Victoria Craig
Appearances
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
For more, I'm joined by The Wall Street Journal's chief economics commentator, Greg Ip. Greg, we talk a lot about the impact of President Trump's tariff policy. How are these new levies affecting the economy and the Fed's reaction to it?
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
And the Fed has been extremely cautious with its language about tariffs. But what information does it need for the next interest rate decisions over the next couple of months? And when might we see rates move?
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Wall Street Journal Chief Economics Commentator Greg Ip, thank you so much.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Tariffs aren't just making the Fed's job more complicated. According to new modeling from the Consumer Technology Association, they could also push prices for video game consoles up nearly 70 percent. That's if they aren't covered by an exemption to the tariffs.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
The industry group sees prices for smartphones, laptops, and other widely used devices rising 30 percent, with the assumption that the administration lands on a 25 percent tariff for those products. U.S. stocks closed higher today after the Fed's decision to hold steady. The Dow ended the session up 0.7%, boosted by Disney, the index's best performer.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Shares soared nearly 11% on its earnings results. More on that later. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.25%. We exclusively report that U.S. intelligence agencies are stepping up their activity in Greenland. That's according to people familiar with the effort.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
The directive is one of the first concrete steps the Trump administration has taken toward fulfilling the president's often-stated desire to acquire Greenland. Catherine Long is a reporter on the journal's investigations team, and she joins me now. Catherine, what kind of information are these agencies looking together?
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Despite President Trump's demands, the Fed keeps rates steady and warns of increased economic uncertainty. Plus, Mickey Mouse heads to the Middle East as Disney plans a new theme park in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
And the White House has framed this around security concerns in Greenland and in the Arctic. Tulsi Gabbard, who heads up the National Intelligence Agency, she had some choice words for the journal about this story. Tell us about that.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Thanks for having me. A federal appeals court has ruled that Tufts University graduate student Ramesa Ozturk must be moved from a Louisiana detention center to a Vermont one where her case is unfolding. Ozturk's lawyers say her arrest in March was in retaliation for co-writing a pro-Palestinian opinion piece for a student newspaper. She has not been charged with any crimes.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
The Trump administration has detained multiple foreign-born students in Louisiana, where experts say courts have precedent that is less friendly to immigrants. The appeals court's decision today could set a precedent for other detained students to be moved out of Louisiana. Coming up, why Disney chose Abu Dhabi as the home of its next theme park. That's after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Disney is setting up shop in Abu Dhabi. The House of Mouse announced plans today for its seventh global theme park, which will give it an anchor in the Middle East. The Disneyland project will be designed by the company's Imagineers, but built and financed by a local company, Miral, which has constructed other theme parks on the same island Disney has set its sights on.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Ben Fritz covers the entertainment industry for The Wall Street Journal. Ben, why Abu Dhabi and why now for Disney?
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
What does the partnership between these two companies, Disney and Miral, look like?
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Now, Disney CEO Bob Iger says we could be as many as seven years away from the opening of this new Abu Dhabi theme park. But we did learn today through the company's earnings that the experience part of its business, which include theme parks and cruises, is a big part of the company's revenue stream. Walk us through how those did last quarter, given all of the global uncertainty for consumers.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
And what U.S. spy agencies are up to in Greenland. It's Wednesday, May 7th. I'm Victoria Craig 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 move the world today. The Federal Reserve has voted unanimously to keep its benchmark interest rate in the 4.25 to 4.5 percent range for the third straight month.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Entertainment industry reporter Ben Fritz. Thanks so much, Ben.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Some other corporate news to tell you about. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike says it's slashing about 500 jobs or 5% of its global workforce. That's as the company tries to make its business more efficient.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
CrowdStrike said it expects as much as a $56 million charge from the decision, which comes after it swung to a loss last quarter and shared full-year earnings guidance that fell short of expectations.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
The Federal Aviation Administration is scrambling to update and improve its air traffic operations after technology breakdowns disrupted operations at Newark Liberty International Airport in recent days.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
The FAA said it's working to increase staffing of controllers who oversee Newark traffic and adding new high-bandwidth connections between the Philadelphia facility and New York to improve reliability and redundancy. Finally, it's black smoke at the Sistine Chapel. The papal conclave began in the Vatican today, but cardinals did not elect a new pope in their first vote.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
Beginning tomorrow, there will be four votes a day until the 133 cardinals select a new leader for the Catholic Church. Before we go, heads up, we ran a bonus episode of the podcast earlier today.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
You can listen to what's news in earnings for the latest quarterly reports from the automotive sector, including how car companies are reacting to President Trump's tariff plans and whether and when consumers might see higher prices passed along to them. And that's what's news for this Wednesday afternoon. Today's show was produced by Anthony Bansi. Our supervising producer was Pierre Bien-Aimé.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
I'm Victoria Craig for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Fed Warns of Increased Uncertainty, Holds Rates
It's the Fed's first rate decision since President Trump imposed a sweeping tariff package in April, much of which was later reversed. At a press conference following today's decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell responded to a question from The Wall Street Journal saying tariffs presented continuing uncertainty.
