Luke Vargas
Appearances
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
And Caitlin says the report forecasts ways that policy changes out of Washington could complicate the situation further.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against Boeing has ordered a trial over two deadly crashes of 737 MAX jets. Yesterday, we reported the aerospace giant had been seeking to withdraw an earlier agreement to plead guilty for deceiving regulators before the crashes, which killed 346 people.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
Boeing and the Justice Department were expected to propose changes to the settlement by April 11th, but a judge has now scrapped that deadline and ordered the sides to prepare for a trial in June, increasing the odds that Boeing will have to plead guilty or defend against a charge it already said it committed.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
Boeing said in a written statement that it continues good-faith discussions with the Justice Department, while a spokeswoman for the department declined to comment. Vice President J.D. Vance is joining his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, on her upcoming trip to Greenland, testing already strained relations between the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
and European allies as President Trump doubles down on his wish to own the self-governing Danish territory.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
Vance made that statement in a video on his ex-account. Greenland has denounced the visit, which the White House said would include National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright as, quote, highly aggressive. The U.S. has now shifted the visit's focus from a celebration of Greenlandic culture to one of national security.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
It's Wednesday, March 26th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The Trump administration is further limiting China's access to American technology, expanding a crackdown that began during Joe Biden's term.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
And according to White House officials, the Vances will be visiting American soldiers at a U.S. military base.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
Moody's raises red flags over ballooning U.S. debt and the negative effects of tariffs. Plus, anger and confusion in Greenland as Vice President Vance joins a planned visit to the island this week. And China's space ambitions take flight.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
Danish Prime Minister Meta Fredriksen dialed up the rhetoric against Washington yesterday, saying that the scheduled visit puts completely unacceptable pressure on both Greenland and Denmark. Trump on Monday rejected the notion that the upcoming visit was a provocation. Despite the lack of an official invitation, he claimed that the delegation has been invited by people in Greenland.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
Back in Washington, President Trump signed a raft of executive orders yesterday, including one that could overhaul how American elections are carried out, marking a major push in executive branch influence over voting processes typically administered by states.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
The order creates new proof of citizenship requirements for those registering to vote through federal forms, enlists the DOJ and the Commissioner of Social Security to find ineligible voters, and directs federal election funding to be withheld from states that count mail-in or absentee ballots received after Election Day.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
The directive is likely to be challenged in court, and some left-leaning advocacy groups said the president lacked the authority to issue it in the first place. And in a separate order yesterday, Trump widened his retribution campaign against law firms that he perceives as enemies, stripping security clearances from lawyers at Jenner and Block and restricting them from access to federal buildings.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
The firm recently backed lawsuits challenging the administration's policies on behalf of transgender individuals and asylum seekers and has ties to Andrew Weissman. a top member of the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
The order follows moves punishing other major law firms, including Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie, and Paul Weiss, though the order against Paul Weiss was rescinded after it cut a deal with the White House to provide pro bono services to support the administration's initiatives. Coming up, we'll go inside China's efforts to challenge SpaceX as Beijing gives a boost to private rocket companies.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
That story after the break. The competition in space is heating up once more, with China's commercial space industry racing to catch up with Elon Musk's SpaceX. This year alone, at least six Chinese rockets, designed with reusability in mind, are planned to have their maiden flights.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
Journal reporter Clarence Lung told our Kate Bullivant how Beijing is injecting billions of dollars into private sector companies as it aims to create a domestic space industry that isn't dependent on Western technology.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
Eighty companies and institutes have been added to the export control list, including a U.S. affiliate of China's Inspur Group that is a large buyer of NVIDIA chips. China tech reporter Lisa Lin says the move closes loopholes that had left room for blacklisted companies to still buy U.S. technology.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
Thank you. And that's it for What's News for this Wednesday morning. Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Kate Boulivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Growing Debt, Tariffs Weigh on U.S. Outlook
A spokesman for China's foreign ministry called the U.S. action, quote, typical hegemonic behavior that severely violates international law. Ratings company Moody's is warning that America's fiscal strength is in for a multi-year decline amid the widening U.S. budget deficit and falling debt affordability. Journal reporter Caitlin McCabe has more.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Given that, Ian, I would imagine it would be extra important for Ukrainian officials for this deal to become commercially viable. Analysts, you report, estimate the potential value of those minerals could amount to trillions of dollars. But what is the outlook for those critical minerals actually entering the US supply chain eventually?
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
House Republicans squeezed through a budget blueprint late last night, with all but one GOP lawmaker backing the framework for President Trump's tax, border and spending cut agenda.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
The plan, which likely won't accommodate all of the tax reductions Trump wants, calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over a decade and will require significant cuts to Medicaid, an issue that's left House Republicans deeply divided.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
While party leaders say the blueprint doesn't specifically mention Medicaid, more than half of the cuts it targets will come from the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the program. Though its passage is a sign Republicans can deliver major legislation despite holding slim majorities in Congress, the budget plan faces a complicated path ahead.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
The Senate, which favors larger tax cuts, plans to alter the House blueprint rather than accept it. In a shake-up of American visa programs, President Trump plans to roll out a $5 million gold card visa that would allow wealthy people to buy permanent residency and potentially provide a pathway to full citizenship. Trump says the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
could sell a million gold cards and that they would enable companies like Apple to pay to get approval for highly skilled workers to live in the U.S.,
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
The new visas would replace the existing EB-5 visa that offers green cards to people who invest in the U.S., a program that has been plagued by cases of fraud, but which Journal-White House reporter Tarini Party said also enjoys strong bipartisan support in states that have benefited from it.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Ukraine agrees to a mineral rights deal with the U.S. We'll get the latest from Kyiv. Plus, House Republicans pass a budget plan overcoming disagreements on the size of proposed spending cuts. And President Trump floats a $5 million gold visa for wealthy individuals.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Währenddessen hat die Trump-Administration eine Registrierung geschaffen, in der Immigranten in den USA illegal ihre persönliche Informationen oder Fälle in der Gefängniszeit anbieten müssen. Laut Dokumenten, die im Journal gesehen wurden, würden die Immigranten, insbesondere 14 und älteren Kinder, ihre Fingerprinten und Heimatadressen anbieten müssen.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Those who fail to do so could be fined up to $5,000 and sentenced to up to six months in prison. Previously, immigrants in the country illegally were committing a civil offense and could be detained and deported, but weren't considered to have committed a crime. Coming up, investing columnist Spencer Jacobs stops by to discuss the widening gap between the expected returns for large U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
growth stocks and cheaper alternatives abroad. That and other news moving markets after the break. Amerikas biggest growth stocks have a big expensive problem, so writes the Journal's investing columnist Spencer Jacob, who's been tracking data that compares the expected returns of those stocks against cheaper alternatives. And he's here to share what that data has been turning up.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Spencer, the premise of your latest column is that there's been a bit of unusual activity in the relationship between the performance of the S&P 500 and the MSCI IFA, IFA standing for Europe, Australasia and the Far East. So broadly here, US stocks versus non-US developed market stocks. And namely, it's that this relationship lately has been trending way outside of historic norms.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Und wie Sie messen, wie teuer sie sind, hat viel zu tun mit ihren erwarteten Einkommen. Sie haben sich mit Forschungs-Affiliaten befasst, um ihre 10-Jahre-Vorgaben für ein paar verschiedene Kategorien zu schauen. Was haben Sie gefunden?
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
And Spencer, lest someone be very tempted right now to put the podcast down and go and trade on the basis of some of the analysis you've just given us. Of course, it's not always that easy and there could be factors that conspire to make this not be the winning bet over the coming decade, I'm sure.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
It's Wednesday, February 26th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The US and Ukraine have agreed to the terms of a mineral rights deal that could be signed by President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington as soon as Friday.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Spencer Jacob is the Wall Street Journal's investing columnist and he edits our Markets AM newsletter, which you can subscribe to for free at the link we've left in our show notes. Spencer, thanks so much for dropping by. Hey, thanks a lot.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Und in News Moving Markets today, US-listed shares in Budweiser Brewer AB InBev are sharply higher in off-hours trading, after it reported growth in its US market share on the backs of its Michelob Ultra and Bush Light brands. The company's global results left more to be desired, though, as fourth-quarter sales volumes fell, dragged by lingering weakness in China.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Copper prices are rising after White House officials said the US would investigate imposing global import tariffs on the metal. Senior administration officials said the probe was necessary to spur domestic production, but declined to say how high the tariffs could be or when they could be imposed.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
And on deck today, Lowe's and TJ Maxx-Owner TJX Companies are reporting earnings this morning with Salesforce and NVIDIA following this afternoon. And the Commerce Department will release new home sales figures for January at 10 a.m. Eastern. And that's it for What's News for this Wednesday morning.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Bullivant with supervising producer Christina Rocca. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening. Bis zum nächsten Mal.
WSJ What’s News
Inside the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral-Rights Deal
Zelensky had said for months Ukraine's allies could have access to the country's mineral resources, but that an agreement would need to include security guarantees. So how does the final deal measure up? I asked Journal foreign correspondent Ian Lovett.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
In terms of, I mean, we can look back to Trump's first term for an example of how these similar tariffs went into effect. And you did see a lot of countries end up, as you alluded to, they're getting exclusions or seeing their products put under duty-free quotas. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Japan.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
South Korea, the EU and the UK, among others, this time around, the White House is saying we're not going to do that. Those were loopholes effectively that let Chinese steel into the US. And assuming that is the case, I'm curious how the global production landscape has for these metals has changed since Trump's first term.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
Have they in a way that might alter how these American measures go into effect?
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
As we look to the US, Nicole, which industries would we be most likely to see affected by these tariffs? I know automakers may be one of them. We've already seen them hit by the tariffs on Mexico and Canada. What else is worth watching?
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
The EU hits back as U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs kick in. We'll look at how President Trump's latest trade moves will impact the global metals market. Plus, Ireland's tariff fears threaten to overshadow St. Patrick's Day festivities at the White House. And voters in Greenland slow walk independence as Washington sizes up the territory's minerals.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
Nicole Vogt is the Global Metals co-lead at Boston Consulting Group. Nicole, thank you so much for being with us on What's News. Thank you for having me. And we're already hearing from some major U.S. trading partners on their response to these overnight tariffs.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
The EU says starting April 1st, it'll place duties on around $28 billion in American products, including bourbon whiskey, boats, and motorcycles, but stressed it was open to negotiation. Australia, meanwhile, isn't retaliating, with its prime minister saying that trade tensions are economic self-harm that'll be paid for by consumers.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
It's Wednesday, March 12th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. 25% U.S. tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports went into effect at midnight.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
Instead, he's pursuing a tariff exemption, which Trump had said he was considering given that Australia trades at a deficit with the U.S. Coming up, Greenlanders reject moves toward a quick independence in the face of Trump's threats to take over the island and Irish officials hope to charm their U.S. counterparts during tax and trade talks at the White House later today.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
We've got those stories and more after the break. Well, tariffs aside, a key economic data point could move markets today. The February Consumer Price Index, which will reveal whether Fed officials and the Trump administration have been able to turn the tide on inflation.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
Ahead of those figures, WSJ's Take on the Week co-host Telus Demos asked Morgan Stanley's chief global economist Seth Carpenter where we are in the fight against price pressures. and what that could mean for the Fed's rate trajectory.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
And to hear that full conversation, check out the latest episode of WSJ's Take on the Week, wherever you get your podcasts. Returning to Washington, House Republicans have narrowly passed a proposal to fund the government into the fall, setting up a fight to get the measure passed in the Senate ahead of a Friday deadline and avert a government shutdown.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
Republicans said their funding plan would clear the way for the GOP to move ahead with President Trump's agenda of tax cuts, spending reductions, and border security, which they're hoping to pass into law later this year.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
They'll need Democratic support to advance this week's spending bill, but Democrats have painted the proposal as an effort by Republicans to hand more congressional power over federal spending to Trump and Elon Musk rather than continuing with bipartisan negotiations. And one of the things potentially on the line in the congressional budget is Medicaid.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
The program is mainly for low-income Americans, but deep cuts could affect state budgets and health care more broadly. And we want to know what questions you have. Send a voice memo to WNPOD at WSJ.com or leave a voicemail with your name and location at 212-416-4328. And we just might use it on the show.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
The Education Department is cutting its workforce by roughly half ahead of President Trump's expected executive order aimed at dismantling the federal agency. As part of a reduction in force notice, the department said it will shed almost 2,000 jobs, including more than 1,300 federal workers, through cuts, buyouts, and resignations.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
The measures bear similarity to 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs that President Trump embraced in his first term and aims to address what Trump and his team say is an unfair global steel trade in which foreign government subsidies and other trade barriers allow countries to sell steel to American customers cheaper than U.S.-made metals.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
Senior department officials said full teams whose operations are seen as redundant or unnecessary are being cut, and those employees will receive full pay and benefits for 90 days, followed by severance pay based on their years of service.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
The officials said the cuts would affect every part of the department, but that the changes wouldn't affect department functions such as delivering federal student aid. Voters in Greenland have opted for a slower move toward independence from Denmark, backing a party that focuses on domestic issues and rejects a closer relationship with the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
Security correspondent Suna Rasmussen says the center-right Democrats claimed an upset victory in the country's parliamentary elections, which were called early in the face of President Trump's threats to take control of the island.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
Last week, Trump told a joint session of Congress that he thought the U.S. was going to bring Greenland under its control one way or the other, with promises on social media to invest billions of dollars into the country's economy. And finally, Ireland's leaders will need all the luck they can get when they head to the White House today for annual St. Patrick's Day celebrations.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
The festive occasion usually involves green-colored fountains, shamrocks, and Guinness. But as the journal's Chelsea Delaney explains, this year's meeting comes as the Emerald Isles' record $87 billion trade surplus with the U.S., only smaller than those of China, Mexico, and Vietnam, and driven by a surge in pharmaceutical exports, make it a likely tariff target.
WSJ What’s News
Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Push Up U.S. Steel Prices
So what effect will the new tariffs have on America's trading partners and its domestic manufacturers? Nicole Vogt is a managing director at Boston Consulting Group and the firm's Global Metals co-lead. Nicole, what does this U.S. action mean for steel producers around the world?
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Speaking only, Jason, about the impact of trade volumes, we saw a projection today from Capital Economics about Chinese exports and just there are some potentially massive changes coming.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
We'll look at how America's trade partners, central banks and investors are responding as U.S. treasuries sell off, plus the rest of the day's headlines. It's Wednesday, April 9th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Reciprocal U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Kim, the tariff rates are really highest for many of the Asian countries that Jason was just mentioning, but the outlook fundamentally is no better in the EU, is it?
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Yeah. Future tariffs, including those that could hit pharmaceutical products. President Trump saying yesterday those levies could be coming very shortly.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Kim, these reciprocal tariffs are kicking in today despite some pretty active tariff diplomacy that's been undertaken by a number of countries. We actually heard from U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer about this yesterday. He was testifying on Capitol Hill.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Kim, we had the EU Parliament's Trade Committee chair on last Friday's podcast. He's actually part of the delegation in Washington this week, offering concessions, potentially, while also pledging to hit back against the U.S. Take us into this strategy.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
President Trump cheers on his trade agenda as reciprocal tariffs kick in.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Kim, in terms of what the EU is voting on today, these countermeasures targeting the U.S., they're getting pretty granular, are they not, in terms of what they might be targeting or sparing?
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Jason, in our final moments, how does that EU approach compare with what we've been seeing from some of the major Asian economies?
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
tariffs on nearly 100 countries are officially in effect. As of a minute after midnight, U.S. duties now stand at their highest level since before World War II, with the likes of China now facing tariffs of 104 percent.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Journal reporter Jason Douglas is in Singapore, and Kim McRaehl is in Brussels. Jason, Kim, thank you both so much. Thanks.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Checking in on what those tariffs have meant for stock markets this morning, shares in Japan and Korea slid ahead of the close, with European shares also broadly lower in midday trading. But most surprising is a sell-off in the usual safe haven U.S. Treasuries, which has been gathering steam. Instead of rising in response to the stock market sell-off, prices of long-term U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
debt are falling, driving bond yields higher. Markets reporter Chelsea Delaney says the trade turmoil is making investors reconsider their U.S. investments.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
The investor nervousness around holding treasuries has kicked up a notch ahead of government auctions of 10-year notes today and 30-year bonds tomorrow. Coming up, we've got the rest of the day's headlines, including a big IMF bailout for Argentina and a White House led effort to boost American coal. Those stories and more after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
The International Monetary Fund has agreed to provide Argentina with a new $20 billion loan, which, if approved, would boost President Javier Millet's free market overhaul. The U.S. is the biggest shareholder of the IMF, with the Trump administration holding significant influence over the approval of new financing programs.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
No region of the world is being spared, though many Southeast Asian nations are hardest hit, with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia on the receiving end of tariff hikes north of 45 percent, moves likely to upend supply chains, dent growth forecasts and ripple through to consumers in the form of higher prices.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Millet has praised Trump and drawn close to Elon Musk while moving to align Argentina's foreign policy with Washington. Argentina is the country most in debt to the IMF, and the new loan would be on top of a current $40 billion bailout Argentina received following the 2018 financial crisis.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
President Trump has signed a series of executive orders aimed at expanding the production and use of coal in the U.S. after years of decline.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Analysts and executives say it's unlikely new coal plants will be built in the U.S., though some operators may delay plans to wind down existing plants if Trump rolls back certain environmental regulations. Energy experts say any boost for coal is likely to be temporary, as renewables like wind and solar farms and gas-fired power plants are significantly cheaper alternatives.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has frozen more than a billion dollars in federal funding for Cornell University and $790 million for Northwestern University.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
That is according to a Trump administration official and comes as the federal government is investigating both schools for alleged civil rights violations, part of a rapidly expanding crackdown on elite research universities across the U.S.,
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
A Northwestern University spokesman said the school hasn't received any official notification about the freeze, while the president of Cornell said in a letter that the university hadn't received information confirming the $1 billion figure, but had received more than 75 stop-work orders from the Department of Defense related to national defense, cybersecurity, and health research.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
And a federal judge has ordered the White House to restore the Associated Press's access to presidential events, saying the decision to limit AP's access violated the news organization's free speech rights.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
AP sued in February after its journalists were barred from the White House press pool because the outlet refused to change its style guidance for the Gulf of Mexico, which President Trump renamed the Gulf of America. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. And despite yesterday's ruling, AP journalists weren't permitted to join the press pool on Tuesday evening.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
And on such a consequential day for global trade, it's fitting we've got a pair of journal reporters with us this morning from opposite ends of the world. Kim McRae is in Brussels and Jason Douglas is in Singapore.
