Friday, April 25 | By Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch |
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| ▪ China calculates amid tariff squeeze ▪ Trump's approval sinks ▪ Trump rebukes Putin over Ukraine attack ▪ Colleges back international students |
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©️ Associated Press | Kiichiro Sato |
China raises stakes over Trump tariffs |
China appears to have bet that its own high threshold for pain will turn President Trump's tariff gambit into a punishing lesson for the U.S. The Hill: China seeks to leave the U.S. twisting in the wind. Some Trump officials have conceded in private that they did not accurately predict China's reaction to the president's tariffs, The New York Times reports. Beijing on Thursday denied Trump's suggestion that "active" negotiations are underway. "China's position is consistent, and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and in an equal manner," said Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong. "Any claims about the progress of China-U.S. trade negotiations are groundless as trying to catch the wind and have no factual basis." The president countered, "They had a meeting this morning," declining to tell reporters to whom he was referring. "It doesn't matter who 'they' is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we've been meeting with China," Trump added Thursday. The Chinese "have much more tolerance for economic pain, and a greater ability to weather this ratcheting up," Nicholas Mulder, an economic historian at Cornell University, told the Times. China plans to help its struggling businesses with targeted measures in the face of "increased external shocks," according to a readout of a meeting chaired Friday by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump initially appeared to expect China to immediately seek relief from levies of 145 percent, given the size of its exports to the United States. China, according to analysts, is better equipped than the United States to forfeit such a huge market for its goods for some unknown period while Xi demonstrates Chinese strength at home. But there may be limits. As costs rise for some industries, China is exempting some U.S. goods from 125 percent tariffs, Bloomberg News and Reuters report today. Ethane and LPG are mentioned as options. China has not yet communicated publicly about any exemptions. Beijing recently canceled 12,000 metric tons of U.S. pork purchases and returned Boeing planes, infuriating Trump. "Xi somehow, notwithstanding all the bad things China does, is coming out of the last week looking like a winner and a statesman," a former House senior national security aide told The Hill. Since an earlier trade standoff during Trump's first term, Xi has intensified his grip on power and invested in authoritarian tools, including the world's most sophisticated systems for censorship and surveillance, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Chinese leader wants to harden his country specifically for a confrontation with the U.S., urging officials to engage in what he calls "extreme scenario thinking," according to the Journal. Trump, whose second term marks 100 days next week, is not in the same position. His job approval on a collection of economic issues has fallen, according to the latest Fox News poll, one of several such surveys this week. Financial markets, consumers, major companies, farmers and small businesses indicate they're fed up with White House-initiated economic turmoil and global trade uncertainty. "This game of chicken has done nothing but enable Xi Jinping to boost his standing in and outside China, while the United States appears uninformed and unmoored," Elizabeth Economy, a former Commerce Department official with the Biden administration, told the Times. ▪ Defense One: The Pentagon built a warfighting enterprise dependent on China's rare-earth minerals and a supply chain that leaned on stable trade ties. ▪ The New York Times: Chinese manufacturers make appeals to Americans: Buy direct. ▪ CNBC: South Korea seeks "calm, orderly," trade talks with the U.S. and a possible deal by July. |
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Smart Take
with Blake Burman |
| Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) has been in the news the last few days as her state is asking her former boss, President Trump, for a major disaster declaration, which initially was denied by the administration. The headlines come as Trump and his Homeland Security secretary have raised the idea of eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency and putting more control into the hands of state governments. Former FEMA director Michael Brown, who served under former President George W. Bush, said the White House could also be starting to make some moves in this direction. "The president is trying to balance two things," Brown told me. "He's trying to wean the states off FEMA so they're not just automatically expecting the feds to step in and pay for everything. At the same time, you can't just cut them off entirely." Brown told me he thinks Arkansas will ultimately receive the help. However, the case reveals how difficult potential FEMA reform could be, especially when states are used to leaning on the federal government in crises. |
Burman hosts "The Hill" weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation. |
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- Firings and leadership challenges at the National Security Council have destabilized an institution that has little margin for error.
- Lucrative stock deals have allowed Elon Musk's SpaceX to avoid public scrutiny even as it has grown into one of the largest companies in the U.S.
