Tracking Trump: Tariffs spark stock market plunge, and deportations fuel pushback
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President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on goods imported to the U.S., with potentially devastating impacts, while his administration fought aspects of his immigration agenda in court.
Here's our recap of major developments:
Trump ushers in "Liberation Day" tariffs
Trump declared a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and introduced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports into the U.S. on Wednesday.
- He also announced higher reciprocal tariffs on goods from several countries, including those in Europe (20%), Japan (24%), Canada (25%) and China (34%) — Russia exempted.
- If they hold, the president's tariffs, unveiled on what he dubbed "Liberation Day," could cause a global recession, "the third such economic earthquake in 17 years," Axios' Felix Salmon writes.
- Canada retaliated with a 25% tariff on some U.S. vehicle imports. Stocks on Thursday plunged, their worst day since March 2020. "It's the end of the world's economic order as we know it," Axios' Courtenay Brown and Neil Irwin headlined.
The justification: Other countries need to "stop picking on us," in Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick's words to CNBC Thursday.
Salmon describes it this way: America, a "large, rich country" has a sweet tooth, and Madagascar "a small, poor country" has the vanilla. "There's therefore a natural trade to be made."
- Madagascar was hit with a 47% tariff.
Go deeper: This is why you can't have nice things in a trade war
Trump-era DOJ mistakenly deports Salvadoran man
The Trump administration admitted on Monday it made an "administrative error" leading to the mistaken deportation of a Salvadoran man who was living legally in Maryland.
- A judge on Friday ordered Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia's return by Monday.
- The deportation, uncovered by The Atlantic, underscores ongoing missteps in the administration's aggressive immigration push, which has relied on "legally fraught deportation drives," Axios' Russell Contreras writes.
Case in point: U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, suggesting contempt proceedings might be next, said on Thursday there is a "fair likelihood" the administration violated his earlier order and allowed flights to continue deporting migrants to El Salvador.
- Trump appealed the underlying decision to the U.S. Supreme Court in March.
Other judges:
- Denied Monday the Trump administration's request to stall a lower court's order halting a ban on transgender individuals in the military. Go deeper.
- Blocked DOGE from accessing sensitive Social Security data Tuesday. Go deeper.
- Ruled on Monday Alabama cannot prosecute doctors and others who help patients obtain out-of-state abortion care. Go deeper.
- Narrowed an order Tuesday to reinstate thousands of fired federal workers so that it only applies to 19 states and the District of Columbia. Go deeper.
Trump fights TikTok ban
The president said on Friday he plans to delay a TikTok ban from going into effect on Saturday despite no change in the company's ownership.
- A recent law requires the app's Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the company to avoid the ban. It follows bipartisan recognition of national security risks posed by the app's ties to China.
Go deeper: Who might buy TikTok as ban looms
Elon Musk's work could be ending, Trump clues
Trump hinted billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's work with the government could end soon.
- He's employed as a special government employee under the Trump administration and therefore has a 130-day work limit for a year's time.
- "He's got a big company to run ... At some point he's going to be going back," Trump said on Monday. "He wants to. I'd keep him as long as I could keep him."
- Restructuring from the Musk-led DOGE has meant widespread layoffs of government employees, including some 10,000 staff members from the Department of Health and Human Services, and protests in response.
Musk's favorability has dropped, as has his first-quarter Tesla vehicle deliveries. Go deeper.
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