WSJ What’s News
Bonds Sell Off as New U.S. Tariffs Upend Global Trade
Jason, you have been putting out a number of big reports in recent days, reckoning with the enormity of the changes coming to the global trade system, a new reality that is now very much upon us.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
So what did the record hour and 40 minute address tell us about what's in store? WSJ economic policy reporter Brian Schwartz said more protectionism.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Speaking after a volatile day of trading in which the S&P 500 closed below its final election day level as US tariffs went into effect on Mexico, Canada and China, Trump acknowledged that retaliatory measures, especially those from China targeting American farmers, could trigger an adjustment period, but he defended the necessity of continuing his approach.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Trump filled in some additional details about so-called reciprocal tariffs, saying the measures to equalize US duties with the tariff and non-tariff barriers imposed by other nations would be imposed on April 2nd, though administration officials have told industry groups they could take six months or more to fully implement.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Well, Brian said Trump was equally enthusiastic about continuing the hunt for cuts to the government budget, even as top House Republicans urged GOP lawmakers to stop holding in-person town halls after confrontations with constituents and Democratic activists over government layoffs and feared Medicaid cuts went viral.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Präsident Trump verteidigt seine Handels- und Regierungsagenda und eine unabhängige Anmerkung an den Kongress. Und wir fangen gerade an. Plus, Commerce Secretary Howard Ludnick hints at a looming deal to reduce tariffs on Canada and Mexico. And China sets a strong growth target and doubles down on homegrown AI. It's Wednesday, March 5th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
In a speech that has traditionally served as a White House wish list for congressional action, Trump did present some specifics. He called for a repeal of the 2022 CHIPS Act, which pumped billions of dollars into domestic semiconductor development and manufacturing, and which was backed by 17 Republicans in the Senate and 24 in the House.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Trump hat auch die Gesetzgeber gefragt, große neue Ressourcen in den Bord zu versorgen. Und er hat die Anrufe geäußert, große neue Taxikosten zu sehen, aufgrund von extenderen, ausländischen, Schritte, die die Revenue von 2 Trillionen Dollar über eine Dekade weiter reduzieren könnten.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Diese letzte Anrufung könnte die GOP-Effekte komplizieren, um auf eine bereits sprachlose Taxibille zu stimmen, unter konservativen Sorgen über solche großen Steuern ohne entsprechende Reduktionen in der Spende. Damian told us that debate in Congress is likely to become a major theme to watch in the second half
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Und als für ein Politik-Domain, das in der Präsidenten-Kurse, Forum-Polizei, square ist, hat Damien gesagt, dass Trump einige der mehr bombastischen Kommentare, die er in den letzten Wochen gemacht hat, zurückgeleitet hat.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
And before we move on, we should point out that after Trump's address to Congress, Commerce Secretary Howard Ludnick spoke to reporters and said the administration could announce a deal today to reduce, though not eliminate, tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He added that the agreement could include increased border security, but the details were still being discussed.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Coming up, China shrugs off looming trade tensions as it targets yet another year of 5% economic growth. And our AI editor drops by to discuss the race to stop AI chatbots from hallucinating. Those stories and more after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
China hat seine 2025-Growth-Target bei rund 5 Prozent gesetzt, das gleiche wie letztes Jahr, signalisierend, dass es seine Ökonomie erwarten würde, um den steigenden Handelsdruck aus Washington abzuhalten. Es hat auch eine Deficit-Target von rund 4 Prozent der GDP gesetzt, die höchst in Jahren, was zeigt, dass mehr Stimulus vielleicht auf dem Weg ist, um ihre flaggierende Ökonomie zu starten.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
WSJ-Tech-Reporter Raphael Huang sagt, dass China auch seine ökonomischen Ziele zu erhöhten Ereignissen zu erreichen, insbesondere in der KI.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
And in other business and markets news, the Senate has voted to repeal a Biden-era rule that would have required decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges to report their customers' transactions to the Internal Revenue Service as of tax year 2027. The 70-27 vote delivers a bipartisan victory to the crypto industry, teeing up the measures to be signed into law soon.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
And here is the AM edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
And we're exclusively reporting that Goldman Sachs is preparing its annual round of layoffs and this time is focusing on its vice presidents. According to people familiar with the matter, Goldman CEO David Solomon told senior executives that the firm hired too many VPs in recent years in relation to its overall hiring. About three to five percent of the firm's workforce is expected to be cut.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
And as tech industry leaders continue to meet at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, artificial intelligence has unsurprisingly been in focus. But as journal AI editor Ben Fritz reports, AI's utility, especially in sensitive corporate or legal contexts, is being held back by the seeming inability of chatbots to admit, I don't know, when presented with difficult questions.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
It's a lesson that Ben found out when he asked, who am I married to?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Und als ein relativ kleines Problem verabschiedet, hat Ben gesagt, dass Forscher ständig Fixationen durchführen, obwohl die Arbeit schwierig ist.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
In his first major speech since the inauguration, President Trump told a joint session of Congress last night that his agenda, which he described as swift and unrelenting and which has included an immigration crackdown, cuts to the federal workforce and stiff tariffs on imports, had already succeeded in revitalizing America's momentum. Gone were appeals to unity.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Und für viel mehr über diese Bemühungen, AI-Halluzinationen zu beenden, sowie andere Dispatches aus der ganzen Kutting-Edge der Artificial Intelligence-Welt, können die Journal-Subscriber den WSJs-Spezialreport auf What's Ahead for AI schauen. Wir haben einen Link dazu in unseren Show Notes gelegt. And that's it for What's News for this Wednesday morning.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Today's show was produced by Kate Boulevent and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rocca. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Defends Tariffs, Budget Cuts in No-Apologies Address
Trump attacked Democrats as radical left lunatics and blamed former President Joe Biden for the country's problems. At multiple points, Democrats broke out in boos. And just seven minutes into the speech, Democratic Representative Al Green of Texas was escorted out after rising from his seat and shouting at the president, prompting an intervention by House Speaker Mike Johnson.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
And we do know, Maya, 15 countries are likely to be targeted here, just a few out of the whole world. And yet there could be some massive economies directly affected here with repercussions for a big chunk of global trade.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Namely, to go after the services sector, right, taking this beyond goods.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
And we'll look at a potential TikTok takeover deal just days ahead of a deadline to sell the platform or shut it down. It's Wednesday, April 2nd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. We are mere hours away from the announcement of new U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
A bit of a messy outlook there. What does that mean for markets? Small stocks, for instance, on the Russell 2000 have been suffering more than other corners of at least the U.S. markets lately.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Investors hold their breath ahead of President Trump's long-awaited tariff announcement later today. Plus, a liberal judge wins the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin in a rebuke of Trump and Elon Musk.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Maya Bandari is the chief investment officer for multi-asset EMEA at asset manager Neuberger Berman. Maya, thank you so much for joining us on What's News.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Voters in Wisconsin have elected liberal judge Susan Crawford to a seat on the battleground state's Supreme Court, cementing its four to three liberal majority. The result could suggest a voter pushback against President Trump 10 weeks after his inauguration and deals a blow to Elon Musk, who, along with groups tied to him, spent at least $20 million to support Crawford's conservative opponent.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Here was Crawford after her victory.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Meanwhile, in Florida yesterday, Republicans Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine won a pair of special House elections, though the results in traditionally deep red congressional districts were closer than expected. The win bolsters the GOP's majority in the House of Representatives to 220 to 213.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Well, back in Washington, New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker set a record for the longest speech in Senate history after wrapping up 25-plus hours of remarks in protest of the president's actions.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
The speech, which attracted cable news attention and was spliced into clips for TikTok, comes as Democrats struggle over whether and how to resist Trump and rebuild their brand, a challenge that Booker acknowledged after leaving the Senate floor.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
tariffs, which President Trump is set to unveil at a White House press conference after the close of markets. We report that so-called reciprocal tariffs are expected and that whatever measures are announced will take effect immediately, though the precise contours of the likely sweeping announcement remain under wraps.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
We are exclusively reporting that the Trump administration is trying to strike agreements with several more countries to take in migrants deported from the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Officials say the desired model would be similar to a deal struck with Panama in February, in which over 100 migrants, mostly from the Middle East, were sent there for detention and processing in order to be sent back to their home countries.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Some countries have been slow to take back their nationals or simply refuse to, leading the administration to explore whether the likes of Libya, Rwanda, Benin, Eswatini, Moldova, Mongolia, and Kosovo would take in migrants, possibly in exchange for financial arrangements. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is rapidly expanding its forces in the Middle East as the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
military continues air strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen and looks to put pressure on Iran. In recent days, President Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if Tehran doesn't agree to a deal to roll back its nuclear program. Two officials said the deployments aren't preparation for an imminent attack on Iran, but rather to bolster the U.S. campaign in Yemen.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Iran has provided arms and training to the Houthis, who've been attacking ships transiting the Red Sea and nearby sea lanes. President Trump will be briefed today on a potential deal to keep TikTok operational ahead of a pending U.S. deadline to sell it or shut it down.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
That's according to people familiar with the matter who said that cloud computing company Oracle, along with several others, would join with existing U.S. investors to make an offer to TikTok owner ByteDance. Blackstone is among the investors in talks to potentially participate in the deal.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
The exact value of TikTok and the size of investments are expected to be ironed out in later negotiations once the general structure is agreed upon, though journal reporter Raphael Huang says the deal could still face extended delays or even fall apart.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
And we are exclusively reporting that Visa is offering Apple roughly $100 million to operate the tech giant's co-branded credit card, which is up for grabs as Goldman Sachs exits consumer lending. Apple is expected to select a network before it picks the bank to replace Goldman, a competition pitting Visa against incumbent MasterCard as well as American Express.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
According to Journal Reporting, Visa offered a similar upfront payment when Costco was selecting a network for its credit card about a decade ago. And that's it for What's News for this Wednesday morning. Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Well, as we await the news, we've got Maya Bondari with us to preview the coming trading day and beyond. She is the chief investment officer for multi-asset EMEA at asset manager Neuberger Berman. Maya, we half expected that by this point we would have a sense of what was going to be announced today. Alas, as it stands, we don't.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Investors Hold Their Breath as Trump Tariffs Loom
Could you read the tea leaves, though, a bit on what might be coming?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Administration officials say President Trump was frustrated by the episode and directed ire at Waltz, though it wasn't immediately clear if he'd move to oust him. Beyond representing a breach of security protocols, the chat exposed policy differences within the administration and candid views about U.S. allies. Vance, in particular, was skeptical of striking the Houthis, given that little U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
trade passes through the Suez Canal and that the move would benefit Europe far more, saying, quote, I just hate bailing Europe out again. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom were included in the signal chat, are set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee at 10 a.m. Eastern.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
We are exclusively reporting that Boeing is looking to withdraw from an earlier agreement to plead guilty in a long-running criminal case that blamed the company for deceiving regulators before two deadly crashes of its 737 MAX jets.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
According to people familiar with the matter, the aerospace giant is seeking more lenient treatment from the Justice Department after pleading guilty during the Biden administration. Journal aviation reporter Ben Katz says Boeing is hoping to benefit from the Trump administration's announcement that it's reviewing numerous criminal cases at the DOJ.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Plus, Boeing eyes a chance to withdraw from a Biden-era guilty plea deal, and Canadians get cold feet about traveling to the U.S. It's Tuesday, March 25th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Boeing and the Justice Department declined to comment. Coming up, Beijing releases employees of U.S. firm Mintz Group as it looks to encourage more foreign investment. Plus, the rest of the day's news after the break. China has released all detained employees of U.S. due diligence firm Mintz Group, marking the end of a two-year saga that unnerved American businesses operating in the country.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
The detention of five Mintz employees, all Chinese nationals, after a March 2023 raid of its offices in Beijing sent shockwaves across foreign businesses.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Group chat drama Royals Washington after top officials accidentally led a journalist in on sensitive war plans.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
That's China tech reporter Lisa Lin, who says the release comes amid a wider push from Beijing to attract foreign investment.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Samsung's co-CEO and the head of its consumer electronics business has died from a heart attack with no immediate successor yet named. The news comes amid a slump in business for the South Korean tech giant that leaders have called a crisis.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Samsung makes everything from smartphones to washing machines and televisions, and is also a major components supplier to other tech firms, but has stumbled during the AI boom, with shares tumbling about 22 percent over the past year. In other market news today, the Conference Board will release its Consumer Confidence Index for March at 10 a.m. Eastern.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Two housing market reports are also due out this morning, including the Commerce Department's look at new home sales data for February and earnings from one-time meme stock GameStop are expected after the market close.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Meanwhile, a pair of judges are challenging the president's efforts to deport some Venezuelan migrants, saying they weren't given a meaningful chance to challenge their designations as gang members before being whisked to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The administration has cited 1798's Alien Enemies Act to rapidly remove alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Yesterday, one U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
We begin in Washington following revelations that senior national security officials in the Trump administration discussed highly classified war plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen using a non-government messaging service and mistakenly included a journalist in the conversation. The chats over the encrypted Signal app included Vice President J.D.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
district judge denied an administration request to dissolve his temporary restraining order halting deportations, while a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge said there was clear precedent for allowing those designated as enemies of the U.S. to challenge that determination, noting that, quote, Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act than has happened here, end quote.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Those comments from Judge Patricia Millett referenced when the law was invoked in the Second World War. A Justice Department lawyer disputed that analogy and called the district court's restraining order an unprecedented intrusion upon the president's war and foreign policy powers. And Canadians are boycotting U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
travel in response to President Trump's proposed tariffs, aggressive border tactics, and threats of annexation. According to Statistics Canada, Canadians returned from 13% fewer trips by air to the U.S. in February than they did a year ago, while land crossings from the U.S. dropped 23%. The decline threatens to upend local U.S. economies, according to the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Travel Association Trade Group, as even a 10% reduction in Canadian travel could mean $2 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses. And that's it for What's News for this Tuesday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and others. The existence of the chats was first reported by The Atlantic, whose editor Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently included in the discussion, and a National Security Council spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the messages. Journal National Security Correspondent Michael Gordon has more.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
However, his comments come as multiple European leaders are trying to steer Trump closer to their position on how to end the war. For instance, five European countries abstained on that UN Security Council resolution about Ukraine yesterday, which didn't blame Moscow for the war.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
Und wie Journalist Thomas Grove hier zu diskutieren ist, aufgrund dieser Unterschiede in der Meinung, sind die westlichen Zeitlinien für das Ende der Krieg auf einem Kurs mit dem russischen Präsidenten Wladimir Putin. Thomas, Sie berichten, dass Putin die Erde für unendliche Gespräche, unendliche Negotiierungen, vorbereitet.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
Erzähl uns ein bisschen mehr darüber, wie jeder Seite diese Friedensnegotiierungen sieht.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
Right. And another thing I imagine Russia won't be happy about is some of the reporting we've had in the last few days that the French and British are looking at plans to deploy European peacekeepers to Ukraine once a deal is struck. It's funny.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
Just given the potentially long timeline for a peace agreement here and the fact, as you report, Russia plans to use its upper hand on the battlefield to its advantage, do we have a sense of how long it will last? Ukraine might be able to sustain its war effort without further US aid?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
Die USA steigen die Sanktionen auf, um iranische Öl zu targetieren, plus Tesla-Sales in Europa. Und während Präsident Trump für einen schnellen Ende der Krieg in der Ukraine drückt, hat Moskau andere Ideen.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
And I guess another major question here to wrap things up is that the US has a role to play in all of this, perhaps in speeding talks up, trying to hold Russia to account if they appear to be dragging their feet. According to the folks you've spoken to, what is the assessment of sort of the American leverage that exists here to try to dictate the timetable?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
I've been speaking to Wall Street Journal correspondent Thomas Grove in Warsaw. Thomas, thank you so much. Thank you. Coming up, the rest of the day's news, including new sanctions targeting Iranian oil and a drop in Tesla's sales in Europe. Those stories and more after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
The US is ratcheting up sanctions targeting Iran's oil supply chain, continuing the Trump administration's campaign to effectively blockade the country's petroleum exports. That's according to the Treasury Department, which has announced new sanctions on more than 30 entities, individuals and vessels connected with Iran's so-called shadow fleet.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
Dies betrifft Ölverkäufer in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten und Hongkong, Tanker-Operatoren und Managern in China und den Vorsitzenden des iranischen staatlichen Ölverkaufs. Präsident Trumps Policies sind für die Entfernung iranischer Exporten ausgeschlossen, mit einer Memo, die dieses Monat vorgesehen wurde, die Begründung macht, dass Schiffen in China vorgesehen sind.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
Iran sagt, dass die US-Maximum-Pressur-Kampagne kohärent ist und internationale Regeln verurteilt. A representative for Iran's mission to the UN in New York didn't respond to a request for comment.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
In News that could move markets today, Tesla's sales in Europe fell 45% last month, according to data from the European Carmakers Association, with the EV maker selling fewer than 1,300 new vehicles in Germany, Europe's largest market.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
European Autos Reporter Steven Wilmot writes this morning that CEO Elon Musk's support for German far-right party AFD in this weekend's elections could be one reason for the pullback, alongside a hangover from high sales the previous month and a revamp of the Model Y. We'll leave a link to that analysis in our show notes.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
We are exclusively reporting that Anthropic, the startup behind AI-Chatbot Claude, is finalizing a new funding round that values the company at $61.5 billion.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
According to people familiar with the matter, Anthropic initially set out to raise $2 billion, but was able to increase that to $3.5 billion during talks with investors, showing how eager investors are to back promising AI firms, despite the disruptive arrival of China's DeepSeek. Unilever-CEO Hein Schumacher steigt in weniger als zwei Jahren nach dem Top-Roll am Konsum-Gut-Giant.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
Er wird von Finanzchef Fernando Fernandez gewechselt. Die Überraschung kommt in der Mitte eines großen Umgangs, um Kosten zu steigern und Volumen-Große zu steigern, während man Profit-Margen erweitert. US-Dockworkers are expected to ratify a new labor contract that manufacturers hope will avert the prospect of more paralyzing strikes at East and Gulf Coast ports through 2030.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
The deal secures a 62% pay increase and full protection against automation for workers, while allowing companies to more quickly modernize American ports and blunt some of the costs of that wage increase. And on deck today, earnings from Home Depot and Keurig Dr. Pepper are due out this morning, with fresh consumer confidence data set for release at 10 a.m. Eastern.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
It's Tuesday, February 25th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal and here is the AM edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. We begin with the latest efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Yesterday, the US joined Russia and China in backing a Washington-drafted UN Security Council resolution that called for a swift end to the conflict.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
And finally, we've talked here before about the AI race driving huge power demand as data centers scramble for available electricity. And as a result, power stocks and particularly nuclear power stocks emerged as some of Wall Street's biggest winners last year. But after those major run-ups, is that nuclear power trade over? And what do investors need to know about owning nuclear power stocks?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
How would you describe the right way to think about those stocks at this point?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
And for much more on what you should know about artificial intelligence and the nuclear power trade, check out the latest episode of WSJ's Take on the Week, wherever you get your podcasts. And that's it for What's News for this Tuesday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Boulevent and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rocca. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Wants a Quick Ukraine Deal. Putin Has Other Ideas.
And in comments alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House, President Trump made it clear that he's expecting diplomatic progress soon.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Our next test of Trump's commitment to his trade policy will come tomorrow. Our colleague Gavin Bade in Washington reporting that the administration so far is signaling there'll be no reprieve from steel and aluminum tariffs, 25% for each, that are set to go into effect on Wednesday.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Though I guess, Alex, the real test will be whether that commitment holds up should we see markets react again like they did yesterday. What's the sense here a little bit before the open?
