartime aid to Ukraine.

Technical documents were signed last week.

There were some late disagreements on the deal, ABC News reported.

The United States said it wanted the main minerals resources agreement and the creation of an investment fund document signed at the same time.

Ukraine had wanted separate signings.

Trump and Zelensky held a 15-minute face-to-face meeting before Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican.

Trump, during the NewsNation interview, said he told Zelensky, “It’s a very good thing” if he signed this deal. “Russia is much bigger and much stronger.”

Talks have continued between Moscow and Washington over a possible cease-fire.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a cease-fire before peace negotiations.

On Monday, he declared a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, blasted Trump after the deal was signed.

“With the signing of Donald Trump’s extortion of Ukraine deal, even as Ukraine continues to defend itself from Russia’s illegal invasion, I hope the administration can now turn to the real roadblock for peace: Vladimir Putin,” Meeks, of New York, said in a statement. “President Zelensky has shown time and again that he is willing to negotiate to work towards a sustainable peace; now is the time for Trump to put the pressure on Putin where it belongs.”

Meeks wants Russia to be held accountable for war crimes, additional security support for Ukraine and reconstruction for Ukraine from Russia’s frozen assets.

“Unfortunately, Donald Trump has so far demonstrated nothing but weakness by capitulating to Putin every step of the way, with nothing to show for it in return, while fixating his attacks on Zelensky and Ukraine. It should be news to no one that Vladimir Putin is a bully and will only respond to strength, not groveling.”

Judge says administration must give migrants opportunity to express concerns about safety of deportation destinations.

A federal judge in the United States has placed limits on the Trump administration’s efforts to deport migrants held in Guantanamo Bay with few protections.

In a ruling on Thursday, District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston issued an order stating that the administration must give migrants an opportunity to raise concerns about the safety of the countries where they are being deported.

The ruling is the latest to advance concerns about the legality of Trump’s hardline moves on immigration and expansive interpretations of executive power.

The order is a victory for immigrant rights advocates who alleged that the administration had violated a previous court order by flying four Venezuelans held in the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to El Salvador, although it remains to be seen how the White House will respond.

The administration challenged that order by arguing that it only applied to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), not the Department of Defense, which carried out the flight in question.

The Department of Justice has said that three of the four Venezuelans sent to El Salvador, where the administration has sent migrants to be warehoused in Salvadoran prisons, where abusive conditions and torture are widely alleged, are members of the Tren De Aragua gang, but it has frequently made similar claims with little evidence.

Immigrant rights groups have alleged that migrants are being held in Guantanamo Bay, previously used as a detention centre and torture site during the so-called “global war on terror”, in conditions of extreme isolation and without legal counsel.

“Officers at Guantanamo have created a climate of extreme fear and intimidation where immigrant detainees are afraid to communicate freely with their counsel,” a lawsuit brought on behalf of two Nicaraguan being held at Guantanamo states.

The complaint states that some detainees were interrogated about alleged gang affiliations while surrounded by military officers.

April 30 (UPI) — Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday night broke a 49-49 tie in the U.S. Senate to kill a bipartisan resolution to end President Donald Trump‘s tariffs.

Two senators who would have voted for the resolution, Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, of Rhode Island, were absent.

Whitehouse was traveling to South Korea and McConnell was ill, The Hill reported.

Voting with all 46 Democrats were Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The approved motion tabled the resolution.

Earlier Wednesday, the Senate rejected a resolution 49-49 to block the president’s global tariffs by revoking his emergency order because it needed more than 50% for passage. A baseline tariff of 10% has been imposed on most treading partners with reciprocal tariffs paused until July 9.

The tariff plans were announced on April 2, which Trump called “Liberation Day.” China has been slapped with a 145% tariffs though electronics were later exempted and are at 20%.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, then moved to ensure that tariff opponents couldn’t bring the resolution back up for consideration. Vance broke the tie.

Senate Republican leaders had dismissed the importance of Wednesday’s vote.

“I think the broad majorities of Republicans are giving the administration … some space to figure out if they can get some good deals,” Thune said. “We’re awaiting the results of that. I wouldn’t attach too much weight to it.”

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, of Virginia, who co-sponsored the resolution, said: “They are so dead set on this tariff idiocy that is wrecking the economy that they’re going to bring the vice president over to completely own it. Great, let them do it. Let them do it. The American public needs to know who to blame for this. And they are showing everybody tonight who is to blame for this.”

