Trump administration live updates: New tariffs take effect at midnight; Supreme Court halts rehiring of federal workers

Trump touted his administration's tariffs on imports of nearly all goods, calling them "legendary," just hours before import duties are scheduled to take effect at midnight.

Trump predicted that Republicans would win the midterm elections in 2026 by a “thundering landslide” at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington.

"I really think we’re helped a lot by the tariff situation that’s going on, which is a good situation," he said. "It's great. It's going to be legendary."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced tonight that he will challenge Sen. John Cornyn next year, setting the stage for what's expected to be an expensive GOP primary.

Paxton, a Republican hard-liner who has been a staunch Trump ally, described on Fox News why he's seeking to unseat Cornyn, an institutionalist and former deputy of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has been in the Senate since 2002.

“I’m announcing that I’m running for U.S. Senate against John Cornyn, who apparently is running again for his fifth term, which we put him there three decades. It’s definitely time for a change in Texas,” Paxton told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

“We have another great U.S. senator, Ted Cruz, and it’s time we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also support Trump, Donald Trump, in the areas that he’s focused on in a very significant way,” he added.

Paxton reached a deal last year that included a $300,000 payment in restitution to avoid a securities fraud trial. He was indicted in 2015 on three felony charges of misleading investors and failing to disclose that he was profiting off investments he urged others to make. He pleaded not guilty.

Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a memo to Justice Department employees today announcing a Second Amendment Task Force, according to copies of the document seen by NBC News.

Bondi said in the memo that she would be the chair of the task force, which "is principally charged with developing and executing strategies to use litigation and policy to advance, protect, and promote compliance with the Second Amendment."

A federal judge today called The Associated Press’ exclusion from White House events “contrary to the First Amendment” and ordered the Trump administration to treat the newswire as it would any other media publication.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, ordered the administration to “put the AP on an equal playing field as similarly situated outlets, despite the AP’s use of disfavored terminology.”

The AP sued in February after it was excluded from White House events and Trump’s travels over its refusal to change references to the Gulf of Mexico to Trump’s preferred “Gulf of America” in its coverage.

McFadden shot down the administration’s argument that the AP’s request for media access to such events is a “demand for extra special access.”

Read the full story here.

Trump signed executive orders today to bolster the country’s declining coal industry, relaxing restrictions on coal mining, leasing and exports, in what the White House said was an effort to meet the energy-intensive needs of artificial intelligence data centers.

The executive orders were the latest moves by the Trump administration that clash with global aims to reduce coal power and cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change.

Standing before dozens of coal miners in uniform shirts and hard hats, Trump introduced the orders, repeatedly referring to “beautiful, clean coal.”

Coal is considered the dirtiest fossil fuel and historically the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Burning fossil fuels, which unleashes carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, is the primary contributor to global warming.

Read the full story here.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is set to meet with Trump in Washington on April 17 amid the global fallout over new U.S. tariffs.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing today that Trump and Meloni would meet for an “official working visit.”

Reuters reported earlier today that the two leaders are expected to talk tariffs during their meeting. European Union foreign ministers met yesterday in Luxembourg to hash out how they plan to respond to the tariffs.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for additional details about the nature of Meloni’s visit. She last visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago in January ahead of his inauguration.

More than 1,000 staff members have resigned from two Agriculture Department divisions through a Trump administration program intended to shrink the federal government, according to an internal USDA email obtained by NBC News.

The department requested that all departing staffers wait until April 30 to leave “because of this significant and sudden loss of knowledge and experience,” it said in the email, which was provided by a USDA staffer who asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to share the message. The staffers work in divisions that aim to market U.S. crops and other agricultural products and protect animal and plant health.

A spokesperson for the USDA said in a statement that the “deferred resignation program is still open.”

“We do not have any final numbers to share,” the spokesperson added.

Trump this afternoon called the fallout from his tariffs “somewhat explosive,” adding that “if we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t be talking the way we’re talking right now."

“Sometimes you have to mix it up a little bit,” he told reporters at a White House event.