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
In terms of helping to price in that change, we'll get a few data points this week that could make that a bit easier.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Alex Frankos, Journal Finance Editor for Europe. Thanks so much for dropping by. Thanks, Luke. In other market news today, Japan's economy grew at a slower pace than initially estimated in the fourth quarter of last year, amid concerns that President Trump's economic policies could further dent the country's recovery. Japan's Trade Minister Yoji Muto traveled to D.C.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
this week, but failed to win an immediate exemption from Trump's tariff campaign. Tesla shares continued their slide in off-hours trading after notching their worst day since 2020.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Global markets try to shake off yesterday's down day on Wall Street as fears about the U.S. economy mount. Plus, as Tesla's stock skids, Elon Musk admits his work in Washington is making it hard to focus on his businesses. And we'll get the latest as the U.S. and Ukraine try to mend ties and pave the way for peace talks with Russia.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Disappointing sales data and investor apprehension over Elon Musk's role in the Trump administration have erased Tesla's post-election gains, with shares down more than 45 percent this year and more than 36 percent over the past month.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
In an interview on Fox Business Network's Kudlow, host Larry Kudlow asked Musk about the pressure of running the Department of Government Efficiency alongside his other work. I mean, how are you running your other businesses? With great difficulty.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
On Monday, UBS lowered its first quarter delivery forecast for the electric vehicle maker amid a drop in European deliveries, with environmentally minded buyers increasingly shying away from the brand. And shares in Delta Airlines have slid in off-hours trading after the airline lowered its outlook, citing reduced consumer and corporate confidence, particularly in domestic travel.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Airline shares have tumbled in recent weeks, as industry analysts said the uncertain economic outlook would likely have a chilling effect on consumers' willingness to make vacation plans. Several other airlines will provide updates later today. Coming up, we'll head to Saudi Arabia, where high level talks between U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
It's Tuesday, March 11th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Markets across Asia and Europe are attempting to find their footing today after yesterday's big slides on Wall Street, as concerns grow about the U.S. economy tipping into a recession.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
and Ukrainian officials are taking place, with both sides hoping for a reset in relations. That story and more after the break. Top American and Ukrainian officials are meeting as we speak in Saudi Arabia for talks about a potential peace process to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The Journal's Michael Gordon is attending those talks in Jeddah. Michael, the last time the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
and Ukraine met face-to-face, it didn't end well. This is that combative encounter in the Oval Office between Trump and Zelensky late last month. What is the atmosphere like there today?
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
In terms of Ukraine's negotiating position here, that White House meeting we've been talking about ended with Trump really berating Zelensky for not being committed to a peace to end the war with Russia. And yet Ukraine coming to the table today, possibly offering a ceasefire. That sounds like a key distinction.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Given what we've seen about how Secretary of State Rubio fits into the broader Trump administration, Michael, do we get the sense that if, for instance, there's a positive outcome from today's meeting, that that necessarily means President Trump is on board?
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
I've been speaking to Wall Street Journal National Security Correspondent Michael Gordon in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this morning. Michael, thank you so much for the update. Thank you. Philippine authorities have arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte on a warrant from the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity during his so-called war on drugs.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Economists are increasingly gloomy, with JPMorgan Chase bumping up the possibility of a recession this year to 40 percent from 30 percent at the start of the year. while a team at Goldman Sachs put those odds at 20 percent on Friday, but noted that number could go up if the Trump administration sticks to its policies, even as data worsens.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Human rights groups say more than 12,000 people were killed in anti-drug operations during Duterte's six years in office, when police and state-backed vigilantes violently targeted anyone even loosely suspected of selling drugs. Duterte's arrest marks a rare triumph for the ICC, which has struggled to get states to act on its warrants.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
We are exclusively reporting that Washington and Beijing are considering a potential birthday summit in the U.S. between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in June. The two leaders' birthdays are just one day apart on June 14 and 15, respectively. Nothing has been firmed up yet, and both the White House and the Chinese embassy declined to comment on the plans.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
But people familiar with Beijing's thinking say leadership there has a strong interest in negotiations with Trump to fend off or at least slow down additional tariff hikes and technology restrictions from the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
And speaking of the great power rivalry between the world's top two economies, we've been working on a special series about how Beijing is using its trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure program to undercut American dominance on the world stage. All three episodes of Building Influence are available now on the What's News feed, and we'd love to link to them in our show notes.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
And that's it for What's News for this Tuesday morning. Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Boulivant with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Musk Admits ‘Difficulty’ Running Businesses Amid DOGE Work
Journal finance editor for Europe Alex Frangos joins me now. And Alex, we are seeing the administration doing just that.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
All right, this yuan strategy, as you mentioned, could help boost Chinese exports. Is it also part of a strategy to support stock prices within the country?
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
Alex, we are seeing in Hong Kong, in Shanghai, a recovery in markets in the 1% to 2% range today, though more profound is what's occurring over in Japan, the Nikkei up around 6%. Are we seeing markets, at least just using the Asian snapshot here, finding a floor of sorts?
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
In morning trading, European stocks are following Asia higher as are US futures, with contracts tied to the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all making gains off hours. Meanwhile, businesses are trying to navigate the new tariff landscape, with some, including Apple, reportedly looking to shift their supply chain and source more iPhones from India.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
According to people familiar with the matter, that's a temporary stopgap to offset the high tariffs on China. Peter Landers is our Asia corporate news editor and says businesses are looking for solutions that can limit price increases.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
That said, a new report commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation says many American companies plan to hold on to or even increase their ties with China. And as Peter explains, that's because changing supply chains is a lot easier said than done.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
Beijing pledges more countermeasures if President Trump follows through on a threat for an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods. Plus, global equities regain ground after yesterday's market whiplash.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
And we'll get an update from the U.S. 's unusually quiet southern border. It's Tuesday, April 8th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. China is vowing to fight until the end in response to new U.S.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
In other news from Washington, the Supreme Court has lifted a block on the deportation of suspected Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. The 5-4 ruling allows the Trump administration to keep expediting removals under the 18th Century Alien Enemies Act, though the court said that detainees were entitled to an opportunity to challenge their deportation before a federal judge in Texas.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
In a separate move, Chief Justice John Roberts agreed last night to pause a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to return a Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador by mistake. The administration has conceded that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should not have been sent to El Salvador because an immigration judge found he'd likely face persecution by local gangs.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
However, they say he's no longer in U.S. custody and the government has no way to get him back. Abrego Garcia's lawyers panned Roberts' move for enabling the executive branch to violate court orders and then, quote, invoke the separation of powers to insulate its unlawful actions from judicial scrutiny. And the U.S. and Iran have agreed to hold high-stakes talks on Tehran's nuclear program.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
Officials from both sides are expected to meet in Oman on Saturday, with President Trump suggesting he could take military action if no deal is reached.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
The talks will test Trump's ability to roll back Iran's nuclear program that's left it closer than ever to a workable weapon. Coming up, journal correspondent Kajal Vyas will take us to the normally bustling U.S.-Mexico border where an eerie quiet has set in. That's after the break. Two and a half months into the Trump presidency, what's the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border?
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
The journal's Kajal Vyas recently traveled to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas, to check in on migration trends, as well as the flow of goods between the two countries, which was valued at more than $800 billion last year. And Kajal joins me now with more. Kajal, before we talk trade, let's discuss border security and illegal crossings, a big focus for the president.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reports there were just over 7,000 encounters by law enforcement at the southwest border last month compared to nearly 190,000 the same month last year. It sounds like a lot has changed.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
tariffs, a day after President Trump threatened to raise duties on Chinese goods by an additional 50 percent. That pledge is cementing expectations that Beijing and Washington are set for a deepening trade war. And within China, it's beginning to lead to a shift in monetary policy as the country seeks to boost exports and prop up domestic markets.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
You, in your reporting, sort of described a bit of a beehive of law enforcement activity on both sides of the border. Tell us a bit more about what you saw.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
Okay, border crackdown really on both sides of the border. Tell us about the trade environment. Folks who've been down there before will know just how much infrastructure, particularly on the Mexican side, there is to facilitate cross-border trade. What are you seeing there on the business front?
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
And I guess Mexican cooperation on migration isn't a given either, especially if the trade relationship were to meaningfully sour.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
I've been speaking to Wall Street Journal South America correspondent Kajal Vyas. Kajal, thank you so much for the update. Thank you. And that's it for What's News for this Tuesday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Bullivant with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show.
WSJ What’s News
China Vows to Fight U.S. Tariffs ‘To The End’
Here with more is Journal finance editor for Europe, Alex Frangos. Alex, we report China is now easing its grip on the yuan. Walk us through what exactly is going on here.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
Mexico, meanwhile, has yet to respond. But markets aren't waiting to react, as investors reckon with how substantial a trade fight is in store. And here to recap what is already a very busy trading day, I'm joined by Journal Finance Editor for Europe, Alex Frangos. Alex, what reaction are we seeing from various corners of the market to these tariffs? Has anything stood out to you?
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
How safe are bonds? And is that the only safe haven that we can see?
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
We see the chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase, Michael Ferroli, overnight warning that if tariffs remain in effect, they could push up inflation in the coming months, March through May, firms raising prices to make up for higher imports. I guess this is not too hypothetical. We've seen how this plays out.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
Plus, Washington pauses all military aid to Ukraine. And after years of struggles, Walgreens closes in on a deal to go private. It's Tuesday, March 4th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. It wasn't a bluff. President Trump's 25 percent U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
We heard from the Canadian foreign minister there a minute ago about the country heading back against the U.S. with tariffs of its own, a strategy that's not really a surprise. We'd heard about that coming likely for weeks. China, meanwhile, also seems to have done what many were expecting, putting tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports, corn, chicken, soy.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
And finally, what market reactions should we be keeping an eye out for? Any corners of the market you'll be watching closely?
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
President Trump ushers in a new era of protectionism as U.S. tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico kick in.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
That was Journal Finance Editor for Europe, Alex Frangos. Alex, thank you so much. Thank you, Luke. And for more real-time coverage of the market reaction to Trump's tariffs, check out the WSJ's live blog, which we've left a link to in our show notes. Coming up, the EU crafts an urgent plan to encourage more defense spending after the U.S. hits pause on aid to Ukraine.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
That and a look at what else is moving markets today after the break. The U.S. will pause all military aid to Kiev until President Trump determines that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is making a good-faith effort toward peace negotiations with Russia.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
That's according to a White House official who said Trump felt the need to show he was serious about getting Ukraine to the negotiating table after the two leaders' public clash last week. Here was Vice President J.D. Vance on Fox News Channel's Hannity.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
It's not clear what Washington wants from Kiev to resume arms deliveries, nor is it certain that Zelensky signing a rare minerals deal sought by the Trump administration would be enough. Analysts say the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
weapons cutoff will leave Ukraine less able to withstand Russian attacks, with current and former Western officials adding that Ukraine has enough weapons to keep fighting Russia at its current pace until the middle of the year. Meanwhile, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen is offering member states greater legal flexibility in their national budgets so they can urgently boost defense investments.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
She said the proposal, which was announced just hours after the U.S. military aid freeze, could generate some $840 billion in new spending should countries make use of it. We are exclusively reporting that Walgreens Boots Alliance is closing in on a deal with private equity firm Sycamore Partners that would take the struggling drugstore chain private for around $10 billion.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
According to people familiar with the matter, the sides are aiming to complete the deal as soon as Thursday and are discussing a price of between $11.30 and $11.40 a share in cash.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
Walgreens' market value peaked above $100 billion in 2015, but has since shrunk as it faces a margin squeeze on its core prescription business after it doubled down on retail pharmacy, while rival CVS Health diversified into insurance and pharmacy benefits. Walgreens' shares, which are currently trading just below $11, are rising off hours.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
And oil prices are down after the Saudi and Russian-led group of producer countries known as OPEC Plus said it would ramp up production starting next month and continuing through September of next year. The move ends a long push by the group to prop up prices by limiting supply and comes after President Trump urged them to open the spigots back in January.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada took effect just after midnight this morning, along with a second round of 10 percent tariffs on imports from China. Trump described the duties taken under his emergency authority as being imposed due to fentanyl smuggling over the U.S. border. And at a White House press conference, he described how he thought Mexico and Canada ought to respond.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
And that's it for What's News for this Tuesday morning. Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant with supervising producer Christina Rocca. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs Thrust U.S. Economy Into Uncertain Waters
As we wait to see if those plans are forthcoming, Canada is responding in kind. Here was Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
Is there a risk of maybe muddling the message if you're using tariffs so broadly? It sounds like you see all of those as legitimate uses, but do you need to be clear about why you're wielding each particular tariff?
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
I mean, I guess we'll see if we hear that articulated and then how countries respond to that. For now, though, Oren, we've seen a good deal of frustration over U.S. policy. Is there a risk that that frustration gets so severe that it leads countries to pursue, I don't know, closer economic relations with China maybe in a way that would truly hurt the U.S. in the long run?
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
On those costs, you've argued before that tariffs are too often judged by economists along the lines of their impact on GDP or corporate profits or equity prices, which we are seeing done now, though these policies will obviously be felt by and judged by individual Americans. The president has described people potentially feeling a little disturbance.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
Mark Zuckerberg looks to the White House for help as he fights an EU law that could undermine Meta's ad business. Plus, a day before the unveiling of sweeping U.S. tariffs, we hear a case for the president's trade agenda.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
The Treasury secretary saying the economy could be in for a detox. I'm curious how you'd describe it.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
And Trump pledges a crackdown on price gouging in the ticket market. It's Tuesday, April 1st. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
Can you unstick Americans from the cheap prices of some of the things we've gotten used to, particularly importing from China and elsewhere? That does seem like a tough nut to crack.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
Oren Kass is the founder and chief economist at the think tank American Compass. Oren, thanks for being with us on What's News. My pleasure. Thank you. Coming up, we've got the rest of the day's headlines, including an exclusive journal report on Mark Zuckerberg's bid to enlist the president in pushing back on EU regulations. We've got that story and much more after the break.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
We are exclusively reporting that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pressing U.S. trade officials to help fight an expected European Union fine and cease and desist order with the goal of pushing the Trump administration to respond aggressively against what the company says would be a discriminatory decision.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
After President Trump's election, Zuckerberg was quick to embrace the incoming president's priorities, scrapping Meta's diversity team, ending its fact-checking program, and appointing Trump ally UFC President Dana White to its board. And as European tech reporter Sam Schechner explains, Meta's chief executive is now looking to call in a favor.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
President Trump says he has settled on a plan for his latest batch of tariffs due to be announced tomorrow, but for now is keeping those plans close to the vest.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
SoftBank has agreed to lead a funding of up to $40 billion for OpenAI, valuing the chat GPT maker at $300 billion. The Japanese technology investment group said it wants to further support OpenAI's growth, having already invested $2.2 billion since September.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
To receive the full sum, the journal reports that OpenAI has to successfully restructure into an independent for-profit company by the end of the year. and that if it doesn't, SoftBank can pare back the funding round's size to $20 billion. The State Department is imposing sanctions on six Chinese officials, citing the political crackdown in Hong Kong and restrictions on access to Tibet.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
Among the options he's been weighing is whether to apply a universal tariff of up to 20 percent on all imports or take a so-called reciprocal tariff approach that would levy individual tariff rates on specific countries subject to negotiation. As we await details, we spoke to someone with a strong sense about why Trump and his allies are leaning so hard on a tariff strategy.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
The move re-injects human rights into the contentious U.S.-China relationship, where Trump has more recently kept his focus on trade imbalances and imposing tariffs. The sanctions follow penalties placed on dozens of top Hong Kong officials under President Biden and during Trump's first term.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is opening a review of nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts with Harvard University and its affiliates, including Boston-area hospitals, making it the latest target of an investigation into how schools have handled anti-Semitism.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
This after the government canceled $400 million in grants and contracts with Columbia University before it agreed to meet a series of demands to get the money reinstated. Last month, the Education Department contacted 60 schools, warning them of potential enforcement actions if they didn't do more to protect Jewish students on campus in the wake of last year's pro-Palestinian protests.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
In a letter to the Harvard Community Monday night, President Alan Garber called for urgent action to combat anti-Semitism, saying the removal of federal funding would halt life-saving research.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
And finally, President Trump says he is cracking down on ticket price gouging, in part by going after professional brokers that use bots to snap up large amounts of face value tickets and resell them at a high markup. During an executive order signing in the Oval Office, Trump was joined by musician Kid Rock, who expressed frustration at the state of the ticket industry.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
Trump said the Federal Trade Commission, along with the Treasury and Justice Departments, will deliver a report within 180 days with details on whether more regulation or legislation is needed to protect consumers. And that's it for What's News for this Tuesday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff.
WSJ What’s News
The Case for Trump’s Tariffs
Oren Kass is the founder of the conservative populist think tank American Compass, which since its establishment in 2020 has become the most influential group on Capitol Hill among the pro-Trump policy movement that calls itself the New Right. He's also a longtime friend of Vice President J.D. Vance and And I began by asking him to summarize the various use cases for tariffs.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
Carney pledged to respond to the U.S. tariffs, but said he'd first wait to see the details of Trump's executive order. The province of Ontario is home to the bulk of Canada's auto industry, and its premier said yesterday that car plants on both sides of the border would shut if Trump's plans went ahead. Meanwhile, we've yet to hear a response from Mexico, the biggest auto exporter to the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
The country sends a number of popular vehicles north of the border, including GM, Ram, and Toyota pickups, luxury models from BMW and Audi, and affordable sedans from Nissan, though industry officials are warning that the tariffs could trigger price hikes that put vehicles further out of reach for Americans after sizable cost increases since the pandemic. Glenn Stevens Jr.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
is the executive director of Misch Auto, a business group that represents Michigan's auto sector.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
So what reaction are we seeing from automakers beyond North America and how are major players in the industry responding? For more, I'm joined by Journal European Autos reporter Stephen Wilmot. Stephen, first, what has the broad reaction been to this from a sector that has very much been in Trump's crosshairs since even before he took office?
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
Were there any details of what was announced yesterday that have caught folks off guard?
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
Japanese carmakers also falling today, and unsurprisingly, Japan's prime minister shot back pretty quickly to Trump's announcement, adding that Tokyo will be looking at all options as it decides how to respond. The European Commission president also saying that the bloc would safeguard its economic interests. Where is all of this leading?
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
It's Thursday, March 27th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. global reaction is pouring in after President Trump yesterday evening announced that the U.S. would impose 25 percent tariffs on all automotive imports starting April 3rd.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
Though a concern for the automakers in the long term is, let's say, if tariffs lead the whole automotive supply chain to get more expensive, that could weigh on demand, which is obviously a massive long-term risk.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
President Trump makes good on his pledge to penalize foreign carmakers, announcing plans for 25 percent tariffs on global imports. Plus, European leaders move to build a Ukraine support force without the U.S. And the used phone market takes off.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
The president of the United Auto Workers Union, Sean Fain, who's very enthusiastic about Trump's move here, saying that the tariffs were, quote, a major step in the right direction for auto workers and blue collar communities. What of that? How widespread is that sentiment? And is there a sense that this U.S. trade policy could have a positive effect on American manufacturing in the long run?