The measure wasn’t going anywhere after a Senate vote with unlikely House passage and a veto by Trump.

“Tariffs are taxes, plain and simple,” Paul said before the vote. “Tariffs don’t punish foreign governments, they punish American families. When we tax imports, we raise the price of everything, from groceries, to smartphones to washing machines to just about every conceivable product.”

Trump said he understands how Americans may be unhappy with the tariffs during an interview on NewsNation.

“You have to be able to dodge and move and be flexible,” Trump said.

He noted that he scrapped auto tariffs after listening to automaker leaders opposed to them.

“And now, if I didn’t do that, it would have been very, very tough for them, and so what I am is flexible, and if I didn’t do that, it would be very tough for these companies, and these companies,” he said. “It’s a transition period.”

Despite Americans’ opposition to tariffs in polls, Trump said: “I’m an honest guy, and I, we have to save the country.”

He said Republicans could face troubles during the midterms in 2026.

“I’ve got to explain it,” Trump said. “I’ve got to have people that can explain it, but I can tell you that right now, we have over 100, 100 countries that are calling us like morning, noon and night, dying to make a deal. We’re in a great position of strength. We’ll make great deals.”

April 30 (UPI) — A Maine Republican state legislator is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow her to vote again after her colleagues censured her for comments against transgender athletes.

State Rep. Laurel Libby is seeking an emergency injunction to block Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau’s declaration that Libby cannot speak on the floor or vote until she recants her view. Fecteau is a Democrat.

She wants a decision before the House next convenes on May 6.

Her request, which was filed Monday, first will go to Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, because she hears cases from the 1st Circuit. The matter can be referred to the full nine justices.

Libby is not disputing the censure, which was backed by the Democratic-led House, which voted 75-70 along party lines in March. She wants her voting rights restored in the House.

“This means her thousands of constituents in Maine House District 90 are now without a voice or vote for every bill coming to the House floor for the rest of her elected term, which runs through 2026,” Libby’s Consovoy McCarthy law firm wrote in the 49-page application to the high court obtained by CNN. “They are disenfranchised.”

Also, Libby and several constituents are suing Fecteau and the state House clerk for violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, regarding equal state legislative representation.

“For over 60 days, my constituents have had no say in actions taken by their government, actions that directly impact their lives,” Libby said in a news release. “Every vote taken on the floor of the legislature is a vote my constituents cannot get back. The good people of our district have been silenced and disenfranchised.”

Libby’s request for an injunction was denied Friday by District Judge Melissa DuBois and Monday by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pending appeal.

“Respondents here invoke immunity so they can continue to silence debate, disenfranchise a lawfully elected member of the House, and deny equal representation to her constituents,” her attorneys wrote.

Three other legislators have been censured in Maine’s 200-year history with none having votes banned.

In her Facebook post on Feb. 17, Libby wrote: “I am a believer of equality, but we can’t always have everything we want in life. Trans women competing against biological women may just be one of those things.”

She included the name and photo of the transgender girl, who competed as a boy the year prior, and won the championship in girls’ pole vault.

On Feb. 5, President Donald Trump signed an executive order called Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports..

At a meeting of governors at the White House on Feb. 21, Trump singled out Maine Gov. Janet Mills for not conforming to the executive order.

“We’re going to follow the law, sir. We’ll see you in court,” Mills said to the president, referencing the Maine Human Rights Act. This law, amended four years prior, includes gender identity as a protected class.

This month, U.S. Department of Agriculture has paused funds for certain programs and the U.S. Department of Justice has sued, alleging Title IX violations over Trump’s order on trans athletesvin women’s sports.

Trans people appear to have no advantage in sports, according to an October 2023 review of 2017 research published in the journal Sports Medicine.

Republicans and Democrats at the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday agreed on the need for reforms at the State Department but disagreed over Secretary of State Marco Rubio‘s plan to cut bureaus and staff focused on human rights.

Rubio last week announced sweeping reforms to the agency. In addition to gutting USAID, Rubio described plans to cut 132 bureaus, most of them pertaining to advancing human rights, women’s rights, protecting religious freedom and stabilization efforts.

Moreover, he called for a 15% decrease in the number of State Department domestic workers.

At a hearing Wednesday, titled “The Need for an Authorized States Department,” members of Congress disputed how the cuts would affect the ability of the United States to promote its values abroad and lead the world in human rights and humanitarian efforts.

