China has increased its tariffs on American imports to 125 percent in retaliation for Donald Trump’s 145 percent levy on its exports, raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to up-end global supply chains.
“There are no winners in a trade war, and going against the world will only lead to self-isolation,” Chinese Premier Xi Jinping told state broadcaster CCTV.
“For over 70 years, China’s development has relied on self-reliance and hard work – never on handouts from others, and it is not afraid of any unjust suppression.”
The development has again sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock markets tumbling on Friday morning, following on from big losses on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of a wrongfully deported Maryland father sent to a brutal El Salvador jail.
ICE agents deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia last month, despite a court order blocking his removal from the country.
Officials conceded this occurred due to an “administrative error” and insisted it is impossible to bring him back but have been given a deadline falling this morning to explain why that is.
Trump envoy Richard Grenell in ‘bizarre’ email exchange with Kennedy Center musician
The president’s freshly-appointed Special Envoy for Special Missions, Richard Grenell, who is now acting head of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, has torn into a musician in a bizarre email spat regarding the commander-in-chief’s overhaul and DEI policies.
Guitarist Yasmin Williams, a renowned finger-style guitarist from Virginia, called Grenell’s response “completely unprofessional and rude” after she questioned him about the controversial changes Trump had enforced following his takeover of the center.
Taking to Instagram Thursday, she shared the damning string of emails.
Madeline Sherratt has the story.
White House refuses to provide list of countries it claims reached out with tariff deal
The Trump administration has so far refused to provide a list of countries it claims have reached out with offers to make deals on tariffs.
Both the president himself and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have claimed that as many as 75 countries have reached out hoping to make trade deals but they appear oddly unwilling to reveal which countries are on that list.
Gustaf Kilander has more.
Wrongly deported dad’s attorneys slam administration’s ‘stunning display of arrogance and cruelty’
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have swiftly responded to the Trump administration’s attempt to delay giving any updates on his condition or preparations for his release.
Here’s what they had to say:
“This court’s order to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return was issued one week ago. It was not stayed until Monday afternoon.
“Accordingly, the government should have been taking actions Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning, and the government can report on those.
“The Supreme Court lifted the stay yesterday evening. Accordingly, the government should have been taking actions last night and this morning, and it can report on those.
“The government should likewise be in a position to tell the court in general terms what its further plan is to facilitate Mr Abrego Garcia’s return, and who in the government is responsible for implementing that plan.
“Instead, the government continues to delay, obfuscate, and flout court orders, while a man’s life and safety is at risk.”
They also call the Trump administration’s latest attempt to delay “another stunning display of arrogance and cruelty.”
Update: After considering their request for a delay, Judge Paula Xinis is only giving the Trump administration until 11.30am today to share “what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps” to get Abrego Garcia out of El Salvador.
‘The House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day,’ says Trump
This man is exhausting isn’t he?
Not content with frightening the hell out of the world’s stock markets and (checks notes) “Making Showers Great Again,” Donald is now demanding more hours in which to do it.
What’s going on here? Is he anxious about his upcoming annual physical or somerthing?
Fate of student activist arrested by ICE Mahmoud Khalil could be decided today
An immigration court judge in Louisiana could decide as early as today whether Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can be released from ICE custody or deported.
A judge is holding a hearing at 1pm CT to review alleged evidence from the government, a barely two-page filing that appears to rest only on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claim that Khalil’s presence raises “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
“This is a dangerous slope,” his attorney Marc Van Der Hout told reporters on Thursday.
“People like Mahmoud have a constitutional right to speak out in this country and the government should not be using this really bogus lawsuit to say it’s against foreign policy interests.”
Khalil’s attorneys are trying to get him back to New York or, at least, to a detention facility in New Jersey.
A federal court case in that state is considering a bail motion and a larger question about whether the Trump administration’s attempt to remove him is even constitutional.
This morning, the Trump administration wrote to the New Jersey court that an immigration court judge “cannot order that Mahmoud Khalil be outright released from custody” and “is not permitted to vacate the Secretary of State’s decision, nor can he enjoin some amorphous policy more broadly such that it would alter the proceedings of other individuals.”
Trump administration requests delay on judge’s demand that it outline when and how it will bring home wrongly deported Maryland dad
Last night, shortly after the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador’s mega prison, the judge who initially demanded his return called on the government to outline what steps, if any, it’s taking to get him home.
The Trump administration was ordered to respond by 9.30am ET.
Ten minutes before the deadline, the government requested a delay until next week.
Judge Paula Xinis has also set a hearing for 1pm.
Trump orders Russia to ‘get moving’ on Ukraine ceasefire agreement as special envoy arrives in St Petersburg
Turning his attention to the war in Ukraine, the president has indicated he is losing patience with Vladimir Putin, posting just now:
Right on cue, here’s Steve Witkoff turning up for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev this morning.
Live: New York Stock Exchange opens for trading amid global market turmoil over tariffs
In his latest Truth Social post, Trump insists: “We are doing really well on our TARIFF POLICY.”
You can see if the markets buy that by watching the day’s trading commence in Manhattan via the link below.
National Institutes of Health workers told to blow off Musk demands for weekly performance
In the latest sign of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s apparently waning power in the federal government, staffers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been told to ignore his demand for weekly productivity self-evaluations.
NIH employees were instructed Thursday that the agency was “rolling back” Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) directives, including writing their own performance reviews and limiting purchases and travel to save money, according to NIH messages obtained by Politico.
The new orders come after the confirmation of new NIH Director Director Jay Bhattacharya last month.
“Please disregard any future reminders or instructions on this directive from OPM or the Department of Health and Human Services,” said one message, referring to the White House’s personnel office.
“NIH manages its own performance review processes, and will notify employees directly if any information related to work duties or performance is needed.”
Mary Papenfuss has more.
In Focus: ‘People were getting yippy’: The reason Trump talks the way he does
The world might think the U.S. president’s choice of words is curious, but it makes total sense when you look at the revolutionary spirit of the founding fathers, says Robert McCrum, who explains why Trump is the true voice of America, whether we like it or not…
Source: independent.co.uk