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
That was Journal European Autos reporter Stephen Wilmot. Stephen, thank you so much for stopping by. Thank you. And coming up, a coalition of the willing gathers in Paris in order to put boots on the ground in Ukraine. We've got that story and much more after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
Military delegations from some 30 nations are in Paris today to discuss plans for a European armed force that could be deployed to Ukraine to implement a potential ceasefire with Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer have been leading efforts to build a so-called coalition of the willing to put boots on the ground.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
And ahead of the summit, Macron said the force could respond if Russia launched an attack.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
is notably absent from the Paris talks, with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff dismissing the idea of a European deployment or even the need for it. Earlier this week, the White House said it had reached an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to eliminate the use of force in the Black Sea, which came after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to end attacks on energy infrastructure.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
However, President Trump said Russia appeared to be slow-walking negotiations on an unconditional ceasefire, with Moscow trying to extract further concessions from the West. Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to go on trial for an alleged plot to overturn his 2022 election laws.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
In a blow to one of President Trump's closest allies in Latin America, the justices ruled that Bolsonaro should stand trial on five charges, including planning a coup and running an armed criminal organization.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
The announcement appeared to dispel any chance of an exemption for countries like Mexico and Canada, which have a free trade agreement with the U.S. and would be added on top of 25 percent tariffs on goods from those countries that Trump had already imposed.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
In a post on X, the right-wing leader said the court was trying to lock him up ahead of elections planned for October 2026, with some recent polls showing Bolsonaro would narrowly win the election against President Lula da Silva. An appeals court has dealt a setback to the Trump administration's bid to restart deportation flights of alleged Venezuelan gang members using 1798's Alien Enemies Act.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
The law allows a president to deport citizens of countries considered U.S. enemies. However, lawyers successfully argued that deportees weren't given a fair chance to contest their membership in the Tren de Aragua gang, a recently designated foreign terrorist organization. leading a U.S. district judge to block deportation flights earlier this month. In its two-to-one decision yesterday, the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld that block, with the judge saying the administration hadn't shown it was likely to prevail. The administration has signaled it's prepared to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case if necessary. The U.S. government will probably run out of money to pay its bills by August or September.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
That's the first official estimate provided by the Congressional Budget Office of the so-called X date that will require lawmakers to raise the federal debt limit, though the CBO added that significantly weaker revenue collection could push up the X date to before a mid-June tax payment deadline. The projection puts lawmakers on the clock to figure out how and when to raise the debt limit
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
And the forecast for August or September gives them time to combine it with a major tax and spending bill that's still taking shape. And finally, the used phone market is taking off as shoppers feeling ripped off by $1,000 devices hunt for cheaper alternatives. More than 208 million used phones were sold worldwide in 2024, according to market research company IDC, up 6.4% from a year earlier.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
And while most buyers do still want a new device, tech reporter Stu Wu explains why more are looking to secondary markets.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was quick to respond, invoking the interests of the country's unionized auto workers and its bilateral trade with the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
And Stu told us that used or refurbished devices are so popular, Apple and Samsung are getting into the market themselves.
WSJ What’s News
Auto Stocks Drop as Trump Plans 25% Tariff on Car Imports
And that's it for What's News for this Thursday morning. Today's episode was produced by Daniel Bach with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
Separately, President Trump signed an executive order yesterday that requires all federal agencies to draw up plans to review existing contracts, freeze workers' credit cards, and cut staff beyond layoffs of probationary and diversity-focused workers.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
President Trump is revoking a Biden-era license allowing Chevron to produce oil in Venezuela, saying strongman Nicolas Maduro has failed to take in deported migrants and to make democratic reforms.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
The announcement comes less than a month after the Trump administration struck a deal with Maduro to restart deportation flights to the country, a pact many regional observers thought meant the president would allow the oil to keep flowing. Trump said Chevron's license will be terminated as of March 1st, requiring the company to wind down its Venezuelan operations within months.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
A Chevron spokesman said the company does business in Venezuela in compliance with all laws and regulations, including U.S. sanctions. And the U.S. government says it's got a plan to address the spread of bird flu and lower the price of eggs. That plan will help poultry farmers with biosecurity measures and increase support to those who've lost their flocks.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
The administration didn't approve the use of an avian flu vaccine but said it would keep studying them. To lower egg prices, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the administration would consider rolling back certain state regulations, like a California law establishing minimum space requirements for hens. And she told the Journal the U.S. would look at scaling up overseas egg imports.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
However, imports, including from countries like Turkey, may do little to stem surging prices. The USDA is now forecasting a more than 41% increase in the cost of eggs this year, up from an estimate of 20% just last month. Coming up, HSBC's Frank Lee joins us to break down NVIDIA's latest quarterly results as the chipmaker's earnings and outlook beat expectations.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
That and other news moving markets after the break. Chipmaker Nvidia yesterday reported a sharp rise in its sales and profit for the fourth quarter, the latest in a string of bumper earnings results for the company. But were those results enough to shake off some jitters about the outlook for the AI boom? Frank Lee is the global head of tech hardware and semiconductor research at HSBC, and he
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
And he joins me now this morning from Hong Kong. Frank, NVIDIA's shares are trading around $130. You have $175 price target on this company. What were your reactions to the earnings update we got last night?
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
And the U.S. looks at importing eggs to control rocketing prices. It's Thursday, February 27th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
Microsoft urges President Trump to ease limits on chip exports, warning they could push allies into China's arms. Plus, we'll crunch the numbers on Nvidia's latest earnings and explain what to watch next.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
Let's talk about Nvidia's new Blackwell AI chips, its latest generation product. In this just concluded first quarter of shipping those chips at volume, Nvidia reported sales of $11 billion. I'm curious, how does that stack up against expectations?
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
Tell us about how NVIDIA's offerings match up with the capital expenditures we've been seeing from the hyperscalers of late. I mean, overall, top line spending by the biggest tech companies in the world on AI data centers and chips is Seems really strong, and yet it's, I guess, the kind of spending they're doing and whether it persists. That is a question of paramount importance to NVIDIA.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
Chief Justice John Roberts overnight temporarily halted a lower court requirement that the Trump administration resume nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments, marking the Supreme Court's first substantive action since the administration began its efforts to remake the federal government.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
You mentioned earlier that really since the start of the big spending boom by the hyperscalers on AI servers and chips, that there's been a concern. The good times were going to end. More recently, we have seen some reports from analysts at TD Cowen that companies like Microsoft might be trimming back their data center expansions. Curious to get your take on that.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
Is it something NVIDIA investors, really anyone investing in AI chips right now should be aware of?
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
Frank Lee is the global head of tech hardware and semiconductor research at HSBC. Frank, thank you so much for joining us on What's News.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
Well, speaking of chips, we are exclusively reporting that Microsoft is pushing the Trump administration to loosen and simplify export restrictions on cutting-edge AI chips.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
In a blog post set to be published today, Microsoft will call for the White House to relax the limits on chips that can be used in data centers for training AI models so that they no longer apply to a group of US allies including India, Switzerland, and Israel.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
That is according to company officials who say Microsoft believes that allies who have limited access to American chips under the administration's proposed new rules will turn to China to get tech infrastructure they need. According to people familiar with the matter, Trump administration officials are weighing steps to strengthen the restrictions while simplifying the export control rules.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
That order, however, doesn't resolve the underlying dispute over whether the administration can unilaterally nullify appropriations approved by Congress. Aid organizations have until Friday to file a response to the order, suggesting it will remain in place at least into next week. Well, Roberts' order comes amid newly revealed Trump administration plans to eliminate the vast majority of U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
And speaking of China's efforts to undercut the U.S. 's dominance, not just at the cutting edge of technology, but on the broader world stage, we've been working on a special series about Beijing's trillion-dollar infrastructure program and how it's helping Xi Jinping to rival the U.S. You can find the first episode of Building Influence on the What's News feed, and the next one drops on Sunday.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
And in markets news today, European shares opened lower this morning and the euro has edged lower after President Trump said yesterday he's considering 25% tariffs on the European Union, putting a number on a threat that he's made before. Trump said the tariffs would be on, quote, cars and all the things, end quote, but didn't specify when they would be imposed.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
He did, however, say that many trade actions would come on April 2nd after the completion of a trade policy review. That comment also raised hopes that levies on Canada and Mexico could be further delayed, though a White House official said a current March 4th deadline remains in effect, pending review. And that's it for What's News for this Thursday morning.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
Today's show was produced by Kate Boulivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rocca. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Microsoft Urges Trump to Loosen Export Rules on AI Chips
humanitarian assistance and overseas development aid. According to an internal memo and court filings seen by the Associated Press, more than 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and some $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance is on the chopping block.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
The White House didn't respond to requests for comment. Greenpeace has been ordered to pay more than $600 million to Energy Transfer, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
The lawsuit centered around months-long protests back in 2016 in which Greenpeace, Native American tribal groups, and other activists camped out to block construction of the pipeline that transfers crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
Energy Transfer alleged that the environmental activist group, as well as its international and funding entities, trespassed and caused damages on its property and published false statements about the pipeline. Greenpeace has denied the allegations, saying it would appeal the judgment to the North Dakota Supreme Court. The U.S. Agency for International Development could soon get a major overhaul.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
According to a memo viewed by the journal, the agency, which had been dismantled by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, would be renamed the U.S. Agency for International Humanitarian Assistance and fall under the control of the State Department, with a mandate to help enhance national security and counter adversaries like China.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
The memo stated that expensive programs that didn't provide strong returns to taxpayers should be scrapped and that those that remain shouldn't be solely philanthropic, but should advance American security, strategic and commercial interests. It's unclear whether a federal judge's ruling this week that Doge's dismantling of U.S. aid was unconstitutional would impact the new plans.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
A State Department spokesperson said that, quote, any changes to the structure of U.S. aid will be done in consultation with Congress and will be subject to congressional notification. And the Trump administration is ratcheting up its campaign to label attacks against Tesla property as domestic terrorism.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
Speaking to Fox News last night, Attorney General Pam Bondi described the string of vandalism and arson attacks on Tesla dealerships and charging stations as politically motivated against Elon Musk because of his work to cut government jobs and spending.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
Bondi added that the Justice Department would pursue federal charges that can carry long, mandatory minimum prison sentences. Coming up, the Trump administration's DEI crackdown goes global. We'll look at how European businesses are shaking up their diversity policies and recap other news moving markets after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
Shortly after taking office, President Trump ordered an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across the U.S. government. But crucially, the push to stamp out DEI doesn't just extend to the public sector. And as journal reporter Ben Dummitt is here to discuss, nor does it end in the U.S. Ben, the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
Chevron makes headway in lobbying the White House to keep pumping oil in Venezuela. Plus, Attorney General Pam Bondi pledges federal prosecutions against vandals targeting Tesla, calling attacks on vehicles and company property domestic terrorism. And we'll look at how efforts to crack down on corporate DEI in the U.S. are rippling across the Atlantic.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
government is expected to scrutinize a lot more companies in the private sector over DEI practices. Tell us what you've learned.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
It's Thursday, March 20th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. We are exclusively reporting that President Trump is considering a plan to extend Chevron's license to pump oil in Venezuela and make it harder for other countries to get a foothold there.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
It sounds like a tricky one to thread. How are some big European businesses trying to navigate that?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
Let me just quickly say that representatives for Aldi and a Santander spokesman declined to comment on your reporting. But Ben, it's really fascinating stuff there. We've previously talked about ex-US as a term in the world of investing, but it sounds like that is now an HR term as well, getting the US basically carved out of some global policies. What do you make of that?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
Ben Dummitt writes about dealmaking from The Wall Street Journal's London bureau. Ben, thank you so much for joining us and bringing us this story. Thanks. I appreciate it. And in market news today, SoftBank has inked a deal to buy U.S. chip designer Ampere Computing Holdings for $6.5 billion.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
CEO Masayoshi San said the deal deepens SoftBank's commitment to AI innovation in the United States, which comes as the Japanese investment firm is starting a giant data center project in the U.S. The Ampere acquisition is expected to be completed later this year, subject to regulatory approvals.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
We are exclusively reporting that crypto exchange Kraken is nearing a $1.5 billion deal to buy the futures trading platform NinjaTrader. People familiar with the matter say the deal could be announced as soon as this morning and is aimed at helping Kraken to expand its user base and move into other asset classes.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
And the People's Bank of China has kept benchmark lending rates unchanged following the Federal Reserve in holding rates steady. China's one-year loan prime rate is at 3.1 percent, and the five-year rate remains at 3.6 percent. The Bank of England is also widely expected to keep its key interest rate steady at 4.5 percent when it issues its latest rate decision at 8 a.m. Eastern.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
Trump expressed openness to reversing his recent decision to order the company to wind down its Venezuela operation next month during a Wednesday meeting at the White House with Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and other oil industry executives, according to people familiar with the discussion.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
And that's it for What's News for this Thursday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Bullivant with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Considers Letting Chevron Keep Pumping Venezuelan Oil
Journal correspondent Jenny Strasberg says that comes after months of counter-arguments from hardline Venezuela critics like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Well, while reciprocal tariffs for much of the world have been put on the back burner for now, Washington's trade war with Beijing is getting hotter by the day. And here with a look at China's options going forward, I'm joined by our China bureau chief, Jonathan Chang.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
John, we've reported that President Trump's decision to pause tariffs on dozens of countries while raising them to 125 percent on China could all be a part of an attempt to pressure Beijing into cutting some sort of deal with the U.S., though, at least for the time being, we've not seen any signs of a desire on Beijing's part to work this out, have we?
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Yeah, no movement. And as our colleague Lingling Wei reports, Beijing has actually been preparing for a trade war and has a whole arsenal of tactics at the ready. Walk us through some of those options.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Plus, the U.S. and Russia complete a prisoner swap. And our Ukraine editor shares an exclusive glimpse into Ukrainian intelligence on the extent of Beijing's involvement in the war. It's Thursday, April 10th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Yeah, the line from Ling Ling's reporting that really jumped out to me was there might be ways to pressure American companies to give up their intellectual property in order to have access to the Chinese market. John, American companies are not going to be happy to hear that.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Relief for global markets after President Trump blinks on tariffs. Though for China, it's full steam ahead toward a trade war.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
So China may be ready for the trade war to come. And yet yesterday's news that tariffs are for now on hold for other countries has got to be a negative right, making China's exports less competitive. And yet we're seeing Chinese equities moving higher today.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
In terms of what this means for China's options going forward, we spoke to reporter Stu Wu this week. He's been traveling through Vietnam, a country that was poised to be hit with 46% reciprocal tariffs. Those are now on hold.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
But even before we knew that, Stu was telling us that there was kind of a narrative that even those tariffs might not have altered supply chains that see Chinese materials sent to Vietnam to be turned into finished goods and then exported to the U.S. and to others. Let's play a clip of that.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
John, if that trade continues, does this 90 day pause then not represent a loophole of sorts that would allow China to keep exporting to the U.S. in spite of these tariffs via other countries like Vietnam?
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Got it. And then it's safe to say this sort of existential question for China about where it can find export markets willing to take its goods, that that's not settled.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Investors around the world are breathing a sigh of relief after President Trump announced a 90-day pause on so-called reciprocal tariffs yesterday, an abrupt change in direction that followed what had been simultaneous declines in equities, bonds and the dollar.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Jonathan Cheng is The Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief in Beijing. John, thank you so much.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Coming up, Russia and the U.S. complete another prisoner swap. We've got that story and the rest of the day's news after the break. We are exclusively reporting that Russia and the U.S. carried out a prisoner swap early this morning in Abu Dhabi, another sign of confidence building as Washington and Moscow pursue a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Russia released U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karolina, who was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony last year after being found guilty of treason for donating less than $100 to a U.S.-based Ukrainian charity. In exchange, the U.S. freed Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen who the U.S. accused of exporting controlled microelectronics from U.S.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
companies and shipping them to a company that supplies Russia's military. Well, speaking of Russia's military, we exclusively report that more than 150 Chinese citizens have joined Moscow's troops in the fight against Ukraine.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
That's according to Ukrainian intelligence reports viewed by the journal and comes after two Chinese citizens who Kiev said were fighting on behalf of Moscow were captured in Ukraine earlier this week.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman yesterday denied the Ukrainians' claim that more Chinese had joined Russian forces, but journal Ukraine bureau chief James Marson says the intelligence reports indicate otherwise.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
Journal markets editor Katie Barnato says almost all international exchanges are rising today, though there's also an undertone of skepticism.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
China has supported Russia economically throughout the war, but has professed itself neutral, stopping short of providing military equipment or troops. And in markets action to look out for today, fresh U.S. inflation figures are expected at 8.30 a.m. Eastern. Economists polled by the journal expect March inflation to slow to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent the previous month.