Authorization bills allow Congress to exercise the power of the purse over federal departments, however, Congress has not passed an authorization bill for the State Department since 2002.

“The longer the Department of State goes without an authorization bill, the farther away it is from the will of the American people,” said one of the witnesses, former ambassador and former Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale.

Members from both parties expressed concern that without an authorization bill, the executive branch has conducted foreign policy without congressional approval.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, denounced Congress’s lack of oversight of foreign policy. “Right now, this committee, and this Congress are surrendering influence and control over our diplomacy to the President of the United States,” he said.

“We should debate how American tax dollars should and should not be used abroad,” said Chairman Brian Mast, R-Florida. He said the State Department spent $14 million on cash vouchers for immigrants at the southern border, $24,000 for a national spelling bee in Bosnia, and $20,000 for a drag show in Ecuador.

“President Trump, Secretary Rubio and DOGE are already making changes and they’re looking at us to be a partner in that process,” he said.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the top Democrat in the committee, criticized Rubio’s plans.

“What we’ve seen before us is not reform, it’s abandoning decades of bipartisan support for centering human rights and democracy in our foreign policy, without consultation, without engagement and without any regard for Congress’s constitutional role,” he said.

Republican representatives, however, said the State Department had become too bureaucratic. Between 2000 and 2024, the budget grew from $9.5 billion to $55 billion.

“The State Department has many duplicative missions but not a clear mission, a clear outline on how to go out there and affect the missions positively on behalf of the American people,” said Mast.

In particular, he criticized the lack of coordination and organization when the Biden administration withdrew troops from Afghanistan.

One of the major bureaus that would be cut is the Under Secretary of Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights. According to the Department of State website, this office “leads global diplomatic efforts to advance universal human rights, democratic renewal, and human-centered security.” Moreover, Rubio planned to cut the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues and the diversity, equity and inclusion office.

Representative Meeks pushed back against Marco Rubio’s reform plan and accused him of being compliant with President Donald Trump‘s wishes.

“There is no greater demonstration of this incredible cowardice in my opinion than that of Secretary Rubio, who knows this is wrong. But he would rather sit atop a kingdom of ash than defend the work he once praised,” said Meeks.

Members of the Committee also warned that foreign adversaries, such as the People’s Republic of China and Russia, would fill the gap if the United States pulled back from its role of promoting human rights abroad.

Uzra Zeya, CEO of Human Rights First, said these reforms would be detrimental to U.S. foreign policy. “The PRC is already filling that gap. We are seeing China increase its diplomatic spending by over 8% for 2025, over 6% last year and so again. To what end are we retreating from the field when our greatest geopolitical challenger is doubling down?” she asked the House Committee members.

Members of Congress passionately debated how the United States had recently been treating its allies and adversaries.

“So unfortunately, since his return to office in January, President Trump has chosen to attempt to overpower foreign partners rather than engage in strategic diplomacy, his administration claims their policy will bring bring safety, security and prosperity,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa. “But all that I’ve seen thus far is a reeling economy, weakened relationship with our allies and emboldened adversaries.”

When asked whether an authorization bill could actually pass Congress and whether Congress could have a say in how the Department of State operates, Dean answered, “We’re going to make sure that we have a say, that is our job.”

US President Donald Trump marks 100 days of his second term – a time for the United States and the world to take stock, and perhaps, a breather.

The 100-day mark has been a political yardstick for nearly a century.

So, is it important? What does it tell us?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:

Niall Stanage – Political analyst and White House columnist for The Hill newspaper

Patrick Mara – Chairman of the DC Republican Party and member of the Republican National Committee

Michael Fauntroy – Professor of policy and government at George Mason University

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated the administration of President Donald Trump may flout a judge’s order requiring it to provide information about efforts to return a wrongly deported man from El Salvador.

At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the top diplomat was asked if he had formally requested the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador.

Rubio responded, “I would never tell you that. And you know who else I’d never tell? A judge.”

He added that he does not feel bound by the court order. “Because the conduct of our foreign policy belongs to the president of the United States and the executive branch, not some judge.”

The statements underscored the Trump administration’s defiant stance towards judicial checks on its power.

In the case of Abrego Garcia, US District Judge Paula Xinis had ordered government lawyers to offer updates about measures the Trump administration had taken to return Abrego Garcia to the US. On April 15, she announced she would seek sworn testimony about those efforts from administration officials.

But Xinis temporarily halted the directive last week at the administration’s request.