WSJ What’s News
First American Pope Elected to Lead Catholic Church
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WSJ What’s News
First American Pope Elected to Lead Catholic Church
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WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
does land on such a number, it would be a climb down from the 145 percent tariffs Trump imposed on Chinese imports earlier this year. An 80 percent rate, though, would still present hurdles to trade between the world's two biggest economies.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
Meanwhile, the Journal exclusively reports that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has tapped his top public security aide to participate in this weekend's trade talks. That's according to people familiar with the matter. And it signals the importance of the fentanyl issue to bilateral relations.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
The Trump administration has pushed Beijing to help fix America's drug crisis with more drastic measures to cut off the production and export of chemicals used to make the synthetic opioid. Also today, Chinese authorities pledged to step up their enforcement of limits on the export of rare earth metals. In April, Beijing retaliated against U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
tariffs with controls on the resources needed for advanced defense systems including missile defense platforms, attack submarines and F-35 fighter jets. Those rare earths also serve as magnets in motors and other electronics. So what if you could make those with cheaper materials found within North America? You'd be tariff-proof.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
One startup, Conifer, is working on electric motors that use steel and rust, that is, plain old iron. WSJ tech columnist Christopher Mims told me on our Tech News Briefing podcast about where we might see these newfangled motors.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
You can hear more of my conversation with Christopher on Tech News Briefing. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts, including where you're listening to this one. In U.S. stocks today, benchmarks were a little changed ahead of the U.S.-China trade talks this weekend.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
The Dow fell roughly three-tenths of a percent, the S&P dropped less than one-tenth of a percent, and the Nasdaq was unchanged. Coming up, if you build it, they will come. That's the hope for many U.S. cities building entire neighborhoods around new sports stadiums. That's after the break.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
The heyday of free trade meant less paperwork and less to do for the customs brokers who handle the logistics of getting goods from one country to another. But tariffs have changed all that, at least for now. WSJ reporter Kajal Viez traveled to Laredo, Texas, America's biggest inland port, to see how anxious importers are bombarding customs brokers with work. Kajal, let's just start really broad.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
What does a customs broker actually do?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
President Trump floats a reduced 80% tariff on China, while Beijing beefs up its controls on rare earths exports. Plus, customs brokers have suddenly found themselves at the crossroads of a high-tariff world.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
So now these customs brokers are in high demand, and one of them told you that it's his company's best year. So what does that actually look like in practice?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
And this job isn't without risk, of course, because there are so many changes that happen very quickly. What changes exactly to global trade are these people seeing firsthand?
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
WSJ reporter Kajol Villas, thank you so much for your time.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
Technology outages continue to plague Newark Liberty International Airport, causing more cancellations and delays. This morning, another 90-second outage took out radar and communications for air traffic controllers. It's the second breakdown there in two weeks. Yesterday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy outlined a plan to overhaul the system.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
He said it could be completed in three or four years, but would require billions of dollars in funding from Congress. In unrelated news out of Newark, the city's mayor was arrested today. Ross Baraka was accused of trespassing during a protest at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. The interim U.S.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
attorney for the District of New Jersey said the mayor ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security to leave the center. A campaign spokeswoman for Baraka, a Democrat who is running for governor, said she would provide more details when available. A Vermont judge has ordered the Trump administration to release Turkish Tufts University graduate student Rumesa Ozturk.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
The judge said the government did not provide sufficient evidence justifying Ozturk's detention in Louisiana. The only evidence it gave was a pro-Palestinian opinion piece she co-wrote for a student newspaper. Ozturk, who has not been charged with a crime, will need to return for court hearings as her case proceeds.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
She is at least the second student freed from custody under the Trump administration. Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter has died at 85. He served on the court from 1990 until his retirement in 2009. Souter was nominated by Republican President George H.W. Bush, but he did not tilt the court to the right.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
Souter preserved abortion rights and became a reliable member of the court's liberal bloc. Sports complexes aren't just for sports fans anymore. To revitalize sleepy downtowns, many U.S. cities are adopting a megaprojects approach that centers on sports arenas. Last week, Washington, D.C.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
's Commander's football team reached a $3.8 billion deal for a new stadium development that includes not just a place for the team to play, but for fans to stay, eat, shop, and relax. WSJ Real Estate Reporter Rebecca Picciotto.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
And a Vermont judge orders the release of a graduate student detained as the Trump administration singled out students with links to pro-Palestinian activism. It's Friday, May 9th. I'm Victoria Craig for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for Alex Osola. This is the p.m. edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
The American hedge fund Elliott Investment Management is in talks to buy a stake in an extension of the TurkStream pipeline, which carries Russian natural gas to Europe. Earlier this week, the European Union laid out a plan to cut Russian energy imports by 2027. For that reason and others, people familiar with the matter said Elliott isn't interested in investing solely in the pipeline.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
but rather in a broader deal that includes a package of infrastructure assets. They said the deal would also include access to a network of data centers and data cables. And finally, in case it slipped your mind, a reminder. This Sunday is Mother's Day here in the U.S. For 1-800-Flowers, that day is basically the Super Bowl.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
It takes an entire year for the company to get ready to deliver millions of flowers across the country. And its CEO, Jim McCann, told our retail reporter, Sarah Nassauer, that he's hanging up his shears and stepping down after this year's holiday. Sarah explains.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
The 73-year-old McCann will still be moving too. He said he would remain chairman and focus on making new AI tools to help customers stay connected with loved ones, for example, by writing personalized poems. And that's What's News for this week. Tomorrow, you can look out for our weekly markets wrap-up, What's News in Markets.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
Then for What's News Sunday, we'll have an episode of our Bold Names podcast for you, featuring the CEO of FanDuel's parent company, talking about the growing business of sports betting and how he's grappling with its potential harms. And we'll be back with our regular show on Monday morning. Today's show was produced by Anthony Bansi. Our supervising producer was Pierre Bien-Aimé.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
Michael LaValle wrote our theme music. Aisha Al-Muslim is our development producer. Scott Salloway and Chris Sinsley are our deputy editors. And Falana Patterson is The Wall Street Journal's head of news audio. I'm Victoria Craig. Thanks for listening.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Floats Lower China Tariff Ahead of Trade Talks
A day before U.S.-China trade talks begin in Switzerland, President Trump this morning floated the idea of easing tariff rates on China. In a Truth Social post, he said an 80 percent tariff on China seems right, but added that decision is up to his Treasury Secretary Scott Besant. If the U.S.