WSJ What’s News
China Readies Its Trade-War Arsenal
And that's it for What's News for this Thursday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Boulivant. Our supervising producer was Christina Rocca. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
A draft of that order, viewed by the journal, directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the department based on, quote, the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
It's a move that, as we've reported, has been in the works since Trump's transition, though according to legal experts, fully unwinding the department will require a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate. The major programs it administers, including student loans, are codified in law and have significant political constituencies.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
During her confirmation hearing, McMahon said that Trump doesn't intend to cut federal programs, but to make them more efficient. and that Congress would need to go along with scrapping the department. The White House didn't respond to a request for comment. Turning overseas now, EU leaders are gathering for emergency security talks today with defense spending in focus.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
The summit in Brussels comes as the bloc wrestles with questions about its own security after President Trump's rapprochement with Russia's Vladimir Putin, who many European leaders say poses the biggest threat to them, signaled they would need to invest in their own defenses.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
That's Journal Germany bureau chief Bertrand Benoit. The European Commission is hoping to steer more than $860 billion from spending on its poorest regions to the defense industry through the decade.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
And the man expected to be Germany's next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, made headlines by saying that the country's famously strict fiscal rules would no longer apply to military spending, paving the way for a rapid acceleration in its rearmament.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
Well, that potential U-turn in spending priorities comes as the European Central Bank prepares to announce its latest interest rate decision today, an all-but-guaranteed sixth rate cut since June, as inflation eases and it shifts its focus toward the eurozone's hobbled economy. But could a defense spending boost change the script? I asked Dow Jones Newswire's economics editor, Paul Hannan.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
The VA plans to cut tens of thousands of workers. Plus, Europe loosens its purse strings as it contemplates a future without America's security umbrella. And he's one of the richest people in the world, with a relationship to President Trump going back decades. But can LVMH's boss shield his empire from U.S. tariffs?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
And we report that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has grown concerned that his country's Cold War rivalry with the U.S. could leave it isolated like Moscow was during that era, cut off by trade restrictions and sanctions and with fewer outlets for its goods and limited access to crucial technologies.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
That's according to people who consult with senior Chinese officials, who see several of President Trump's early diplomatic moves in such a context, including his efforts to wind down conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine to focus on China, as well as his embrace of Russia, a pivot in part driven by a desire to drive a wedge between Moscow and Beijing.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
It's Thursday, March 6th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. We begin in Washington, where the Trump administration is looking to cut roughly 70,000 workers from the Department of Veterans Affairs, part of a broad review of the agency.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
Those people said Xi has thus far been uninterested in making a narrow offer to the U.S. related to the fentanyl crisis, holding out instead for the Trump team to make specific demands that could lead to broader talks.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
However, Trump's new 10 percent tariffs this week have exposed the pitfalls in that wait-and-see approach, with one person close to Beijing's thinking saying that move was pretty unexpected.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
And speaking of the great power rivalry between the world's top two economies, we're working on a special series about how Beijing has tried to use its trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure program to undercut American dominance on the world stage. The second episode of Building Influence is out now on the What's News feed, and we've left a link to the series in our show notes.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
Coming up, what can French billionaire Bernard Arnault teach us about how to steer clear of U.S. tariffs? We'll look at the LVMH chief's efforts to spare his luxury empire from President Trump's trade actions after the break. As the U.S. pushes ahead with tariffs on two of its closest trading partners, can anyone rest easy? They won't be caught up in President Trump's protectionism.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
Bernard Arnault, the owner of globe-spanning luxury empire LVMH, could soon find out. The longtime friend of the president is trying to work his magic to spare his business from potentially damaging 25 percent tariffs on European goods. And Journal luxury goods reporter Nick Kostoff is here to discuss what we can learn from Arnault's efforts.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
Nick, how close are Arno and Trump, just so we can gauge whether personal diplomacy really is at play here?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
Okay, who knows what to make of that caveat. Enter into that relationship, Nick, these threatened tariffs on European goods. How big of a threat would those pose for LVMH? Of course, it's just one company, but it is no small fry.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
So what is he trying to do to thwart this? And is there any way we can handicap Arnaud's likely success in avoiding these tariffs?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
In a video posted on X yesterday, the department's secretary, Doug Collins, said the cuts won't affect health care or benefits for veterans and beneficiaries, and that there will still be hiring for mission-critical roles. The days of kicking the can down the road and measuring VA's progress by how much money it spends and how many people it employs rather than how many veterans it helps are over.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
If he isn't successful, are there other viable efforts afoot to try and talk Trump away from these tariffs?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
Journal reporter Nick Kostoff covers the luxury goods industry for us out of Paris. Nick, thank you so much for bringing us this story. Thank you. Well, in addition to the ECB's decision later this morning, reports on U.S. productivity for the fourth quarter and the January trade deficit are both due at 8.30 a.m. Eastern.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
And we'll get results from Macy's and Kroger this morning, while Broadcom, Costco and The Gap are due to report earnings after the closing bell. And that's it for What's News for this Thursday morning. Before we go, a heads up that we've got another bonus episode for you later today.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
In our next What's News in Earnings, we'll be looking at American retailers and how the industry is grappling with a growing list of issues from tariffs and cautious consumers to still high inflation. That'll be in the feed around midday before our usual p.m. show tonight. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rocca.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And as always, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Spurs European Race to Rearm
According to a memo from earlier this week, the cuts are slated to happen in August. The American Federation of Government Employees Union, which represents more than 300,000 Veterans Affairs employees, said the layoffs will result in longer wait times for veterans. Meanwhile, President Trump is expected to issue an executive order aimed at abolishing the Education Department as soon as today.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
With a huge global effect, Deb, you're there in Singapore. I'm curious if you could just weigh in on the significance of this policy pivot we're witnessing, one that really hits Asian countries particularly hard.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Lots of big decisions being made around the world, Alex. But back to the U.S., Trump saying he wants to bring America back to how its economy functioned before 1913, a date that got a lot of play in that speech in the Rose Garden yesterday, the year when the U.S. really began to undo its longstanding policies of protectionism.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
And the auto industry stares down major changes as 25% U.S. tariffs on foreign-made cars and parts go into effect. It's Thursday, April 3rd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Right. We saw an estimate from Capital Economics yesterday saying that the tariffs will raise a maximum of $835 billion via customs duties. But we do have to consider how they could also trigger a decline in imports, which might offset that.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Global markets reel after the U.S. unveils sweeping tariffs. We'll look at how world leaders are reacting as China and the EU promise to hit back.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Deb, we are now beginning to hear from world leaders reacting to all of this from the likes of the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was pledging to fight back.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Notably, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she actually agreed with Trump that there are people taking advantage unfairly of current trade rules. And she said she was willing to try to remake the global trading system, though she didn't think tariffs were the way to do that.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
David, it almost seems like we're hearing in real time the wheels turning for world leaders trying to kind of reason out how much room they have to actually negotiate with the U.S. here or just kind of submit to a new reality. What are you hearing?
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Alex, looking at the market response we're seeing this morning, what does that tell us about where negotiations might be possible with the U.S. or which companies, which supply chains, business models are likely to be affected maybe irrevocably?
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
The world is waking up to the new realities of trade after President Trump yesterday unveiled a suite of protectionist measures that he justified by citing his emergency economic authority.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Debra Ball is the journal's Asia editor, and Alex Frangos is our finance editor for Europe. Deb, Alex, thank you both so much. Thanks very much.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Coming up, new U.S. tariffs on car imports came into force at midnight. We'll talk to the Council on Foreign Relations' Brad Setzer about what that means for the U.S. auto industry and Americans looking to buy a car after the break. Effective today, the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
will begin collecting 25 percent tariffs on imports of finished automobiles and automotive parts, a trade move that's thrust auto exporting countries into crisis mode. And given that almost half of new cars sold in the U.S. last year were assembled beyond America's borders, according to S&P Global Mobility, U.S. consumers could be in for a shock as well.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Well, here to help put these tariffs into context, I'm joined by Brad Setzer, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he's an expert in global trade and capital flows. Brad, it was one thing to discuss these tariffs when they were a mere possibility. Now they are very much a reality. What is that likely to mean, starting foremost with American car manufacturers for Detroit?
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
are some quite substantial potential ramifications of this just within the American auto market. But as we look globally, what are some trends we should be expecting?
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Among the moves that Trump announced were a 10 percent baseline tariff on all global imports, which will go into effect on Saturday. And for countries that the White House considers bad actors on trade, they'll be hit instead with a so-called discounted reciprocal tariff.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
an unintended consequence there if the whole point here, right, is to incentivize the localization of production.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Brad Setzer is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an expert in global trade. Brad, thank you so much for being with us on What's News. My pleasure. Thanks for inviting me. And that's it for What's News for this Thursday morning. For more of today's non-tariff headlines, subscribe to our Minute Brief podcast, which we update throughout the day.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
Today's show was produced by Kate Boulivant and Daniel Bach, with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
A New Global Trade Order Takes Shape
New duties amounting to 24 percent for Japan, 20 percent for the EU and above 40 percent for select countries in South and Southeast Asia. Well, here to put these measures into context, I'm joined by Journal Europe finance editor Alex Frangos and Asia editor Deborah Ball. Alex, let me start with you. Explain these discounted reciprocal tariffs for us. What's the math behind them?
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Hi, What's News listeners. It's Sunday, March 23rd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackle the big questions about the biggest stories in the news by reaching out to our colleagues across the newsroom to help explain what's happening in our world.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
The Affordable Care Act was signed into law 15 years ago today, a bill that kicked off a sweeping overhaul of U.S. health care, expanding coverage to more than 30 million Americans via its Medicaid expansion. And after surviving three legal challenges at the Supreme Court, it's become firmly entrenched in the American healthcare system.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
So let's go through some of these potential changes we could see. Journal reporter Ana Wildey-Matthews covers health insurance. And also with us is Larry Levitt, the executive vice president for health policy at the nonprofit health policy research and polling organization KFF. Larry, let me start with you. You've been at KFF for 28 years, watching all of this in Capitol Hill and so much else.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Starting with work requirements, a proposal that maybe seems to be on the more feasible end of the spectrum in D.C. right now. How many people could those changes affect?
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Ana, do you have anything to say on work requirements?
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
A good reminder, Congress is not operating in isolation here. Let's shift to the constellation of options that reduce what the federal government contributes to Medicaid funding. And Ana, I understand this is where things get pretty delicate pretty quickly and where moves taken at a national level could have a huge impact at the state level.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
We've got to take a very short break, but when we come back, we'll look at how potential changes to federal Medicaid funding could ripple out to change the nature of health care that people receive. That and look at some other areas of potential reform that might be palatable to both sides of the aisle. Stay with us.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
But with big Medicaid cuts being debated on Capitol Hill, could the U.S. healthcare landscape be in for a shock? Let's get right to it. The federal government spends about $600 billion annually on Medicaid.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Well, before the break, we were talking about the state budget impact of steps to pull back federal funding of Medicaid and how that could trigger an outright unwinding of the Medicaid expansion that happened as a result of the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
But we also heard from a number of listeners very curious about how either they or people they care about or work with could be affected by changes to Medicaid. And let's play a selection of those from Richard Rosenblum in Boston, Sarah Akamazo in Oakland, and Mark Holliday in Denver.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Larry, broadly speaking, what kinds of effects on the health care system could a pullback in Medicaid funding or enrollment have at the individual level? And are there specific types of health care that might stand to be the most affected here?
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Ana, would we be right to throw in long-term care for the elderly? That's a big part of what Medicaid is doing for many Americans.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
States help fund and manage the program, which provides health insurance for roughly 72 million people, or about one in five Americans, including children and people with low incomes or disabilities. And as you might have heard, some big changes to the program have been tossed around on Capitol Hill lately.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Let's change gears here to the topic of efficiency, a concept that's been very in vogue in Washington the last few weeks and something one of our listeners, Nick Chermel in Philadelphia, wanted to ask about.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Larry, there's a kind of intuitive sense to what Nick is saying. How would you respond to that?
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
I'm just imagining listeners hearing this who are on private insurance and saying, all right, well, what's the point of this discussion? Does any of this affect me? Could it?
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
as congressional Republicans work to deliver a budget and tax cut bill in the coming months. We have got two excellent guests with us today to analyze the effects that those moves could have. But first, I want to play some comments from journal reporter Liz Esley White, who's been keeping a close eye on the range of proposals we've been hearing about in Washington. Here's Liz.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
A little window there in your answer, Ana, about some of the messaging, the lobbying fights we could see if this Medicaid reform push continues. Larry, your parting thoughts.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Reporter Anna Wildey-Matthews covers health insurance for The Journal, and Larry Levitt is the executive vice president for health policy at KFF. Anna, Larry, thank you both so much.
WSJ What’s News
Medicaid Cuts: What’s on the Table and What It Means for You
Thanks. It was a great conversation. And that's it for What's News Sunday for March 23rd. Today's show was produced by Charlotte Gartenberg with supervising producer Sondra Kilhoff and deputy editor Chris Sinsley. I'm Luke Vargas, and we'll be back tomorrow morning with a brand new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
Should China invade Taiwan, a number of foreign policy experts believe developing countries might opt out of Western efforts to isolate it or even actively support Beijing, lest they jeopardize their deepening bilateral ties.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
And with global public opinion surveys showing China's standing on the rise as more people equate it with technological leadership and stability in a chaotic world, China's reputation could help it open doors overseas that we can't even think of yet. But despite China largely achieving the goals that it set out to address, Beijing is still in for a test.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
Here's our chief China correspondent Lingling Wei again.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
So how is China rejiggering Belt and Road to make it more economically sound and to serve its ambitions in a changing world? That's the focus of next Sunday's episode. But for now, that's it for What's News Sunday. Today's show was hosted and produced by me, Luke Vargas. Our sound designers are Jessica Fenton and Michael LaValle. Michael wrote this series' theme music.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
Our supervising producer was Christina Rocca. We had editorial support from Chris Zinsley and Falana Patterson. Special thanks to Michael Phillips, Jonathan Cheng, and James Arity. We will be back tomorrow with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
I'm Luke Vargas, and as we'll explore in this three-part What's News Sunday series, looking at China's infrastructure building activities around the world, the Belt and Road hasn't all been smooth sailing. But over the first decade of the project, Beijing built up considerable influence in dozens of countries.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
That's the journal's chief China correspondent Lingling Wei. And she's far from alone in noting that in the great power rivalry between the U.S. and China, it matters who's on your side. whose network of trade partners is growing, who's able to call in diplomatic favors, and whose financial rules and political norms are being adopted.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
It's also adapted its program, learning from early pitfalls and doubling down on successful inroads across the developing world. all of which raises vexing questions for President Trump and Western policymakers as they consider whether and how they can compete.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
In the coming weeks, my colleagues Kate Bolivant and Daniel Bach will take us through recent changes to China's lending and how the West is responding to China's efforts. But today, let's look at what China has already achieved. To do that, let's go back to the beginning and look at why China cast its focus abroad in the first place.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
That's Ike Freiman, a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University and author of the book One Belt, One Road, Chinese Power Meets the World.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
Those were the goals, so how did China set about achieving them? For that, I went to Kevin Gallagher. He directs Boston University's Global Development Policy Center, which has been tracking the scale and scope of China's overseas lending.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
Following the Great Recession, China was struggling with what to do with excessive capacity, a glut of export goods in need of foreign buyers. And those policy banks that Kevin described were in a strong position to open new markets for China and secure its short-term economic growth.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
Between 2014 and 2019, China cut Belt and Road deals worth more than $100 billion every year. Doors were opening, and China's lenders were making a strong first impression.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
For years, Washington's been either indifferent or inconsistent in its dealings with wide swaths of the globe. At times, it's actively tested the patience of its longtime partners by going back and forth on international deals like the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran Nuclear Agreement. China, meanwhile, has been building influence.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
That's The Wall Street Journal's Gabrielle Steinhauser, our longtime Africa bureau chief. And particularly across sub-Saharan Africa, she says the results of China's unified and speedy approach to overseas financing are impossible to miss.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
In Africa and elsewhere, Chinese firms using Chinese materials and Chinese workers often took the lead on big infrastructure projects. And remember what Ike Freiman said about Beijing's overlapping goals? Well, many of the projects it chose tied into its broader aims. For instance, when China built a high-speed railway in Kenya,
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
It created work for Chinese developers, and it laid physical infrastructure to areas rich in resources that were previously hard to access. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins, Chinese exports to Kenya more than doubled between 2013 and 2023, while Kenyan exports to China of titanium and metals used for EV batteries have skyrocketed over the past few years.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
To be sure, not all Chinese-funded projects have been a success. Shoddy construction has plagued hydroelectric plants in Ecuador, Pakistan, and Uganda, structures that are supposed to last a century but which are already beset with literal cracks that are costly and time-consuming to repair and could threaten the project's long-term viability or even pose the risk of catastrophic failure.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
Others have yielded disproportionate benefits for China, like an expensive port in Sri Lanka meant to help the island nation tap into lucrative Indian Ocean trade, but which has since been leased to a Chinese state company for 99 years after Sri Lanka struggled to repay its loans. So all of the debt for Sri Lanka with little infrastructure rewards to speak of.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
But on balance, Kevin Gallagher from Boston University told me China has gotten development projects off the ground plain and simple.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
So as for whether China has succeeded in aligning its actions behind a singular effort, the answer is a strong yes. So what about building influence with foreign partners? The answer after a short break. Aside from forging closer trade relations, China's gotten plenty more out of its push to fund big infrastructure projects around the world.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
Our longtime Africa bureau chief, Gabrielle Steinhauser, told me that China has been able to build diplomatic relationships by being a convenient partner for political reasons, too.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
China's signature foreign policy outreach project.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
China's laxer lending standards, paired with its preference for striking deals directly with heads of state, made it that much easier to hand political wins to its partners, like when it completed that Kenyan railway I mentioned before the break just days before a key election. And Gabrielle told me you can actually size up the attractiveness of what China's offering by looking at family photos.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
The photo, Gabrielle says, is so telling, shows the number of African leaders who've shown up to a summit called the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation over the years. Back in 2012, just 10 stood shoulder to shoulder with then-Chinese President Hu Jintao, whereas last September in Beijing, it was 53.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
In that way, China succeeded in achieving that second goal of the Belt and Road by becoming a partner other countries want to work with. That hasn't gone unnoticed.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
In the first Trump administration, as an initial wave of Belt and Road projects were announced, broke ground and turned heads, American officials and lawmakers like then-Senator and now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to persuade countries not to partner with China.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
In that scenario, often called a debt trap, China would offer loans to countries that it knows can't pay them back. And when they can't, China would seize collateral, maybe even land or strategic assets like ports, or make countries reliant on it in other ways. But Kevin Gallagher at BU says that if that was China's goal, it would have happened by now.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
So China has accomplished its goal of finding willing partners in foreign leaders around the world. But what about that third goal of turning those diplomatic relations into ones that boost China's long-term standing and security? That's after the break. Even if China's not purposely trying to trap its Belt and Road partners in debt crises, the project poses other concerns for the West.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
Since 2013, China's massive infrastructure program known as the Belt and Road Initiative has funneled a trillion plus dollars to projects from mines and highways to smart cities and industrial parks in some 150 countries, literally planting the Chinese flag around the globe. trace a graph of China's spending dating back to the launch of Belt and Road.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
As Ike Freiman at Stanford told me, the deeper China's relationships with borrowers become, the more its rules become how global business gets done, challenging Western-led norms and counterbalancing U.S. global influence in the process.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
So political favors deepen the continuity of China's relationships, and in turn, Beijing can keep, what, dialing up its ambitions?
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
We reached out to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment. They told us the Belt and Road Initiative is an economic cooperation program that benefits partner countries, not a geopolitical tool, and that how it works, quote, depends on the countries that jointly build it, end quote.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
The State Department didn't respond to our request for comment, but there is evidence for some of the concerns Ike just spoke about.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
More countries are backing Chinese policies on geopolitical issues, from dropping recognition of Taiwan, as Belt and Road partners Panama and El Salvador have done, to voting to stop debate at the UN, as partners Cameroon, Indonesia, and Pakistan did in 2022 over Chinese treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, which the U.S. has called a genocide, a claim China strongly denies.
WSJ What’s News
How China’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Bet Undercuts U.S. Dominance
And starting in 2018, you will notice its loans began to drop off and they remain a lot lower than they were just five years ago. That could mean the Belt and Road went astray. But what if it means it's already succeeded in growing its influence and getting a leg up on the U.S. in the process?
WSJ What’s News
China Has Been Building Influence for Years. How Will Trump Respond?
And that's it for our What's New Sunday series, Building Influence. Today's show was hosted and produced by Daniel Bach. Our sound designers are Jessica Fenton and Michael LaValle. Michael wrote this series' theme music. Our supervising producer was Christina Rocca. We had editorial support from Chris Zinsley and Philana Patterson.
WSJ What’s News
China Has Been Building Influence for Years. How Will Trump Respond?
And special thanks to Ryan Dubé, Sharon Weinberger, and James Arity. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and we'll be back right here tomorrow with a brand new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
China Has Been Building Influence for Years. How Will Trump Respond?
During his first term as president, Donald Trump changed American policy toward China by framing it as the top economic and security threat facing the United States. Then, to start his second term in January, he used his inauguration speech to pinpoint where he would launch a new challenge against that perceived threat.
WSJ What’s News
China Has Been Building Influence for Years. How Will Trump Respond?
Panama, where China had been building influence through its Belt and Road Initiative, the trillion-dollar infrastructure lending program Beijing has used to plant its flag in more than 150 countries. Trump's vow to seize back the canal and push out China is part of a broader and still evolving approach to counter Beijing in places where a lack of U.S.
WSJ What’s News
China Has Been Building Influence for Years. How Will Trump Respond?
presence or interest has allowed a new partner to move in. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And in today's final episode of our What's News Sunday series, Building Influence, my colleague Daniel Bach will be looking at what the U.S. has done to respond to Belt and Road and whether Trump's early actions in office could signal a new, more aggressive approach.