With the pause expiring at 5pm on Wednesday (21:00 GMT), she has scheduled new deadlines in May for administration officials to provide sworn testimony about what had been done to retrieve Abrego Garcia.

A resident of Maryland, Abrego Garcia has been held in El Salvador since March 15, when he was among the immigrants placed on a deportation flight and transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison.

He has since been transferred to another facility, according to Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who visited Abrego Garcia in detention.

The deportation violated an immigration judge’s 2019 order barring his deportation on the basis that he would face persecution from local gangs.

Abrego Garcia and his family have said he fled El Salvador at age 16, after gangs pursued him for recruitment. He arrived in the US without documentation.

Given the 2019 protection order, the US government initially acknowledged that Abrego Garcia’s deportation had been the result of an “administrative error”.

But in the wake of the public outcry the case has caused, the Trump White House has since doubled down on its position that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang and will never be allowed to live in the US.

“Nothing will ever change the fact that Abrego Garcia will never be a Maryland father. He will never live in the United States of America again,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this month.

While Abrego Garcia has not been charged with any crimes, the White House has pointed to his tattoos as evidence of gang affiliation, something experts on MS-13 have cast doubt upon.

The administration also has referenced past allegations against Abrego Garcia from an anonymous informant, but his lawyers say those accusations are false and reference gang membership in New York, a state he has never lived in.

Earlier this month, Judge Xinis initially ordered the US government to “facilitate and effectuate the return of” Abrego Garcia no later than April 7.

After an appeal, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration must indeed “facilitate”, not “effectuate”, the return, though it did not specify the minimum requirements to comply with its order.

Furthermore, the high court sided with Xinis’s determination that Abrego Garcia had been denied due process during his deportation.

Still, Trump officials have repeatedly said the Supreme Court had backed their appeal. They also maintain it is up to El Salvador to return Abrego Garcia, a prospect the country’s leader, President Nayib Bukele, had previously dismissed.

“How can I return him to the United States?” Bukele said at an Oval Office sit-down earlier this month.

“Should I smuggle him into the United States? Of course, I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”

But Trump has given contradictory signals about his government’s position on the matter, and whether he is indeed empowered to seek Abrego Garcia’s return.

In an interview with ABC News that aired on Tuesday, the US president was asked if he could unilaterally bring back Abrego Garcia. Trump responded: “I could.”

“And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that,” Trump added. “But he is not.”

But when asked on Wednesday during the cabinet meeting if Bukele would release Abrego Garcia if Trump requested, the president baulked.

“I really don’t know, I know that he’s been a great friend of our country,” he said.

“I haven’t spoken to him. I really leave that to the lawyers. I take my advice from [Attorney General] Pam [Bondi], they know the laws.”

Several global automakers, including Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis, have joined Michigan-based General Motors and Volvo in suspending their respective annual financial guidance reports for investors amid growing tariff uncertainty.

The announcements on Wednesday came even as US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to soften the blow of the auto tariffs that he had imposed earlier this month.

“While we further assess the impact of the tariff policies on our North American operations, we look forward to our continued collaboration with the US administration to strengthen a competitive American auto industry and stimulate exports,” Stellantis board chairman John Elkann said in a statement.

Stellantis said it was “suspending its 2025 financial guidance … due to evolving tariff policies, as well as the difficulty predicting possible impacts on market volumes and the competitive landscape.”

This comes amid layoffs at Stellantis, a carmaker that houses 14 brands including Jeep, RAM Trucks, Dodge, Fiat, and Maserati. In April, it temporarily laid off 900 workers for two weeks and said at the time it was because of uncertainty about how Trump-imposed tariffs would affect its business.

Antonio Filosa, Stellantis’s chief operating officer for the Americas, said in a company-wide email that it would assess the medium- and long-term effects of these tariffs on its operations, but also have “decided to take some immediate actions”.

The company reported a 14-percent drop in its first-quarter sales to $40.7bn (35.8bn euros) in its first-quarter earnings report released on Wednesday.

Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest carmakers, reported big drops in their net profits over the same January-March period, before the US tariffs kicked in.

Mercedes cited “volatility with regard to tariff policies” that meant business development could not be reliably forecast. Mercedes’s net profit plunged almost 43 percent in the first three months of the year to $1.9 bn (1.73 billion euros)

Finance chief Harald Wilhelm said Mercedes still remains in a strong position, thanks to what he said was a strong position in profitable, top-end vehicles.

