Meridith McGraw
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WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
The decision follows a report that Waltz added a journalist to a sensitive group chat on the non-government messaging app Signal roughly a month ago, in which advisers discussed a bombing operation on Houthi rebels in Yemen. Meredith McGraw covers the White House, and she joins me from there. Meredith, is this a promotion or what for Waltz?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
And with Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, as interim National Security Advisor, what changes is he expected to bring, if any?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
And what message is the White House sending with this reshuffle in staff?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
That was Wall Street Journal reporter Meredith McGraw. Meredith, thank you.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
A federal judge in Texas has ruled President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport alleged members of a foreign gang unlawful. The judge, who was nominated to the bench by Trump during his first term, ruled the government can't detain the plaintiffs solely on the basis of the 18th century law.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
The order didn't bar officials from detaining or deporting people under other relevant immigration laws, the judge noted. It's the first direct ruling against Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act. The White House didn't immediately return a request for comment.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
Ahead of tomorrow's jobs report, a small cautionary sign, weekly filings for new unemployment benefits hit the highest level since February. In the last full week of April, 241,000 Americans sought jobless benefits, well more than analysts were expecting. Still, the rise wasn't such a big jump that economists will be sounding the alarm just yet.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
Over the past year, there have been bigger increases that quickly reversed. Yesterday's better-than-expected earnings from Microsoft and Meta Platforms boosted markets, reassuring investors of the relative resilience of the Magnificent Seven tech giants in the face of tariff uncertainty. U.S. stocks rallied, led by the Nasdaq Composite, which gained roughly 1.5%.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
The Dow moved up 0.2%, and the S&P 500 gained just over 0.6%. Speaking of the Magnificent Seven, Amazon reported strong quarterly earnings that weren't affected by new tariffs on Chinese imports. The tech giant topped Wall Street projections. Amazon said its revenue grew by 9% in its first quarter to more than $155 billion, while its profit was over $17 billion.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is out, making him the first top official to lose his job in Trump's second term.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
And Apple reported the highest March quarter revenue it's seen in more than two years, as people moved quickly to buy smartphones and other devices before new U.S. tariffs were announced in April. The company said sales rose 5 percent to $95 billion, ahead of analyst expectations. Coming up, President Trump is done waiting for Boeing to deliver a new Air Force One.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
He commissioned a smaller defense contractor to ready an interim presidential plane by the end of the year. That's after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
President Trump wants a new Air Force One, and in the short term, he's moving to refurbish a Qatari luxury aircraft in order to get it. Trump wants to have the plane available for use as early as this fall. The U.S. government has commissioned L-3 Harris to retrofit the Boeing 747 with specialized systems, though it might not prove as capable as the current vehicles.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
This as Boeing continues work on a pair of Air Force One replacement jets that may not be delivered until around 2035. The project is also billions of dollars over budget after a series of supplier engineering and manufacturing setbacks. So what does this project mean for Boeing? Andrew Tangle covers aviation for The Wall Street Journal, and he joins me now.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
Andrew, how is Boeing looking at this development?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
This is symbolic in a ways of Boeing's problems with Air Force One replacement project and its other manufacturing and engineering problems in recent years. Boeing didn't comment for the article, but producing the Air Force One presidential jets has been... a privilege and honor and point of pride for Boeing.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
And Trump has been so frustrated with the company's inability to get the planes that he did the deal for in his last term in office that he has tasked a different company with finishing essentially an interim contract Air Force One jet to bridge the gap between the current aging Air Force One jets and the newer ones that Boeing is still plugging away on.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
And it'll be done at some point in the years down the road, maybe after Trump leaves office.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
Could Boeing see its Air Force One contracts canceled? And how big of a blow would that be for the company?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
That was under consideration at least during the previous administration. It's unclear what the status of the Boeing contract is at this moment. Boeing, prior to Trump taking office the second time, informed the government that there were new delays that suggested the planes would not be delivered until 10 years away.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
Trump didn't like that news and has dispatched Elon Musk to speed up Boeing's project and part of that work. is involving reducing the requirements by the government to make it easier for Boeing to finish the planes. So how well Boeing can perform under what becomes of the new timeframe that the government and Boeing settle on, it remains to be seen.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
But if Boeing were to lose the contract, it would be a blow to Boeing's reputation.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
That was Wall Street Journal aviation reporter Andrew Tangle. Andrew, thank you.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
Chief executives are leaving their posts at a record pace this year. According to Challenger Gray and Christmas, which tracks executive departures, among U.S. businesses with at least 25 employees, over 2,200 CEOs bid farewell last year. And more than 370 public company chiefs exited, roughly a quarter more than did in 2023.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
WSJ columnist Callum Borchers told our Your Money Briefing podcast that some of the middle managers who would have once been ushered up the career ladder to take the place of exiting CEOs are instead stalling out or calling it quits themselves.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
And a federal judge rules that the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act to allow deportations is unlawful. It's Thursday, May 1st. I'm Pierre Bien-Aimé for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for Alex Osola. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that moved the world today.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
And Kohl's has fired its CEO, Ashley Buchanan, after a board investigation discovered he had instructed the company to enter into a highly unusual business deal involving a woman with whom he has had a romantic relationship. That's according to people familiar with the situation.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
According to a regulatory filing, Buchanan caused the retailer to enter into a multi-million dollar consulting agreement with a woman who was part of the consulting team. Buchanan declined to comment. And that's what's news for this Thursday afternoon. Today's show was produced by Anthony Bansi with supervising producer Michael Kosmides. I'm Pierre Bien-Aimé for The Wall Street Journal.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
President Trump is replacing National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, making him the first top official to lose his job in Trump's second term. Trump announced on social media that Waltz would be nominated as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will step in as interim National Security Advisor.
WSJ What’s News
Future Uncertain for Ukraine After Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes
The order is supposed to promote unity, establish some efficiency in the federal government, and according to the White House, provide a pathway to civic engagement. And it seems like it would give agencies some flexibility to decide whether when and how they would make accommodations for people. So it does seem like there's some wiggle room here.
WSJ What’s News
Future Uncertain for Ukraine After Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes
Even though it's declaring that English is the official language of the United States, it's allowing these agencies to decide to their discretion how they're going to implement this.