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In the news today: President Trump reverses tariffs that caused the market meltdown, but companies remain bewildered; the Supreme Court allows Trump to fire independent agency members for now; and Trump said Israel would be the "leader" of a potential military strike against Iran if Tehran doesn't give up its nuclear weapons program. Also, LeBron James becomes the first male athlete to have his likeness depicted in a Ken doll. |
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House, Wednesday, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Trump reverses tariffs that caused market meltdown, but companies remain bewildered
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President Donald Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy Wednesday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he'd imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China. The moves triggered a stock market rally on Wall Street but left businesses, investors, and America's trading partners bewildered about what the president was attempting to achieve. Read more. |
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- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the sudden change in policy as part of a grand negotiating strategy. But to those outside the Trump administration, it looked like a cave-in to market pressure and to growing fears that the president's impetuous use of import taxes — tariffs — would cause massive collateral economic damage.
Trump's ever-changing trade war tactics have already done damage, forcing dazed companies to delay or cancel plans as they tried to figure out what Trump was doing and how they should respond. Some companies temporarily laid off workers after Trump's widespread tariffs were announced, while there were signs that many firms held off on hiring.
- Businesses have sought greater clarity around Trump's ultimate tariff policies for weeks. It's not clear that the 90-day pause has reduced their uncertainty. Jeff Jaisli, CEO of the New Jersey-based importer/exporter Jagro, said Trump's Truth Social post on Wednesday had made things "even worse'' and more confusing.
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Supreme Court allows Trump's firings of independent agency board members to take effect, for now
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to oust two board members who oversee independent agencies, for now. The action seems to signal the court's support for Trump's effort to remove limits on his power to hire and fire. Read more. |
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Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency appeals from the nation's capital, signed an order pausing a ruling from the federal appeals court in Washington that had temporarily restored the two women to their jobs. It's not clear why Roberts would have paused the appellate ruling unless he and his colleagues believe it was likely wrong.
The immediate issue confronting the justices is whether the board members, both initially appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, can stay in their jobs while the larger fight continues over what to do with a 90-year-old Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey's Executor. In that case from 1935, the court unanimously held that presidents cannot fire independent board members without cause.
- The ruling has long rankled conservative legal theorists, who argue it wrongly curtails the president's power. Roberts was part of the current conservative majority on the Supreme Court that already narrowed its reach in a 2020 decision. Soon the top court could narrow it further or jettison it altogether.
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Trump: Israel would be 'leader' of Iran strike if Tehran doesn't give up nuclear weapons program |
Trump said Wednesday that Israel would be the "leader" of a potential military strike against Iran if Tehran doesn't give up its nuclear weapons program. Read more. |
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Trump made the comments ahead of this weekend's scheduled talks involving U.S. and Iranian officials in the Middle East sultanate of Oman. Trump earlier this week said the talks would be "direct" while Iran has described the engagement as "indirect" talks with the U.S.
"If it requires military, we're going to have military," Trump said. "Israel will obviously be very much involved in that. They'll be the leader of that. But nobody leads us, but we do what we want to do."
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Father Spyridon walks at the Monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa, Amorgos island, Greece. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) |
Meet the Greek monk in an ancient cliffside monastery keeping island life together
For more than 50 years, Spyridon Denaxas has prayed, worked, and welcomed the faithful in an island monastery carved into a seaside cliff on Amorgos that's little changed since its founding more than a millennium ago. Greece has rapidly secularized alongside the rest of Europe, but a few Orthodox Christian monks remain icons of local life. |
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