- Many people spooked by rising economic uncertainty stayed away during the start of the crucial spring real estate season. Home sales saw the most dramatic drop last month since 2022.
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©️ Associated Press | Czarek Sokolowski |
TARIFF SUITS: A dozen states, mostly Democratic, sued Trump over his tariffs on Wednesday, arguing that he has no power to "arbitrarily impose tariffs as he has done here." "These edicts reflect a national trade policy that now hinges on the president's whims rather than the sound exercise of his lawful authority," said the lawsuit, filed by the states' attorneys general in the U.S. Court of International Trade. Massachusetts is not part of the Wednesday suit, but Gov. Maura Healey (D) said Thursday on CNN that the Commonwealth is prepared to take legal action against the Trump administration's tariff policies. "I support these suits because what's happening in Massachusetts and around the country is that we see a total disruption in our economy," Healey said. "The tariffs have been all over the place. We see people in the markets and companies uncertain. And amidst that uncertainty and instability, people aren't going to make investments. If they're not going to make investments, orders aren't going to come through. When orders don't come through, then companies have to make decisions about laying off employees. And when you lay off employees, that has a terrible impact on our economy." Axios: Trump was interviewed Thursday by The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, Michael Scherer and Ashley Parker. The president said he agreed to talk with them out of "curiosity." SENATE MAP: Trump's trade war and its economic repercussions could upend next year's battle for control of the Senate, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports. Democrats, facing a tough electoral map, have just two likely pick-up opportunities, in Maine and North Carolina, and will have to defend vulnerable Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia and open seats in Michigan and New Hampshire. But the economic turmoil triggered by Trump's trade policies worries some Republicans. Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) has declared his party will return to the majority in 2027. GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) have publicly warned about the potential political consequences in 2026 of Trump's economic policy decisions, including tariffs. ▪ The Washington Post: With two marquee statewide races and a state economy especially rattled by Trump's trade war, Iowa's Democratic Party sees glimmers of hope for climbing back into competition. ▪ The Washington Post: Who donated to the Trump-Vance inauguration? More than a dozen nominees to the administration were top donors. Tech companies were especially generous. ▪ The Hill: Trump signed a memo Thursday targeting ActBlue, a major Democratic Party donor platform, as part of an effort to investigate potential illegal campaign donations. ▪ Reuters: Republicans in Congress will seek $27 billion for Trump's proposed Golden Dome, a U.S. missile shield, as part of an ambitious $150 billion defense package this year. |
- The House and Senate are out this week.
- The president and first lady Melania Trump will depart the White House for Rome at 8:40 a.m. ahead of their attendance at Saturday's 10 a.m. funeral for Pope Francis. They will depart Rome on Saturday afternoon and arrive in Bedminster, N.J.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet at 11:15 a.m. with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. The secretary will host a Declaration of Principles signing ceremony at 2 p.m. between Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner of the Congo and Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe of Rwanda.
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©️ Associated Press | Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik |
"VLADIMIR, STOP!": Trump on Thursday assailed Russian President Vladimir Putin for "bad timing" in Russia's massive overnight attack on Kyiv, as the U.S. president struggles to negotiate even a limited ceasefire deal between Moscow and Kyiv. "I didn't like last night. I wasn't happy with it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "And we're in the midst of talking peace, and missiles were fired." The president refused to say whether he would put new sanctions on Putin. He said he wanted to see what happened in the next week with negotiations and claimed that behind the scenes he was putting pressure on Russia. But the president is frustrated his efforts to broker a peace deal have so far fallen short, CNN reports, and has privately told advisers that mediating a deal has been more difficult than he anticipated. Meanwhile overnight, a Russian drone struck an apartment building in Ukraine, killing three people and injuring 10 others. Speaking in the Oval Office Thursday, Trump said that Russia would be making a concession toward peace if it agrees not to take over Ukraine. "Stopping the war, stopping from taking the whole country, pretty big concession," Trump said. Ukraine's military succeeded in stopping Russian forces from taking over the capital Kyiv in the first, fraught days of Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Since then, the front lines have been generally