WSJ What’s News
China Reins In Its Infrastructure Strategy But Not Its Global Ambition
So what does Washington make of this more focused and streamlined version of the Belt and Road and the role it plays in challenging the US-led global order? And is the Trump administration prepared to respond to it? Those questions will be the focus of our next episode, the final one in this special series. But for now, that's it for What's News Sunday. Bis morgen mit einem neuen Show. Bis dann.
WSJ What’s News
China Reins In Its Infrastructure Strategy But Not Its Global Ambition
Danke fürs Zuhören.
WSJ What’s News
China Reins In Its Infrastructure Strategy But Not Its Global Ambition
Das ist Bradley Parks, der Geschäftsführer von ADATA, dem Forschungs- und Entwicklungslabor am Global Research Institute von William & Mary, das betrachtet, wie viel China auf dem Belt and Road Infrastrukturprogramm spart. In den frühen Jahren von Belt and Road ging China auf einem Spendensprung in Bezug auf ihre ökonomischen und strategischen Ziele.
WSJ What’s News
China Reins In Its Infrastructure Strategy But Not Its Global Ambition
Financing bold engineering projects from mines and highways to ports and pipelines, in addition to growing its influence around the globe. But as the journal's chief China correspondent Lingling Wei pointed out at the end of the first episode in this special What's News Sunday series, those loans that China handed out to developing countries around the world weren't free money.
WSJ What’s News
China Reins In Its Infrastructure Strategy But Not Its Global Ambition
Eventually the debt would have to be repaid. And when it started coming due, signs of strain began to show. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.
WSJ What’s News
China Reins In Its Infrastructure Strategy But Not Its Global Ambition
And in today's episode, my colleague Kate Bullivant will be taking a look at how Beijing is trying to dig itself out from the financial hole it created in the Belt and Road's early years and shield itself from risks going forward, all while keeping the wheels turning on its goal of building up its influence around the globe. Here's Kate.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Caitlin, I see Goldman Sachs and Barclays are both out with new growth forecasts that really feature the growing risk of a global trade war front and center. Walk us through what they're saying.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
All right. So Barclays and Goldman, they're both seeing the risk of a trade war increasing based on actions likely coming out of Washington. But this does go both ways. Yesterday, we heard from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who pledged that the EU was ready to hit back against existing U.S. tariffs. So as you'll hear, he didn't exactly sound thrilled about it.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Plus, President Trump threatens sanctions on Russia as Ukraine peace talks stall, and Apple's satellite expansion plans landed in SpaceX's crosshairs. It's Monday, March 31st. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Tariff week is upon us.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Caitlin, I guess we can see that sentiment kind of rippling through into market behavior today. Asian stocks falling and European markets opening lower as well.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Right. Sounds like investors are preparing for volatility this week.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Markets brace for a big week of trade announcements as the U.S. puts universal tariffs back on the table.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
That was Wall Street Journal reporter Caitlin McCabe. Caitlin, thanks for stopping by and for the VIX crash course there.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
And coming up, we've got the rest of the day's news, including frustration in Washington as Vladimir Putin appears to drag his feet on peace talks with Ukraine. That story and much more after the break. So We are exclusively reporting that Apple has clashed with Elon Musk's SpaceX in its push to eliminate cell phone dead spots with its satellite technology.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
The iPhone maker is investing heavily in satellite-based communications, while SpaceX has launched more than 500 satellites that provide cell phone connectivity through Starlink. Now, the companies are competing for the limited supply of spectrum rights, the airwaves, to carry their signals, with Musk pushing federal regulators to stall an Apple-funded satellite expansion effort.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
People familiar with the matter said the conflict has intensified in recent months after SpaceX and its partner T-Mobile asked Apple to offer Starlink on iPhones. After tense discussions, the sides reached an agreement that allows the SpaceX and T-Mobile satellite cell phone service to be offered on newer iPhones, which will roll out this summer.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
President Trump is threatening new economic penalties on Russia as talks have resulted in little progress toward a real ceasefire in Ukraine. Speaking yesterday, Trump expressed anger at recent comments by Vladimir Putin, where he called for interim governance in Ukraine under the auspices of the United Nations, which would essentially push out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Trump said that if a deal isn't reached, then it was, quote, Russia's fault, end quote, and said he'd impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil without providing specifics. Trump added that U.S. officials had conveyed his frustration to Russia and that he expected to speak to Putin later this week.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
President Trump has set Wednesday as Liberation Day when he'll pull back the curtain on a range of new levies.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Despite this, the president reiterated that he and Putin have a good relationship before shifting some of his criticism to Zelensky over negotiations for the U.S. to access critical minerals in Ukraine.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Rescue workers in Myanmar are continuing the increasingly desperate search for survivors after Friday's 7.7 magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of the country's second largest city, Mandalay, and the surrounding areas. Myanmar's military government has said that more than 1,700 people are confirmed dead and more than 3,000 have been injured, while making a rare appeal for foreign aid.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Early modeling from the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that the number of deaths stemming from the earthquake could rise above 10,000 and that economic losses might surpass the value of Myanmar's GDP. Back in the U.S., Elon Musk has given out $1 million checks to two Wisconsin voters ahead of the state's Supreme Court election tomorrow that Musk sees as critical to President Trump's agenda.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
And even as that deadline nears, we report that the administration is still scrambling to nail down the specifics, including whether to impose individualized tariffs on specific trading partners or reach for across-the-board tariffs, potentially as high as 20 percent, that would affect virtually every country doing business with the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Just minutes before the Tesla CEO took to the stage at a town hall in Green Bay last night, the court rejected a last-minute attempt by the state's Democratic attorney general to stop Musk from handing over the checks.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Musk and groups he supports have spent more than $20 million to help conservative favorite Brad Schimel, who's running against liberal candidate Susan Crawford for a seat on the state Supreme Court, which is currently controlled 4-3 by liberal justices. Tuesday's tightly contested race will determine the ideological makeup of a court likely to decide key issues in a perennial battleground state.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
And finally, if you've heard a one-time climate startup talking about jet fighters or AI lately, there's a reason for it.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
The journal's Ed Ballard says that following a third consecutive year of declines in equity funding for climate tech startups and a new administration intent on canceling the prior one's green funding programs, a number of small businesses that just months ago were touting the green benefits of their work are making a handbrake turn.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Among them, Magrathea Metals, a California company that Ed told me is developing a process for extracting magnesium from saltwater, and which until recently had a sales pitch that was focused on the climate benefits of its technology.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Ed told me that not all businesses will be able to pull off that shift. but some will.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
And that's it for What's News for this Monday morning. Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Kate Boulivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
That's according to people familiar with conversations between the president and his team in recent days in which he's pushed them to be more aggressive. Trump for months promoted the idea of universal tariffs during his campaign, but later ditched the idea in favor of a so-called reciprocal tariff plan.
WSJ What’s News
Stocks Slump as Trump Threatens Tariffs on All U.S. Trading Partners
Yet administration officials said that reciprocal plan is still on the table, but that whatever is unveiled on April 2nd, Trump wants the policy to be, quote, big and simple. Well, suffice it to say, market watchers care a great deal about where the president lands on his tariff strategy. And here to parse the news heading into a pivotal week, I'm joined by journal reporter Caitlin McCabe.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
Israel is expanding its ground operations in Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the new national security team around him confident that they can finally defeat Hamas. So reports the journal's Dov Lieber, who told me the preparations for renewed fighting come as a recent poll found that nearly three-quarters of Israelis would prefer negotiating with Hamas to end fighting.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
Dov, needless to say, I imagine this strategy is not without significant risks.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
US officials are meeting with a Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia today, following talks with their Ukrainian counterparts on Sunday. According to US officials, the goal of the talks is to extend a shaky ceasefire preventing attacks on energy infrastructure to the Black Sea, with Washington hoping that the deal will be followed by broader peace negotiations.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, President Trump's chief negotiator, Steve Witkoff, defended the administration's efforts to cut a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, quote, this is not me taking sides.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
And with ceasefire talks stalled, Israel expands its ground operations across Gaza. It's Monday, March 24th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of Watts News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The White House is narrowing down the list of tariffs set to take effect next week.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
European leaders fear a bad deal that allows Russia to rearm and attack Ukraine in several years could leave countries west of Ukraine vulnerable to Russia's military. Greenland's Prime Minister Muta Iga has slammed U.S. plans for a visit this week as, quote, highly aggressive. That's as U.S.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
The White House scales back its planned tariff announcements for next week. Plus, investors hedge their bets and look beyond America's shores.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Second Lady Usha Vance will travel to Greenland on Thursday, just days before local elections take place. It marks the first high-level U.S. delegation to visit the self-governing island since Trump vowed to acquire Greenland from Denmark, quote, one way or the other.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
Both local lawmakers and the Danish government have expressed strong opposition to Trump's approach, insisting that the mineral-rich island, while open to stronger commercial ties with the U.S., isn't interested in an American takeover. Greenland leaders said they'd been approached to meet with the U.S. delegation, but declined.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
Less than two weeks after taking over for Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap election, a vote that will revolve largely around the question of how Canada will deal with President Trump. Speaking yesterday in Ottawa, Carney said Canadians will go to the polls at the end of April.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
The former central banker is hoping to capitalize on momentum in the polls for his Liberal Party, which has coincided with a patriotic backlash against Trump's threats to slap tariffs on one of the U.S. 's largest trading partners or annex the country entirely. Conservative Party leader Pierre Palliev was also quick to hit the campaign trail in Toronto.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
Poliev, a career politician, used populist rhetoric in building up a huge polling lead last year and has recently tried to capture some of the anti-U.S. energy in his speeches. Coming up, as markets around the world trade at near-record discounts to the U.S., even some of the most all-American investors are shifting their assets abroad. That story and more after the break.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
2025 was supposed to be the year of American exceptionalism, yet the U.S. stock market finds itself languishing, not least because investors who were all in on U.S. stocks are starting to look elsewhere. My colleague Kate Bullivan spoke to journal reporter Owen Tucker-Smith to find out where they're putting their money instead.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
We report that while so-called reciprocal tariffs remain likely to kick in on April 2nd, a day President Trump has called Liberation Day for the U.S., sector-specific tariffs on cars, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors are now likely not to be announced. The White House didn't respond to requests for comment on if or when those tariffs are still planned to go into effect.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
And DNA testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy last night. CEO Ann Wojcicki also stepped down from her role, but will remain on the board as she continues efforts to buy the company's assets. Those include DNA samples from more than 15 million people, which could be sold in bankruptcy proceedings.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
Prior to the Chapter 11 filing, California's attorney general reminded consumers in his state of their right to delete their information, a step some may scramble to take due to concerns over who could ultimately own their personal genetic data. 23andMe said any buyer would have to comply with applicable law governing consumer data.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
The company had an enterprise value of more than $6 billion as recently as 2021, but struggled to find a profitable business model. And that's it for What's News for this Monday morning. Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Kate Boulivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
While also being dialed back is the scope of those reciprocal tariffs that seek to match U.S. duties with those charged by trading partners.
WSJ What’s News
White House Scales Back Planned April Tariffs
According to people with knowledge of the planning, they will now be focused on just 15 percent of countries that maintain persistent trade imbalances with the U.S., which would likely include Canada and Mexico, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, and the European Union.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Musk and a representative for Doge didn't respond to a request for comment. An OPM spokeswoman declined to comment. Meanwhile, the U.S. military and Congress are processing a sweeping overhaul of top Pentagon leadership announced by President Trump on Friday, which included the firing of the military's highest-ranking officer, the admiral leading the Navy, and several other senior figures.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Out are Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown Jr., the military's highest-ranking black officer, and its top woman commander, Admiral Lisa Frank Hetty. Trump gave no reason for replacing Brown, though his appointees have said diversity policies by the Biden administration had resulted in promoting unqualified officers.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
To replace Brown, Trump is nominating retired Air Force Lieutenant General Dan Kaine, a supporter of the president and strong critic of the top military leadership. Kaine will require Senate confirmation. Britain and France are working on a plan to deploy 30,000 European peacekeepers in Ukraine if Moscow and Kiev reach a ceasefire deal.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
According to European officials, the plan wouldn't require the U.S. to deploy its own forces in Ukraine, something Washington has all but ruled out. but would seek to draw on U.S. military capabilities to protect the European troops in Ukraine if they were put in danger and deter Russia from violating any ceasefire. The proposal hinges on persuading President Trump to agree to the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
acting as what the British call a backstop to any peace deal. French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to meet with Trump to discuss Ukraine today, with British Premier Keir Starmer following suit on Thursday. The National Security Council and the British Embassy in Washington declined to comment.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pressing for better terms to a mineral rights deal that the Trump administration has been pushing for, in which the U.S. would get preferential access to minerals such as titanium and lithium as payback for American aid.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Zelensky said yesterday that any offer should include security guarantees and better financial terms, adding that the demand that Ukraine return $500 billion for aid provided during the war far outstripped the $100 billion that the U.S. had given.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Trump administration officials this weekend urged Kiev to quickly accept the proposal already on the table.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Federal workers get a new ultimatum from Elon Musk. Plus, Ukraine's allies try to convince President Trump to offer Kiev an American security guarantee as the war enters its fourth year. And German elections deliver a win for the center-right alongside a historically strong showing by anti-establishment nationalists.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
And the first phase of a fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas drew closer to completion over the weekend, when six Israeli hostages, the last to be released until the next phase of the deal is negotiated, were handed over in ceremonies in which the men were forced to wave to crowds and one kissed militants.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were also supposed to be released from Israeli custody on Saturday. However, Israel says it's temporarily withholding their release until Hamas stops staging what it called humiliating hostage handovers. Hamas says Israel's move violates the ceasefire.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
It's Monday, February 24th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. U.S. federal government employees are beginning the week with a weighty message in their inboxes. Reply by the end of the day with details about what you got done at work last week.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to the region this week to try and hash out the next phase of the ceasefire. If agreed, it would lead to a permanent ceasefire and Hamas's release of its remaining hostages.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
However, we report today that Israel is trying to push Hamas to extend the first phase of the ceasefire in a bid to put off discussing the hardest parts of a pact to end the war. Coming up, German stocks and bonds are ticking higher after weekend elections look set to usher in a business-friendly government. We'll recap the vote with our bureau chief in Berlin after the break.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Let's turn now to Berlin to get some analysis on yesterday's German elections. The winner of that vote, conservative Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union, while current chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party scored its worst election result since the late 1800s. To put this all into context, I'm joined by the journal's Germany bureau chief Bertrand Benoit.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Bertrand, for those of us with no knowledge of German politics, what should we know about Merz, his domestic politics, of course, but especially how he'll be expected to work with the rest of Europe and, of course, the U.S.?
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
For anyone listening, if Merz's CDU party sounds familiar, that's because that was Angela Merkel's party. So in some ways, Bertrand, maybe German politics reverting back to some of the norms of recent decades.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
And yet so much has changed, of course, namely with the rise of the Alternative for Germany Party or AFD that had seen a real rise in popularity in recent years, thanks to concern over high levels of immigration issues. a party that recently received the backing of Elon Musk. The AFD last night secured almost 21% of the vote, the second highest vote total.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Finally, Bertrand, it sounds like up next will be talks to form a new government, a process that's taken months in the past and could take that long again. However, markets are already seeming to breathe a sigh of relief here. German government bond yields are edging higher today, as is the euro. But beyond those early moves, what is the outlook here for the German economy under Merz?
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
We report that email came together in a matter of hours on Saturday after President Trump directed Elon Musk to get more aggressive in his government cost cutting efforts. And by that evening, the message had been sent to more than two million federal workers, with Musk adding on social media that, quote, failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Bertrand Benoit is the Wall Street Journal's Germany Bureau Chief. Bertrand, thank you so much. Thank you, Luke. And in other news that could move markets today, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming bundle, which offers Disney+, Hulu, and Max, is retaining more customers than Netflix. According to new data from subscription analytics firm Antenna,
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
About 80 percent of subscribers who signed up for the bundle between July and September were still paying for it three months later, compared with 74 percent for Netflix. Representatives from the companies declined to comment. And that's it for What's News for this Monday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Boulivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rocca.
WSJ What’s News
German Vote Boosts Europe’s Centrists
Journal reporter Scott Patterson in Washington says that compared with other recent actions by Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, this one is being met with more pushback from top administration officials, including Trump's recently approved FBI director, Kash Patel.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
Carney warned yesterday that his conservative rival lacks the ability to manage Trump and jumpstart the economy. He also promised to cut taxes for the middle class and rein in government spending, seeking to distance himself from Trudeau's economic agenda. Ukrainian forces are losing ground in Kursk, the slice of Russian territory that Kyiv had hoped would give it leverage in any peace talks.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
That's according to analysts and soldiers in the area, who say Russian and North Korean troops have seized several villages there and used overwhelming drone power to largely cut supply routes to the main Ukrainian force. The advance follows a U.S. decision to halt intelligence sharing with Kyiv, reducing Ukraine's ability to carry out long-range strikes which rely on accurate targeting data.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
It also comes as senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials prepare to meet for talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Israel said yesterday it was cutting off its supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip, part of efforts to force Hamas into releasing Israeli hostages and laying down its weapons, now that talks to extend a seven-week ceasefire have stalled.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
The cutoff will likely mean the enclave's desalination plant will stop working. According to an Israeli security official, Israel still supplies Gaza's population of more than two million people with water from three different pipelines. However, the country's finance minister said last week that cutting off water to Gaza in order to pressure Hamas was also a possibility.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
A Hamas spokesman said that Israel disregards international law and that it has practically cut off electricity since the war began in October 2023. Meanwhile, U.S. federal immigration officers yesterday arrested a Columbia University student who helped to lead pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations last year.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
According to his lawyer, Mahmoud Khalil, who's Palestinian and Syrian, was detained by Department of Homeland Security agents who said they were acting on orders from the State Department to revoke his green card. The spokeswoman for DHS said Khalil had led activities aligned to Hamas and and that his arrest came, quote, in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
Plus, Russia claws back key territory from Ukrainian troops. And overpowered in Washington, Democrats wrestle with whether future voters want confrontation or attack to the center. It's Monday, March 10th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
The day before Khalil's detention, the Trump administration said it would cancel roughly $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Colombia. A State Department spokesperson didn't comment on the case, citing visa confidentiality laws. Chinese tariffs on American food and agricultural products will kick in today, Beijing's retaliation to an additional 10% U.S. levy on all Chinese goods.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
American chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton products face an extra 15% duty compared to 10% for soybeans, pork, beef, dairy products, and more. The moves will put pressure on the third-largest agricultural export market for U.S. farmers, which was worth almost $25 billion last year. Pushed on Fox News whether his economic agenda could lead the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
Canada gets a new leader as America's neighbour pushes back on Trump's trade war.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
economy to contract, President Trump offered the following on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
Trump's cabinet officials have offered differing opinions on the economic outlook, with Commerce Secretary Howard Ludnick ruling out a recession yesterday, while Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said last week the economy could be in for a rough patch. Coming up, the Democratic Party is torn over what its path back to power looks like. We've got that story after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
Democrats need to fight back against President Trump. That much they can agree on. But how to do it is a question causing some of them to fight amongst themselves, as the party reckons with the options at its disposal, given Trump's command of the national political debate and Republican control of Congress. Journal reporter Aaron Zittner is in Washington.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
Aaron, it's great to have you back on the pod. I'm trying to think about the last Democrat that we mentioned here, and I believe it was Representative Al Green who was yelling at President Trump during his address to Congress last week and got himself censured for it. I take it that's maybe one of the strategies, confrontation, that Democrats think they should be embracing here?
