Ending a historically bad week, stock markets plunged further across the world on Friday, and the risk of a U.S. recession rose as President Donald Trump tried to defend his sweeping global tariff agenda.
Having already insisted to reporters that the rollout of tariffs on all American trading partners was “going very well”, he posted on Truth Social on Friday: “ONLY THE WEAK WILL FAIL!” as $6 trillion in value was wiped out in two days.
On Friday morning, Trump dismissed China’s 34 percent retaliatory tariff against American goods, saying they had “PLAYED IT WRONG” and “PANICKED.” It is unclear what he meant by that.
He later revealed he was negotiating with Vietnam, a major source of U.S. imports, over the tariff rate he set for them. The president also implored Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates.
At the closing bell on Wall Street, investors looked back on a bloodbath of a day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 2,200 points and the S&P 500 had lost 6% of its value.
While Americans fretted about their retirement plans and the prospect of slower growth and higher inflation, the president spent the day at his golf club.
Roll up! Roll up! Fox News debuts amazing new spin on Trump tariffs
During Friday’s broadcast of Fox News’ midday roundtable show Outnumbered, co-host Emily Compagno tried out a new talking point: the president was merely doing an “audit” that the United States needed.
Justin Baragona has the story.
Trump tariffs: Tech moguls seen grinning at Capitol during inauguration lose billions
Tech billionaires who cozied up to Donald Trump were some of the biggest losers – shedding billions in net worth and values of their companies – in Thursday’s stock market losses as Wall Street reacted to the president’s tariff plan.
Worse news came on Friday, as Josh Marcus and Katie Hawkinson report.
Trump administration rolls back forest protections in bid to ramp up logging
President Donald Trump‘s administration acted to roll back environmental protections around future logging projects on more than half of U.S. national forests under an emergency designation Friday that cites the dangers of wildfires.
Whether the move will boost production remains to be seen. Former President Joe Biden‘s administration also sought to ramp up logging on public lands to combat fires that are worsening as the world gets hotter, yet U.S. Forest Service timber sales dipped under the Democrat’s tenure.
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What can Ancient Rome teach us about the fate of Trump’s tariffs?
Peter Edwell writes:
Tariffs are back in the headlines this week, with United States President Donald Trump introducing sweeping new tariffs of at least 10 per cent on a vast range of goods imported to the US. For some countries and goods, the tariffs will be much higher.
Analysts have expressed shock and worry, warning the move could lead to inflation and possibly even recession for the US.
As someone who’s spent years researching the economy of Ancient Rome, it all feels a shade familiar.
Read on…
COMMENT: Elon Musk’s terrible week is about to get even worse
James Moore writes:
You’d be forgiven for not noticing amid all the Donald Trump-induced chaos from the introduction of some of the highest tariffs in more than a century, which triggered stock market plunges not seen since the Covid lockdown. But First Buddy Elon Musk has had almost as reputation-crushingly bad a week as his boss.
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Elon Musk’s terrible week is about to get even worse
Hegseth to visit Panama amid Trump’s demands to take back canal
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel to Panama next week to meet with leaders of the Central American country following recent Trump administration allegations of Chinese interference in the operations of the critical Panama Canal shipping lane.
President Donald Trump has complained about the U.S. relinquishing control of the waterway to Panama more than 20 years ago and has threatened to retake it, arguing that the U.S. was being overcharged for using it. Panama’s government has denied Trump’s assertion that China exerts influence over the canal.
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Former Trump official explains the reason he believes the administration is using Signal
Katie Hawkinson writes:
Kevin Carroll, who previously served under President Donald Trump in his first term and as a CIA officer, wrote an op-ed for The Guardian arguing National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other administration officials use Signal to ensure their communication isn’t discoverable in legal battles or subject to information requests.
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Social Security Administration planning to lay off thousands more staff in DOGE cuts
The Social Security Administration is reportedly drafting plans to lay off thousands more employees overseeing benefits for the nation’s seniors as part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative, even as it has struggled with reports of poor customer service following the loss of 7,000 workers who have left or been fired from the agency already this year.
Under the direction of Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service, the agency is looking at cuts across a variety of departments, including communications, personnel, legislative affairs, and retirement and disability policy.
“It’s just cut, cut, cut,” an official told The Washington Post, which reported on the plan.
Josh Marcus has the story.
Trump admin sends Hegseth to ceremony for remains of US soldiers while president attends fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago
Josh Marcus writes:
Instead, the president has been in Florida since yesterday, where he celebrated the beginning of a three-day tournament of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series at one of his golf courses, then was set for a Friday fundraising dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
“The Secretary of Defense will represent the Administration at the dignified transfer for the four brave U.S. service members who tragically died during a training exercise in Lithuania,” the White House told The Hill.
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Fed chair predicts tariffs will spike inflation and slow economic growth
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that President Donald Trump’s across-the-board tariffs could cause a spike in inflation and curb economic growth.
Powell, who was nominated by Trump to lead the central bank in 2018, made the remarks on Friday at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing conference.
Eric Garcia reports on his comments.
Source: independent.co.uk