“This, combined with a healthy balance sheet, provides a solid foundation to navigate our company through a period of geopolitical uncertainties,” he said.

‘Towards the lower end’

About 40 companies worldwide, across industries, have pulled or lowered their forward guidance in the first two weeks of the first-quarter earnings season, an analysis by the news agency Reuters showed. On Tuesday, social media giant Snap declined to offer future guidance, saying it was seeing a slowdown in ad spending and raised doubts about advertising budgets due to tariff impact, sending its stock down 15 percent on Wednesday.

Before the tariffs, European automakers were already facing slowing sales of electric cars and stiff competition from local rivals, as well as from Chinese EVs, for which it is a key market. Volkswagen, a 10-brand group that includes Audi, Skoda and Porsche, said its net profit fell 40.6 percent to $2.49bn (2.19 bn euros).

For the rest of the year, the carmaker said that it expected business “towards the lower end” of its guidance, citing challenges including increased competition, more stringent emissions regulations and trade tensions.

Speaking on a call for analysts and investors, Volkswagen’s finance chief Arno Antlitz said that it was “too early to say” if Volkswagen would step up manufacturing in the US to circumvent any tariffs.

Volkswagen expects a profit margin of 5.5 to 6.5 percent for the coming year, but its guidance does not take into account changeable American tariffs.

“It’s highly difficult to give a projection for the full year,” Antlitz said.

UBS analyst Patrick Hummel wrote in a client note that the German group’s outlook did not “include any impact of US tariffs,” calling it “essentially a withdrawal of guidance”.

In the United Kingdom, luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda announced that it was limiting shipments to the US, but it maintained its annual guidance as it reported a 13-percent drop in first-quarter revenue.

Easing some tariffs

Besides a 25-percent tariff on finished imported cars, the industry has also been affected by Trump’s 25-percent tariff on steel and aluminium.

Carmakers are also set to face new tariffs on foreign auto parts expected to take effect on May 3.

Trump’s new policy means that a company would not face both a 25-percent levy for an imported vehicle and 25-percent on steel or aluminium. The importer would pay the higher of the two levies, but not both, a US Commerce Department official said.

The other change is that companies that import parts for vehicles assembled in the US would be able to offset 3.75 percent of a vehicle’s list price in the first year and 2.5 percent in the second year.

But analysts believe that this reprieve won’t necessarily work in practice as automakers face the effect tariffs will have on their business.

“While this sounds good on paper (less bad then the original auto tariff slate), a US car with all US parts made in the US is a fictional tale not possible today and many factories/production hubs could take 4-5 years to build in the US … and this speaks to the massive frustration from the industry as the rules of the US tariff game are untenable in our view,” Wedbush Securities Dan Ives said in a note on Wednesday.

A United States judge has ordered the release of Columbia University student and pro-Palestine protester Mohsen Mahdawi as a case challenging his deportation proceeds.

In Burlington, Vermont, on Wednesday, US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ruled Mahdawi could leave the Northwest State Correctional Facility, where he had been held since immigration officials arrested him earlier this month.

Mahdawi walked out of the court with both hands in the air, flashing peace signs as supporters greeted him with cheers.

As he spoke, he shared a message for President Donald Trump, whose administration has led a crackdown on student protesters who have denounced Israel’s war in Gaza.

“I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said to Trump. He also addressed the people of Palestine and sought to dispel perceptions that the student protest movement was anything but peaceful.

“We are pro-peace and antiwar,” Mahdawi explained. “To my people in Palestine: I feel your pain, I see your suffering, and I see freedom, and it is very soon.”

Mahdawi, a legal US resident who had been a leader in the protests at Columbia University, was detained on April 14 while attending a citizenship interview. Video of him being led away in handcuffs spread widely across social media.

His arrest came as part of a wider push by the Trump administration to target visa holders and permanent residents for their pro-Palestine advocacy. Trump has also pressured top universities to crack down on pro-Palestine protests, in the name of combating anti-Semitism.

Critics, however, say that rationale is an excuse to exert greater control over academia and stifle opposing views.

Mohsen Mahdawi was just released on bail by a federal judge in Vermont. pic.twitter.com/sgtNyfeYmU

— Katherine Franke (@ProfKFranke) April 30, 2025

What’s in the ruling?

While the immigration case against Mahdawi will proceed, Judge Crawford ruled the student activist posed no flight risk and could be released to attend his graduation next month in New York City.

