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It seems like Trump might be getting ready to soften his stance. According to a senior White House official speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the administration is thinking about significantly lowering tariffs on Chinese goods—from the current average of 145% down to somewhere between 50% and 65%. They're also exploring a more layered system, the Journal says. Under this plan, products that aren't seen as major national security concerns would get hit with a 35% tariff, while goods considered vital to U.S. strategic interests could see tariffs starting at 100%.
China's Wang criticized the U.S. for overusing tariffs, saying it has backfired by making the U.S. less popular and more isolated on the world stage, according to a statement from China’s Ministry.
Elon Musk mentioned during Tesla’s earnings call that he plans to spend a lot less time on DOGE starting in May, saying the work on it is “mostly done.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is building a national registry of people with autism by using private medical records. According to NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the National Institutes of Health is working to gather these records from both government and private sources. The data includes things like pharmacy prescriptions, lab results, genetic info from the VA and Indian Health Service, insurance claims, and even data from fitness trackers and smartwatches—all of which will be given to the secretary of health and human services.
At yesterday’s “60 Minutes” staff meeting, former Executive Producer Bill Owens cautioned against the growing risk of corporate interference, calling it a “slippery slope.” He emphasized that for years, the network had no idea what stories were coming down the pipeline—they simply trusted “60 Minutes” to report the news in the way the team believed was right.
Top retail CEOs are warning Trump that his tariff policies could cause major supply chain issues and leave store shelves empty. The heads of Walmart, Target, Home Depot, and Lowe’s met with the White House to deliver a direct message about how these trade moves could hurt consumers.
Trump’s recent criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell alarmed his advisers, who warned that trying to remove him could shake the markets as much as the trade war. After some market turbulence and internal pushback, Trump backed off, saying he had no plans to fire Powell—relieving both investors and White House officials.
The EU has hit Apple and Meta with a combined $800 million in antitrust fines. Meta pushed back, calling its fine more like a “tariff” than a penalty.
The FDA is halting its quality control program for testing milk and other dairy products, citing a drop in staffing. The agency says it’s down 20,000 employees due to budget cuts linked to Trump and Musk’s DOGE-related policies.
Judge Paula Xinis has given the Trump Administration until 6 p.m. to respond to questions in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case. In a sharply worded order, she accused the administration of stonewalling.
See you this evening.
— Aaron
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