frozen. Trump has said he wants to quickly get to a deal between Russia and Ukraine, and both he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have suggested the U.S. will give up on talks if that doesn't happen soon. ▪ Politico: Trump says he's got his "own deadline" for Ukraine talks as tensions flare. ▪ France24: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow is "ready to reach a deal" on Ukraine, pointing to Trump as the "only leader" capable of understanding Russia's demands. ▪ Reuters: Ukrainian and European officials pushed back this week against some U.S. proposals on how to end Russia's war in Ukraine, making counterproposals on issues from territory to sanctions. IRAN: Iran might not be able to reach a final nuclear deal on Trump's proposed timetable and asked whether the sides should first negotiate an interim agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told White House envoy Steve Witkoff during talks on Saturday, Axios reports. Trump set a two-month deadline for negotiations with Iran. In case diplomacy fails, he ordered a buildup of U.S. military forces in the Middle East. Negotiations between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program will move to what is known as the "expert level" as analysts say the talks are progressing and technical discussions will start in Oman this weekend. ▪ Politico: The Trump administration named senior State Department official Michael Anton to lead the U.S. technical team in the Iran negotiations. ▪ The Washington Post: As technical meetings begin in Oman, the Trump administration has yet to determine its acceptable bottom line for an Iran nuclear deal. ▪ Al Jazeera: Iran signals willingness to hold nuclear talks with European countries. CANADA: On the ground in Ontario, CNN's John King weaves together extensive interviews to describe how some Canadians feel about the U.S. relationship just days from a national election next week: "No friend anymore." ▪ Reuters: Trump is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package valued at more than $100 billion. The president is scheduled to visit the kingdom next month. |
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©️ Associated Press | Rebecca Blackwell |
HIGHER EDUCATION: Faculty and classmates are stepping up to protect the close to 5,000 foreign students who have had their names taken off the international tracking system by the Trump administration, including with coordinated legal efforts and safety measures when walking around campus. The Hill's Lexi Lonas Cochran reports the response from students and faculty has helped some universities speak out, but others have continued to wait in the background for fear of the Trump administration's retaliation. Americans "are concerned about the attacks on immigrant students and non-citizen students," said Zainab Chaudry, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations office in Maryland. "And so, there has been a very real desire to want to try to take whatever efforts are possible to protect those students from being targeted." NBC News: Trump called Harvard University "a threat to democracy" amid executive orders targeting higher education. STATE WATCH: A Republican-authored proposal in the Texas Legislature seeks to open up state funds aimed at encouraging fossil fuel development to a form of renewable energy. The bill could provide a runway for state incubation of next-generation geothermal energy, which uses oil and gas drilling methods to extract heat from the earth to provide low-carbon, round-the-clock energy. ▪ The Hill: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) is asking the Trump administration to halt the deportations of Afghan Christian refugees in the United States. ▪ The Hill: Trump signed an order Thursday to encourage deep sea commercial mining for valuable metals and minerals in U.S. waters. Risks, according to ocean and environmental experts, abound. China, India, Japan, Russia and South Korea are exploring similar seabed extractions. |
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©️ Associated Press | Gregorio Borgia |
And finally … 👏👏👏 Congratulations to this week's Morning Report Quiz winners! Readers, knowledgeable about the passing of Pope Francis, puzzled through a few details about the 88-year-old pontiff and Vatican traditions. Here's who went 4/4: Richard E. Baznik, Stan Wasser, Sari Wish, Lynn Gardner, Jess Elger, Tom Chabot, Carmine Petracca, Rick Schmidtke, Michael McGinnis, Harry Strulovici, Jenessa Wagner, Pam Manges, Laura Rettaliata, John van Santen, Chuck Schoenenberger, Andre Larroque, Lou Tisler, Barry Stern, Mark Roeddiger, Lori Benso, Frank Docktor, Arturo Jessel, Tim Burrack, Savannah Petracca, Dana Bottorff, Lee Harvey, and Mark R. Williamson. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born and raised in Argentina and in 2013 appointed to lead the Catholic Church, was the first Pope in 1,300 years not to hail from Europe. Before becoming a priest, Francis was a chemical lab technician, a janitor and a nightclub bouncer. Thus, the answer we looked for was "all of the above." When a papal conclave selects a Pope, the signal smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel is white. It is true that Francis was the only Pope to serve while his predecessor — Benedict XVI — was still living. |
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