Dan Schwartzman

That's according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The report goes on to say that Trump has been heard vowing mass pardons.

To date, Trump has pardoned around 1,600 people just in this term.

Several Asian countries, including India and the Philippines, are pushing the U.S.

Treasury Department to renew a sanctions waiver allowing them to purchase Russian crude.

The current waiver is set to expire on April 11th.

The waivers have prompted criticism from European allies who want to limit financial benefits to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to end the war in Ukraine.

The consumer price index rose 0.9 percent from February, the most in nearly four years, in large part due to the sharp increase in gas prices tied to the conflict in the Middle East.

Bond traders held on to wagers that the Fed will lower interest rates once this year on the data showing inflation quickened in March.

Interest rate swaps show traders pricing in a roughly one in four chance of a quarter point rate cut this year, slightly lower than before the data.

Meanwhile, U.S.

consumer sentiment fell to a record low due to increasing worries about mounting inflation caused by the Iran war.

Consumers expect prices to rise at an annual rate of 4.8% over the next year and see costs rising at an annual rate of 3.4% over the next 5 to 10 years.

The preliminary April sentiment index slumped to 47.6 from 53.3 in March.

That's according to the University of Michigan data out Friday.

That was below all but one estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Joan Hsu, the director of Michigan's Consumer Surveys, says there are some positives, though, to look at.

The University of Michigan's Joan Hsu speaking to Bloomberg.

The current conditions gauge slid to a record low of 50.1 in April, while the expectations index declined to the weakest since 1980.

Consumers' perceptions of their current financial situation matched the worst since 2009.