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
Just looking at the people you spoke to for this piece, Aaron, emotions really are running high. You've got the confrontationists feeling some true catharsis, it seems like, and getting out there and being vocal now, while those centrists really feel like a lack of discipline right now could make an already bad hand that much worse.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is set to take over from Justin Trudeau as Canada's next prime minister after winning a vote this weekend to become the leader of the country's governing Liberal Party. Journal reporter Vipal Manga says Carney is expected to call a snap election that suddenly looks winnable.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
Our final seconds, Aaron, obviously, Democratic rank and file. This is how to proceed here is in many ways a decision they get to make individually. But have we seen any clues from Democratic leadership about the approach they'd prefer to take here?
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
I've been speaking to Wall Street Journal reporter Aaron Zittner in Washington. Aaron, thanks so much. Good to be with you, Luke.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
And we may not have to wait long to see how Democrats choose to fight back ahead of a showdown this week over a Trump endorsed proposal to avoid a government shutdown and reduce spending, as well as what is shaping up to be a heated debate over a giant Republican backed tax bill later this year. And that's What's News for this Monday morning.
WSJ What’s News
Democrats Can’t Agree How to Fight Back
That clip of Mark Carney you heard, the top of the show, came from Reuters, courtesy of CPAC. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Bullivant. Christina Rocca and Sandra Kilhoff were our supervising producers. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Meanwhile, things are looking equally bleak back in the U.S., with futures suggesting the S&P 500 is on course to enter bear market territory. And as Journal Markets editor Katie Barnado explains, Wall Street is starting to speak out as the true economic effect of tariffs comes into focus.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Plus, Beijing's tariff countermeasures raise the specter of an intensifying trade war with Washington. And Wall Street speaks out, warning of an economic nuclear winter as recession risks mount. It's Monday, April 7th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Yet President Trump remains undeterred in his tariff stance, spending a long weekend at three of his Florida golf courses and firing off social media posts urging Americans to stay the course while promising a market reprieve. His administration is also defending the minimum 10 percent tariffs that have been imposed on countries around the world.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
with White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett saying that more than 50 countries have reached out to start negotiations. Speaking to ABC News' This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Hassett rejected the idea that American consumers will face higher prices.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to be the first world leader to hold in-person talks with Trump about the tariffs when he visits the White House today. Meanwhile, EU trade ministers are also meeting today to discuss the bloc's response to US tariffs. Well, one country that's already responding is China.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Coming up, we'll look at Beijing's sweeping retaliatory tariffs and get to the rest of the day's headlines after the break. China has come out in front as the only country to respond to U.S. tariffs immediately, announcing Friday it would put blanket tariffs of 34 percent on all U.S. goods.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
The bevy of retaliatory measures from Beijing includes restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals, controls on several American companies, and a probe into U.S. chemicals manufacturer DuPont. Journal reporter Hannah Miao covers the Chinese economy for us. Hannah, a pretty bold response from Beijing so far. What is the Chinese thinking around these tariffs?
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
I guess trying to find new markets presumably is going to be on the list, though the world has grown a bit wary of perceived Chinese dumping of its goods at a cheap price and harming local industry, for example.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
global markets sell off as President Trump doubles down on his tariffs.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Turmoil in global markets has snowballed into one of the worst routes in recent memory after President Trump said he'll stay the course with aggressive, economically disruptive tariffs. European shares are tumbling after Asian stock markets plunged this morning.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Shifting over to encouraging domestic demand. We've had many segments on the show through the years about things Beijing is thinking about to try and incentivize Chinese consumption of its own products. What are we hearing there?
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Though what we're not hearing here, Hannah, is talk of significantly bolder stimulus action, if I'm hearing this correctly, what we've described here on the podcast before as a bazooka stimulus.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
The sell-off became particularly apparent when Japan's exchange operator briefly halted trading in response to an almost 10% drop in Nikkei futures. The index closed trading off nearly 8%. Though, as our Asia finance editor, Peter Landers, told me, that wasn't the worst of it.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Reporter Hannah Miao covers the Chinese economy for us out of Singapore. Hannah, thank you so much for the update.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Back in the U.S., a second child diagnosed with measles has died in Texas amid an outbreak that's sickened hundreds of people and spread to nearby states. The Texas Department of State Health Services said the school-aged child was not vaccinated and didn't have any known underlying health conditions. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
traveled to Gaines County on Sunday, the center of the outbreak, where he was seen outside the funeral for the child. He did not attend a nearby news conference held by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the outbreak, but in a post on X said that the MMR vaccine is the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Health officials say two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is 97 percent effective in preventing the disease. And the Pentagon says that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel to Panama this week to attend a regional security conference.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
The visit follows President Trump's allegations of Chinese interference at the Panama Canal and threats to take back control of the vital shipping lane. Panama's government has denied Trump's claim that China exerts influence over the canal.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
Following Trump's threats, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate agreed to sell its controlling stake in a subsidiary that operates ports near the canal to a consortium, including BlackRock. And that's it for What's News for this Monday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Kate Bullivant with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.
WSJ What’s News
Market Turmoil Deepens as Trump Stands By Tariffs
We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Meanwhile, Israel says it is stopping the entry of goods into Gaza after a ceasefire officially expired over the weekend without any agreement with Hamas on what comes next.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Hours before the ceasefire expired, Israel said it had agreed to a US proposal to extend the agreement, which would see the release of more hostages and delay until April talks to permanently end fighting, but that Hamas had refused the offer.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Hamas sagte, dass Israel seine Kontrolle über Hilfe nach Gaza verwendet hat, um es in einen neuen Vertrag zu fordern, anstatt es zu erlauben, etwas zu sagen. Beide Seiten vorbereiten sich für eine Rückkehr zum Kampf.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Und der US-Sekretär des Staates, Marco Rubio, sagte am Wochenende, dass er die Geheimdienste verwendet hat, um die Ermittlung von etwa 4 Billionen Dollar in Militärhilfe nach Israel zu steigern. We are exclusively reporting that executives at some of the biggest U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
consulting firms are meeting with Trump officials to defend their contracts amid the administration's push to slash federal spending. That's as the General Services Administration, or GSA, has given procurement officials at federal agencies until Friday to list and justify consulting contracts they intend to keep from 10 companies, including Booz Allen, Accenture and GuideHouse.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
According to the GSA, the 10 highest paid consulting firms are set to receive more than $65 billion in total fees across 2025 and future years, money that has yet to be spent. In meetings with Trump officials, executives were told that the government still sees value in consulting, particularly in rolling out advanced technology and modernizing agencies.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Chinese buyers are getting around US export controls to order NVIDIA's latest artificial intelligence chips. According to our reporting, traders in China are selling computer systems with NVIDIA's Blackwell chips installed by routing them through third parties in nearby regions like Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan, with some sellers promising delivery within six weeks.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Ukraine's allies rally around President Zelensky in London. But how much can they do for Kiev without American support? Plus, consulting bosses scramble to defend billions of dollars in U.S. government contracts. And state legislatures resume their push to protect kids online, putting App Store operators on the defensive.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
NVIDIA said it would investigate every report of possible product diversion and take appropriate action. The grey market activity poses a fresh challenge for Washington, which is weighing how to manage a technological arms race with Beijing.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
And speaking of the great power rivalry between the world's top two economies, we're working on a special series about how Beijing is using its trillion-dollar Belt and Road Infrastructure Program to undercut American dominance on the world stage. The second episode of Building Influence is out now on the What's News feed.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
25% US-Tarif auf Importe aus Kanada und Mexiko werden morgen in Effekt gehen, mit einem zusätzlichen 10%-Tarif auf Produkte aus China.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Während ein weiterer 11-Hour-Deal, um diese Zeit zurückzuführen, eine Möglichkeit bleibt, wollten unsere Kollegen bei WSJs Take-on-the-Week-Podcast versuchen, den möglichen Marktimpact zu finden, wenn diese Maßnahmen, plus mehr Handelsaktionen, die von Präsident Trump versprochen wurden, in Effekt kommen.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Chad Bown, ein Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said that the worsening spat with China could hit the American heartland particularly hard.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
And to hear that full interview, including Chad Bounds' analysis on how tariffs could hit the chips industry, North American manufacturers and overall US GDP, check out the latest episode of WSJ's Take on the Week. You can listen and subscribe on whatever platform you use to listen to us. Und in other news investors will be watching.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
We are exclusively reporting that energy major Shell is exploring the potential sale of its chemicals assets in Europe and the US as it refocuses on its more profitable oil and gas operations. That is according to people familiar with the matter who say the process is in its early stages and Shell has yet to commit to any final decisions.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Und Kryptopreise haben gestern einen Boost bekommen, nachdem Präsident Trump sagte, dass er sich mit der Erstellung einer Krypto-Strategie-Reserve bewegen würde, die Bitcoin und Ether, sowie drei kleinere und riskierere Token, inkludieren würde. Trump hat keine weiteren Details geöffnet, aber er wird auf Freitag eine erste White House-Krypto-Summit aufrufen.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Coming up, state legislatures are picking up the fight over online child safety and who should be responsible to verify the ages of social media users. That story after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Let's revisit a story now that we spent a good deal of time talking about here and on What's News Sunday last year. The fight over online child safety. The journal's Amrith Ramkumar reports that fight is back on at state houses around the country. And it now features a rift between some of America's largest tech and social media platforms. Amrith, walk us through what's been going on lately.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
It sounds like there's been kind of a flurry of activity.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Was sagen die App-Store-Operatoren bei diesem Kampf, um den Heat auszunehmen?
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
It's Monday, March 3rd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. After publicly clashing with President Trump on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with nearly 20 allies in London yesterday.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
Hummerth, I know that privacy concerns and just overall skepticism about the efficacy of trying to age verify online in the first place have been perennial issues in the online safety debate. Has there been any movement in addressing those pitfalls?
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
That was Wall Street Journal Tech Policy Reporter Amrith Ramkumar. Amrith, thank you so much for bringing us this story.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
And that's what's news for this Monday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant with supervising producer Christina Rocca. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Can Europe Broker a Peace Plan for Ukraine?
A last-minute diplomatic gathering that attracted the leaders of Germany, Italy, France, Canada and Turkey in a show of support for Kyiv. But beyond optics, I asked the Journal's Deputy Brussels Bureau Chief Lawrence Norman what concrete progress came of the gathering.
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Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
officials said Israeli officials have complained privately about Waltz's texts becoming public. Trump administration officials have denied the texts contained classified information. And when asked yesterday whether the Justice Department would be getting involved, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi deflected.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
Waltz has said he's taking responsibility for initiating the signal chat. The Israeli prime minister's office and embassy in Washington declined to comment. Meanwhile, the U.S. is making new economic demands of Ukraine that would see Kiev surrender future profits from a swath of projects in order to compensate for American financial and military assistance.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
In addition to seeking profits from certain Ukrainian mineral projects, the latest draft of an economic deal now includes oil and gas resources, while continuing to omit mention of American security guarantees in early demand of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
Zelensky said that the new proposal, which updates an agreement he and Trump had been set to sign before a late February blowup at the White House, would require detailed study. The updated proposal comes as the U.S. faces headwinds in brokering Ukraine-Russia peace talks, raising questions about which side Trump might try to pressure to break the deadlock.
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Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
Well, speaking of the Trump administration's diplomatic strategy, Vice President J.D. Vance is set to arrive in Greenland today, a visit that sparked ire on the island, which sees the trip as an act of aggression. The trip also comes as officials around Europe are reckoning with comments made by Vance in a signal chat featuring top American officials.
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Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
in which he expressed disdain for what he perceived to be, quote, European freeloading. The journal's Brussels bureau chief Dan Michaels has been speaking to people close to Vance to understand the vice president's motives. Dan, before we get deeper into that, tell us about this visit to Greenland today and what it reveals about Vance's diplomatic instincts and U.S. policy at the moment.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
What's the end goal? One narrative around Vance's actions and his comments that have been directed towards Europe since taking office has been that it's animus. But your reporting suggests there could be something else at play here. What is Vance ultimately driving at?
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
A powerful earthquake rocks Myanmar and Thailand. Plus, President Trump broadens his retribution campaign against major law firms. And as Vice President Vance heads to Greenland, Europe confronts the reality that hostility from Washington could be more than just a show.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
It's Friday, March 28th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
If Vance is doing this, as some of his ideological allies say, is born of tough love. We want Europe ultimately to be strong and to align with the U.S. The way European countries react to this could unfold in a way that isn't in line with the U.S.,
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
That was the Journal's Brussels Bureau Chief, Dan Michaels. Dan, thanks so much. My pleasure, as always. Coming up, we'll recap a pair of executive orders out of Washington targeting unionized federal workers and another big law firm. Plus, Paul Hannon drops by to share some good economic news out of Europe. That and more after the break.
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Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
Australians are set to go to the polls in early May after Prime Minister Antony Albanese called for elections against a backdrop of an economic recovery and an uncertain global outlook.
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Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
Polls point to a tight race, with Albanese's Labour government expected to point to falling interest rates, stronger wage growth and tamed inflation, while the opposition Liberal National Coalition is proposing tax changes to lower fuel costs and building nuclear power plants to replace coal.
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Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
Global issues and leadership will likely be key features of the campaign, too, as the Trump White House targets Australia with tariffs on steel and aluminum. Well, speaking of the White House, we've got two more executive orders from President Trump to discuss.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
We begin in Thailand and Myanmar, where a series of powerful earthquakes, one of which reached a magnitude of 7.7, sent streams of wounded seeking treatment in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw and triggered the collapse of an apartment block under construction in the Thai capital, Bangkok.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
First, he moved to end the government's collective bargaining with workers at agencies involved in intelligence and national security and only exempting police and firefighters. The move could affect workers at the departments of state, defense, veterans affairs, and more, and follows prior moves to chip away at union bargaining rights within the government.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
Trump cited the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act as giving him authority to issue yesterday's order, while the American Federation of Government Employees Union said it was preparing immediate legal action. And in a separate order, Trump targeted yet another major law firm, this time WilmerHale, yanking its security clearances and restricting its access to federal buildings.
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Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
The order singled out WilmerHale's ties to former special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated ties between the president and his campaign in Russia. Wilmer had lobbied to avoid the executive order, hoping to leverage its ties to the administration, including helping vet top officials and preparing some for their confirmation hearings.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
Several additional firms are scrambling to avoid being targeted next, including Skadden, which we report is in talks with the administration. Among those already targeted by Trump, Perkins Coie is the only firm that's filed a lawsuit challenging the president's actions.
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Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
The journals Dana Mattioli and Aaron Mulvaney have the inside story on why it decided to fight back, how that's gone over with clients, and how Trump's orders have roiled the clubby U.S. legal industry. We've left a link to that story in our show notes.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
And in markets news, a raft of fresh data is pointing to light at the end of the tunnel for the European economy, despite imminent tariffs that are threatening to dampen already lackluster eurozone growth. Low inflation in France and Spain points to slower price rises and tees up fresh cuts to interest rates in the months ahead.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
And as economics editor Paul Hannan told us, lower borrowing costs are a boon for businesses and consumers in particular.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
And that's it for What's News for this Friday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Otherwise, have a great weekend and thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
Thailand's National Institute of Emergency Medicine said 50 people had been transferred to hospital and one person died in the collapse. For more on this developing story, visit wsj.com. We are exclusively reporting that Israel provided sensitive intelligence on a Houthi military operative that was targeted in a U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Powerful Earthquakes Rock Myanmar, Thailand
attack in Yemen that was described in the signal chat at the center of a political firestorm. According to two U.S. officials, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz texted that a Houthi missile expert, a key target of the attacks, was seen entering a building Waltz said had been destroyed, intelligence that came from an Israel-linked human source on the ground in Yemen. U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Eine gemeinsame Pressekonferenz zwischen Trump und Zelenskyy wird um 1.00 Uhr östlich an der Schlussfolgerung von bilateralen Beratungen stattfinden. Mittlerweile ist es ein wichtiges Wochenende in der Mittleren Osten-Diplomatie, weil die erste Phase eines aktuellen Ausbruchs zwischen Israel und Hamas morgen ausführen wird.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Die USA, ein wichtiger Mediator in den Gesprächen, hat gesagt, dass sie sich auf eine zweite Phase bewegen wird, die die Krieg formal enden würde, aber mehr Zeit benötigen würde, um das zu tun. So how likely is that? And how are the parties to the war viewing things? Summer Said is a journal senior Middle East correspondent.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Summer, you have always got a good pulse on when diplomatic talks are actually occurring versus when this is all just bluster that we're hearing. What's happening? Are the parties talking?
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Earlier this week you reported that Hamas' military forces were regrouping, new commanders were being appointed. They were working out where they might position fighters if there was a return to the war. Just expand on that a bit. That was Hamas' militant wing making those preparations. Does their political wing necessarily feel the same way?
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
And could that all just be posturing, not wanting to seem ahead of talks like they wouldn't be willing to fight if it came to it?
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Ukraines Zelenskyy heads to Washington in a bid to win US support. Plus, as mediators work to salvage an expiring Gaza ceasefire, Hamas' military wing prepares for a new fight.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
And in terms of what happens next in these talks, Summer, how do we factor in the Trump effect? He had a pretty galvanizing effect on the ceasefire process last month, demanding the release of hostages or else. Of course, there are still more than 60 hostages in Gaza, though many of them are presumed dead. How should we see his and the U.S. role in all of this?
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Summer Saeed ist Wall Street Journal Senior Middle East Correspondent. Summer, thank you so much for the update. Thank you. Coming up, the FAA readies a hiring push for U.S. air traffic controllers, plus how markets are reacting to President Trump's latest tariff threats and more after the break. FAA
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
The Trump Administration wants to hire more air traffic controllers and spend billions of dollars to upgrade the nation's aviation system. As part of a plan to increase staffing, the Federal Aviation Administration will boost pay for air traffic control students at its academy in Oklahoma City by 30% and streamline its hiring and training process to attract the best candidates.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
It hopes to reverse staffing shortages that have strained workers and at times caused flight delays in recent years. While the administration has been cutting jobs across the federal government, including the FAA, controllers and aviation safety inspectors have been exempt.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
In an interview with the journal, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he'd also ask Congress to fund tech upgrades to US air traffic control, pointing to its reliance on decades-old copper wire, floppy disks and phone jacks. A tweak in Google's algorithm has thrown product review sites into crisis.