It is possible the US government may appeal Mahdawi’s release, but the judge’s ruling allows him to leave the state of Vermont and fight his deportation from outside a detention facility.

The Trump administration, however, had opposed his release. Its lawyers argued that Mahdawi’s detention was “constitutionally valid aspect of the deportation process”.

Mahdawi’s lawyers have countered that his detainment treads on his constitutional rights to free speech.

“Mohsen has committed no crime, and the government’s only supposed justification for holding him in prison is the content of his speech,” Lia Ernst, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who is representing Mahdawi, said in a statement following his release.

The Trump administration has taken the broad position that constitutional speech protections only apply to US citizens, a question that could eventually be decided by the US Supreme Court.

In court filings, government lawyers have cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 as the legal basis for seeking Mahdawi’s deportation.

A rarely used part of the law allows the US to deport foreign nationals “whose presence or activities in the United States” gives the secretary of state “reasonable ground to believe [they] would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences”.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has used that provision as the basis for seeking to deport Mahdawi and other pro-Palestinian student protesters. Israel is a critical ally of the US in the Middle East.

Crackdown on advocacy

Mahdawi was arrested weeks after fellow Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, also a US permanent resident.

In early March, Khalil was likewise detained by immigration officials. The pair co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at the prestigious Ivy League university.

Khalil has remained in immigration custody in Louisiana since his arrest outside his apartment. Earlier this month, an immigration judge ruled Khalil was indeed deportable, siding with government lawyers.

In a two-page letter submitted to the court, Secretary of State Rubio had written that the 30-year-old should be removed from the US for his role in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States”.

The Trump administration has broadly portrayed nearly all forms of pro-Palestine advocacy as “anti-Semitic”, in what critics have called an effort to silence freedom of speech.

Rubio provided no further evidence backing his claims against Khalil, and the student leader has been charged with no crime. Rubio’s letter nevertheless said that his department can revoke a permanent resident’s legal status even where their beliefs, associations or statements are “otherwise lawful”.

On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that Khalil can move forward with a legal challenge to his arrest and detainment on the grounds that he was targeted for his political views.

Both Mahdawi and Khalil have parallel court cases, one seeking reprieve from deportation and the other challenging the basis for their arrests.

While in detention, Mahdawi had been visited by US Senator Peter Welch, a Democrat who has denounced the student’s arrest as “unjust” and antidemocratic.

“I’m staying positive by reassuring myself in the ability of justice and the deep belief of democracy,” Mahdawi said at the time, according to a video posted on Welch’s X account.

“This is the reason I wanted to become a citizen of this country, because I believe in the principles of this country.”

President asks for ‘patience’ as businesses react negatively to Trump’s aggressive efforts to upend global trade.

United States President Donald Trump blames former president Joe Biden for the decline of key economic indicators during his first months as president, amid widespread disruptions caused by Trump’s tariff policies.

The US economy contracted by 0.3 percent during the first quarter of the year, the first such drop in three years. During the last three months of 2024, the economy grew by 2.4 percent.

“This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” Trump said in a post on his website Truth Social. “Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”

Since taking office, Trump’s efforts to upend the global trade system through a series of aggressive import duties have caused turmoil in financial markets amid fears of an escalating trade war and uncertainty surrounding the tariff policies.

The first quarter saw an uptick in imports, as US businesses seek to get out ahead of higher costs that could accompany future tariffs. Inflation, however, continues to ease. In March, consumer prices were 2.3 percent higher than they were a year earlier, compared with 2.5 percent in February.

In a press release from the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt mirrored Trump’s claims that Biden was to blame for any turbulence while also stating that the Wednesday economic report showed “strong economic momentum”.

“It’s no surprise the leftovers of Biden’s economic disaster have been a drag on economic growth, but the underlying numbers tell the real story of the strong momentum President Trump is delivering,” Leavitt said.

Many economic analysts blame Trump’s chaotic approach to tariffs for the US’s flagging indicators. Since taking office, the S&P 500 has shrunk by about 7.3 percent.

“If the blowout on trade was the result of firms pre-buying imported inputs to beat the tariffs, the decay in the trade balance will reverse in second quarter,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, told the news agency Reuters. “That will generate some GDP growth. However, corrosive uncertainty and higher taxes, tariffs are a tax on imports, will drag GDP growth back into the red by the end of this year.”

In recent weeks, the White House has suggested that it could draw down tariffs with key US trading partners such as China, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stating last week that current rates were not “sustainable”.