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Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Sites offering tips on everything from mattresses to savings accounts, such as CNN Underscored and Forbes Vetted, rely on the tech giant to drive much of their traffic and therefore revenue. But over the past year, Google has changed how such sites appear in its search engine, saying it wants to offer users higher quality results.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Journalist Alexandra Bruel hat gesagt, dass das für eine einmal lukrative Seite der News-Media verursacht worden ist.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
According to data firm SimilarWeb, traffic for personal finance recommendation site Forbes Advisor fell 83% in January, while CNN Underscored and BuySide from WSJ, which is operated by Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones, were both down more than 25% in that period.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
And let's look at what's moving or not moving markets as we close out the week, starting with the response to President Trump's latest trade moves. We got a few more of them yesterday. Further 10% tariffs on products from China and clarification that 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico would kick in next Tuesday.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
That's on top of promised 25% EU tariffs, measures targeting automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, and reciprocal tariffs meant to equalize US levies with duties and non-tariff barriers imposed by other nations. Given that flurry of activity, I asked Journal finance editor for Europe, Alex Frangos, how and if markets are able to keep up.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
And markets and Trump's team struggled to keep up with a flurry of tariff activity from the president. It's Friday, February 28th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet with President Trump at the White House this morning.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
As the journal's Gavin Bade reports, Trump administration officials are privately indicating that the president's full reciprocal tariff action could take six months or longer to implement, with people familiar with the discussion saying a previously announced April 2nd deadline affords too little time to fully analyze the tariff and non-trade barriers of countries around the world.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Asian Stocks have ended the day deep in the red. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has dropped below the $80,000 mark, accelerating a recent retreat from highs reached ahead of Trump's inauguration last month, as investors lose their appetite for risky assets like cryptocurrencies.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
And on deck today, the Fed's favored measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, is set for release at 8.30 a.m. Eastern. And that's it for what's news for this Friday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Belovint and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rocca. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Otherwise, have a great weekend. Thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Zelensky is hoping to finalize a mineral rights deal and then appeal to Trump for security guarantees, though it's unclear whether those guarantees are forthcoming.
WSJ What’s News
Negotiators Race to Extend Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire
Ein Senior-Trump-Administration-Official hat gestern gesagt, dass die USA keine Boots auf dem Boden in der Ukraine stellen würden, obwohl sie gefordert haben, dass eine Art indirekter Unterstützung für die Diskussion offen sein könnte, so lange die US-Truppen nicht in Schmerzen sind.
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Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
Here with the very latest, I'm joined by Wall Street Journal aviation reporter Ben Katz. Ben, what do we know at this hour about what caused this, and describe to us the effects we're seeing downstream.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
Disruption for air passengers' cargo, I imagine, affected as well some economic ripple effects here?
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
Plus protests in Israel after Prime Minister Netanyahu fires his intelligence chief, tightening his grip on power. and Elon Musk is set to receive a top-secret Pentagon briefing today. It's Friday, March 21st. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
It does seem remarkable, does it not? A single point of failure for such a key piece of infrastructure.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
That was journal aviation reporter Ben Katz. Ben, thanks for stopping by. Thanks, Luke. Coming up, Elon Musk's top secret briefing on U.S. war plans for China. Plus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fires his domestic intelligence chief. We've got those stories and much more after the break. Elon Musk is set to be briefed today on the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
military's top-secret war plans for China, according to two U.S. officials, including about how American forces would fight, along with maritime tactics and targeting plans. The meeting underscores the cross-cutting interests Musk has as a senior advisor to President Trump, while being the head of U.S. defense contractor SpaceX and Tesla, which relies on China for car production.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
Major disruption as an electrical outage shuts London's Heathrow Airport.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
Musk, according to one person familiar with the arrangements, is receiving the briefing because he asked for one. While he has a security clearance, Musk isn't in the military chain of command or known to be a military advisor to Trump, though he has lately weighed in on defense acquisitions.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that Musk would visit the Pentagon on Friday, but disputed that he'd receive a sensitive China briefing. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that China will not even be mentioned or discussed at the Pentagon meeting.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
A federal judge has temporarily blocked members of the Department of Government Efficiency from Social Security Administration systems that contain personal information, saying their work was likely an illegal phishing expedition.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
The temporary restraining order bars Doge employees or affiliates from accessing the agency's systems until they receive proper training on handling sensitive information. The judge also ordered them to delete all non-anonymous personal information that they'd gathered from the agency so far.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
An SSA spokesperson said it will work to comply with the court order, while White House spokesman Harrison Fields described Judge Ellen Hollander as an activist trying to sabotage the president's work. Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board says 68 bridges across the country should be inspected to assess whether they would collapse in the event of a vessel collision.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
The list includes New York's Brooklyn, George Washington, Manhattan, Verrazano Narrows, and Williamsburg bridges, along with the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Here was NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
The NTSB recommendation comes as a part of its investigation into the destruction of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge last year after it was hit by a cargo ship, killing six people. Turning to Israel now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired his domestic intelligence chief, arguing that Shin Bet director Ronan Barr had lost his trust.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
London's Heathrow Airport is shut after an electrical fire knocked out power to Europe's busiest travel hub. The airport is a major gateway for American travelers to Europe and expects disruption for days, with at least 1,300 flights affected today alone.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
Barr's ouster is controversial because Shin Bet was investigating some of Netanyahu's aides. Barr has also been playing a key role in negotiations with Hamas to free hostages and reach a ceasefire deal. And following the move, thousands of people marched on Jerusalem to oppose bars removal and demand elections, while relatives of hostages gathered to call for a ceasefire.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
In a letter preempting his dismissal, Barr said the move was aimed at preventing his agency from investigating the failure to stop Hamas's October 7th attacks and would harm efforts to free hostages.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
And in market news today, Japan's consumer inflation slowed slightly in February to 3.7 percent from a year earlier, but continues trending up amid a record spike in rice prices and signs of strong wage growth. Those price pressures mean the Bank of Japan has room to keep tightening and move ahead with interest rate hikes.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
Meanwhile, FedEx is warning that economic uncertainty is hurting its bottom line. The company cut its outlook for the year, citing soft demand for business-to-business shipments as a result of continued weakness in America's industrial economy, inflationary pressures and uncertain global trade policies. FedEx shares fell in off-hours trading.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
And shares in consulting firm Accenture have also taken a hit after its CEO warned of ongoing uncertainty amid government efforts to rein in spending on federal contractors.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
According to a draft of a letter from the General Services Administration viewed by the journal, the Trump administration plans to ask Accenture and other consulting companies, including IBM and Deloitte, to create a scorecard within weeks to justify their work with the U.S. government.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
For weeks, the Trump administration has made it clear it wants to reduce consulting spending and that it expects firms to help. And that's it for What's News for this Friday morning. We had additional sound in this episode from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Kate Boulivant with supervising producer Sandra Kilhoff. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
About 120 aircraft were en route to Heathrow when the fire broke out, with those flights having to either land at a different airport or return home. Here's the moment that an American Airlines pilot flying from North Carolina to Heathrow had to do just that.
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China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
People with knowledge of the discussion say many of the offers from countries to negotiate with the White House are just preliminary calls and not fleshed-out economic proposals. Markets in Japan and South Korea have ended the day in the red. European indexes are falling in morning trading. U.S. futures are pointing to a lower open, while gold has soared to an all-time high.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
And in the latest test for markets, a number of U.S. financial institutions are set to report first-quarter earnings this morning, including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley. The U.S. and Iran are scheduled to meet tomorrow for high-stakes nuclear talks in Oman.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
I asked the journal's Benoit Faucon, who's in Oman, what to expect as Trump's special envoy for Middle East issues, Steve Witkoff, and Iran's foreign minister prepare to meet face-to-face.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Benoit, this all sounds a bit exploratory, and yet President Trump has threatened to take military action against Iran if no deal is reached. I'll also point out we've reported that some Western officials now see Iran as part of this axis called CRINC, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, that is now united in defying Western sanctions. In light of that, what is Iran's urgency to make a deal?
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
And back in Washington, the Supreme Court has told the Trump administration to seek the return of a migrant mistakenly sent to a Salvadorian prison, rebuffing government claims that it need do nothing to remedy its error. Thursday's order directed the government to take steps to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. from a maximum security facility it sent him to in March.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
administration maintained its only error was sending him to El Salvador rather than to a third country, and that federal courts had no power to command officials to retrieve him once he was in custody of a foreign government. Coming up after a whirlwind week for investors, is policy risk here to stay? How likely is a recession and is now a good time for action or patience?
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Plus, the rest of the day's news as the U.S. and Iran prepare for nuclear talks and the Supreme Court orders the return of a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. It's Friday, April 11th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Rathbones' Ed Smith joins us to take on those questions after the break. So As we near the end of one of the most topsy-turvy weeks for global markets in recent memory, how should investors view the road ahead? With reciprocal tariffs on pause, can we afford to put our recession worries on hold as well? Or could universal 10% levies be enough to shake confidence and dent growth forecasts?
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Yet more trade countermeasures as China ups its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%. We'll look at how investors can prepare for the road ahead after a volatile week in markets.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
To take on those questions and more, I'm joined by Ed Smith, the Co-Chief Investment Officer at Rathbones Investment Management. Ed, I guess the big question right out of the gate, can investors afford to put policy risk behind them? That risk was really what had been driving unease around the world in recent days.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
How do you assess the disruption caused going forward here by 10% universal tariffs, as well as these now 100 plus percent tariffs on China, compared to maybe that worst case scenario some investors were thinking of a few days ago? Have we really, on balance, stepped down in terms of the disruption as we end the week?
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
It sounds like it would be unwise, given what you've just said, then, for investors to rule out the recession risks that were starting to dial up in recent days or slower growth expectations.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Got it. It seems like consumer confidence measures, business confidence measures will be pretty crucial in the next few weeks to determine how jittery everyone remains after what we've just been through.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Global markets are on pace to end the week on a rocky note as trade tensions continue to weigh on the economic outlook. This morning, China announced it would raise its retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods to 125 percent effective tomorrow. matching the latest duty imposed by the White House. Beijing signaled it's now done matching each U.S.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Given that, how do you weight US equities after what we've just been through? Investors hearing that boardrooms are dumbstruck doesn't exactly inspire a ton of confidence if they don't know what the future holds.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
All right, kind of a return to investing basics there in an environment in which it seems like emotions are running pretty high among investors. Folks maybe had to sell positions at a loss in recent days, feeling like, The bottom was about to fall out and now maybe regretting that decision.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Others frustrated maybe that they didn't get in on Wednesday's rally and, I don't know, looking for other moments to strike.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Ed Smith is the co-chief investment officer at Rathbones Investment Management. Ed, thank you so much for being with us on What's News. My pleasure. And a heads up before we go, an earlier version of this show made reference to 150% tariffs on China. As of this morning, U.S. tariffs on China stand at 145 percent. And that's it for What's News for this Friday morning.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant. Our supervising producer was Daniel Bach. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Otherwise, have a great weekend. Thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
tariff increase, saying American imports are no longer marketable under current levels. Speaking at a meeting with Spain's prime minister in Beijing, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said today there'd be no winners in a tariff war, but added he was not afraid of the fight to come.
WSJ What’s News
China Hits U.S. Goods With 125% Tariff
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has kicked off a high-speed effort to negotiate ad hoc deals with more than 70 countries hoping to escape higher tariffs. A push that's playing out as lawmakers on Capitol Hill are eager to see deals reached that can avoid this week's tariff-induced stock sell-off.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Meanwhile, top American officials are prepared to meet their Ukrainian counterparts next week in Saudi Arabia to set the stage for potential peace talks with Russia.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
The meeting, which could signal a healing of relations between Kiev and Washington, comes as the Trump administration believes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has apologized following last week's contentious Oval Office meeting with President Trump and signaled he wants to work towards peace. Walgreens is going private.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
The embattled drugstore chain agreed yesterday to a buyout deal with Sycamore Partners valued at $10 billion, less than a tenth of what the company was worth a decade ago. It's an agreement that Journal of Pharmaceuticals reporter Joseph Walker says will allow Walgreens' new owners to try and fix the struggling business out of the public eye.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Walgreen's shares are up in off-hours trading, closing in on the $11.45 share price that Sycamore agreed to pay. And in other market news today, Chinese exports over the first two months of the year have come in weaker than expected amid rising trade tensions with the U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
According to official data, exports grew 2.3 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, falling short of the 4.5 percent economists polled by the journal had forecast. The crypto world is reacting to President Trump's executive order yesterday establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Comments from Trump last weekend that four other digital currencies would join Bitcoin in the reserve had sparked frenzy in crypto markets. However, the final order clarified that new purchases would only be made for Bitcoin, while other cryptocurrencies, likely to include Ether, XRP, Solana and Cardano, would be held in a stockpile comprised of assets seized by law enforcement.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
The White House is due to hold a first-ever crypto summit today. And also on deck, the Labor Department is due to release its February jobs report at 8.30 a.m. Eastern, and we'll hear from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 12.30 p.m., his last public remarks before the Fed makes its next rate decision. Coming up, Elon Musk's alliance with Donald Trump weighs on Tesla, plus Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
The U.S. threatens joint action with Israel against Hamas unless the group releases all hostages from Gaza. Plus, Walgreens gets a fresh chance to fix its business with new owners and away from the public eye. And Tesla's fortunes fall as Elon Musk rises in Trump's world.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
introduces greater scrutiny of vaccines as health secretary. Those stories and more after the break. Five years ago, Tesla's share of the EV market was close to 80%. Two years ago, its stock was one of the hottest things on Wall Street. And as recently as December, its market value hit $1.5 trillion.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
But in the months since, the narrative has flipped as the politics of CEO Elon Musk rapidly reorient market perceptions of Tesla. Its showrooms, charging stations, and factories abroad and in the U.S. become the targets of protests and vandalism. And most importantly, for the company's bottom line, buyers may be walking away.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Journal reporter Becky Peterson covers Tesla and joins me now from New York. Becky, have I captured the change in Tesla's fortune sufficiently there? This has been a pretty rapid shift and notably one that has seen Elon Musk go from being really a positive association for many EV buyers to now possibly a drag on the brand.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
It's Friday, March 7th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Nearly a week since the expiration of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, President Trump's Middle East envoy is floating the threat of joint U.S.-Israeli action against Hamas if it doesn't release all hostages from Gaza.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Yeah, I was going to say, this is a company that was already facing headwinds from competition. There were some quality concerns. There's been flagging consumer demand for EVs, right? So add to that changing perceptions of Elon Musk. How serious is this for Tesla? What are their options going forward?
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Have you heard anything about a repositioning, some sort of pivot by the company to try to find other buyers who could maybe get those sales numbers back up?
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Journal reporter Becky Peterson covers Tesla for us out of New York. Becky, thank you so much.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
And adding to the challenges facing Musk's companies, SpaceX lost another Starship spacecraft after a test rocket launch yesterday, with the craft blowing up over the Caribbean and prompting flight diversions. mirroring a similar incident in January.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
The FAA said it would require SpaceX to conduct an investigation into the explosion's cause, while the company said it was coordinating with safety officials. And finally, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has started taking steps to shake up how the federal government oversees vaccines.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Under his leadership, the Health and Human Services Department, or HHS, has canceled or postponed meetings between infectious disease experts and is scrutinizing at least two vaccine contracts. And as the journal's Dominique Mossbergen reports, Kennedy is considering more changes, including at a committee that recommends which vaccines Americans should get and when.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Ahead of his confirmation, Kennedy told senators he wasn't anti-vaccine and said he would focus on chronic illness. But as our colleagues Liz Essley-White and Christina Peterson report, his first weeks on the job show he'll need to chart a careful course to turn his views into policy. Journal subscribers can check out their behind-the-scenes reporting by clicking on the link in our show notes.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
And that's it for What's News for this Friday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Boulivant and Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rocca. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Otherwise, have a great weekend. Thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
Witkoff said he hoped the situation could still be resolved diplomatically, and the Trump administration confirmed this week it had engaged in direct talks with Hamas, its first publicly acknowledged discussions with the group since the start of the war in October 2023.
WSJ What’s News
Musk’s Politics Dent Tesla’s Appeal
But as journal correspondent Dov Lieber told me, Gaza-related negotiations are increasingly taking place outside of the ceasefire framework agreed to in the waning days of the Biden administration.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
Meanwhile, a number of U.S. allies are readying their next steps in response to the latest tariff moves, among them the European Union, which is sending a delegation to Washington next week. Making that trip will be Bernd Lange, a member of the European Parliament for Germany and the chair of the Parliament's Trade Committee.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
I spoke to him earlier this morning and began by asking him what he made of President Trump's characterization of the EU in his Rose Garden speech.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
What do you make broadly of the U.S. viewing the EU-U.S. relationship in terms of the trade balance? That really is what's going on here.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
President Trump has said countries that want to negotiate down their U.S. tariffs should get rid of their own tariffs and other trade barriers. They should stop currency manipulation and start buying tens of billions of dollars of American goods. Is any of that on the table?
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
And are you looking at other carrots, if we could call them that, to try and repair the relationship and prevent damage to the EU economy?
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
Recession fears mount following Wall Street's biggest one-day wipeout since 2020. Plus, as EU officials prepare to head to Washington for tariff talks next week, we'll hear why there are limits to how much the bloc is willing to negotiate. And South Korea's impeached president is removed from office as political divisions grip the country.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
Could you elaborate on that? I know the U.S. released a document this week that described EU legislation. What did you make of that?
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
It's Friday, April 4th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Global markets are extending declines today following yesterday's rout on Wall Street. Asian stocks were dragged down by Japan's Nikkei, with analysts chalking up the sell-off to heightened recession risks.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
Finally, Bernd, going forward, does Europe need to strengthen other trade relationships in response to this? Can it afford to be so closely linked to the U.S. if the relationship can be jeopardized as we've seen it now?
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
Bernd Lange is a member of the European Parliament for Germany and chairs the Parliament's Trade Committee. Bernd, thank you so much for being with us on What's News. Thanks a lot. Coming up, South Korea's president is removed from office, triggering snap elections. Plus, President Trump expands his university crackdown. Those stories and the rest of the day's news after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
South Korean President Yoon Seok-yool has been removed from office over his short-lived declaration of martial law in December, paving the way for elections to be held in the next 60 days. Eight judges from the country's Constitutional Court voted unanimously to uphold Yoon's impeachment by South Korean lawmakers.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
Thousands of supporters and anti-Yun protesters took to the streets ahead of the ruling, which Yun didn't attend. Journal reporter Dosil Yun in Seoul says the stakes are high for the country's next leader.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
We are exclusively reporting that Kirkland & Ellis, the largest US law firm by revenue, is in talks with the White House to avoid an executive order similar to those levied against several of its rivals. That's according to people familiar with the matter, who added that the firm is one of the White House's next targets for sanctions.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
It isn't clear what objections Trump and his inner circle would have to the firm's activities, though it was one of 20 firms recently questioned over diversity, equity and inclusion practices. The president's executive orders so far have generally threatened lawyers' access to federal buildings, as well as government contracts held by their clients.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
And the Trump administration is escalating its campaign against American universities, with Brown becoming the fifth Ivy League institution to face a potential loss of federal funding. The administration is preparing to pull more than $500 million in federal grants from Brown over the handling of anti-Semitism and DEI policies.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
European markets are in the red in midday trading, continuing their slide for a second day in a row. And WSJ Markets Editor for Europe Katie Barnado told me several other indicators point to growing concerns about a worsening economic outlook.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
According to people familiar with the matter, those would be National Institutes of Health grants, but Brown said the freeze was a rumor they couldn't confirm.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
At the same time, a Harvard spokesperson said Thursday night that members of Trump's anti-Semitism task force had sent a letter with nine demands the school must meet to avoid losing billions in government funding, mostly concerning how the university operates. And that's it for What's News for this Friday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant.
WSJ What’s News
Recession Fears Rise as Global Selloff Continues
Our supervising producer was Daniel Bach. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Otherwise, have a great weekend and thanks for listening.