Trump also said that delegations from Japan, South Korea and other nations are flying to Washington to strike deals with the United States and that the federal government has taken in nearly $2 billion a day in tariff revenue. He has said he's open to hearing countries' proposals to negotiate the tariffs, even as he and his advisers vow to enforce them.

Tariffs on China are expected to rise to 104% at midnight tonight.

House Republicans voted today to block a bipartisan push to allow lawmakers who are new parents to vote remotely rather than in person, officially ending a GOP standoff over an issue that had ground legislative business to a halt for the past week.

After Trump intervened in the intraparty spat late last week, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who led the proxy voting push, struck a deal with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to allow new parents — as well as other members who are away from the Capitol for bereavement or other emergencies — to use a method called “vote pairing.”

That would essentially allow a member who is absent to “pair” their vote with someone who plans to vote on the other side of the issue. That person would vote “present,” and the congressional record would reflect the position of each member.

Another version of vote pairing would allow two absent members on opposite sides of an issue to have their official positions reflected in the official record even though they are unable to vote.

Read the full story here.

Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem objecting to what he called the "diversion of agency resources and institutional focus away from domestic terrorism prevention efforts.”

Responding to news reports that staff members from the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Operations Section had been reassigned and that DHS had gutted funding for domestic terrorism-related prevention programs, Durbin wrote: “Taken together, these moves represent a broad institutional pullback from confronting the full scope of domestic terrorism threats at a time when experts continue to warn about intensifying danger, and the data points to the rising threat of attacks motivated by anti-government ideologies.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country's planned retaliatory tariffs would go into effect tomorrow in response to Trump's seeking to impose tariffs on Canada, including 34% duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports.

The fresh 25% duties from Canada will affect U.S. autos not covered by the U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade agreement, as well as all U.S.-made auto parts in Canadian vehicles.

"President Trump caused this trade crisis — and Canada is responding with purpose and with force," Carney wrote on X.

Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced Tuesday that he is not running for his state's open Senate seat, saying that spending several years in Washington, D.C., was "just not right for me or my my family."

"Look, I was honored that so many folks in New Hampshire, Washington, the president himself, offered a lot of support, so it made me rethink things for a little bit," Sununu, a Republican, told WMUR. "But at the end of the day it's just not right for me or my family. I think it's a very winnable seat for a Republican. It doesn't have to be me."

The race is an open-seat contest, with Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen retiring. Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas launched his Senate campaign last week.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports Trump threatened yesterday will go into effect at midnight tonight, raising U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods to a combined 104%.

"It was a mistake for China to retaliate," Leavitt said at a White House briefing this afternoon. "The president, when America is punched, he punches back harder. That’s why there will be 104% tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight."

Asked by a reporter what it would take for Trump to negotiate a trade agreement with China's Xi Jinping as tariff tensions between the two countries escalate, Leavitt said: "The Chinese want to make a deal, they just don't know how to do it. That’s why there will be 104% tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight.”

The Supreme Court today halted a federal judge’s ruling requiring several federal agencies to reinstate around 16,000 workers the Trump administration had sought to fire.

The decision to grant the administration’s request means the federal government doesn’t have to take steps to bring back some workers who were laid off while litigation moves forward before a federal judge in California.

Read the full story.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released a bipartisan resolution that would repeal Trump's tariffs. The resolution faces an uphill battle with Republicans controlling both chambers.

The resolution is privileged, meaning it will be fast-tracked to the Senate floor for a vote. It requires a majority to pass.

"Trump is driving our economy into a recession, killing jobs and wiping out seniors’ retirement funds as we speak," said Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, in a press release. Wyden previewed the resolution earlier today during a Senate hearing.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was the sole Republican to vote against Elbridge Colby, Trump's nominee to be the undersecretary of defense for policy.

The final vote was 54-45, with Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan joining Republicans to vote in support of Colby.

In a statement, McConnell said, "Colby's long public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America, the critical value of our allies and partners, and the urgent need to invest in hard power to preserve American primacy."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked during a briefing about the public spat between Elon Musk and Trump's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, over tariffs.

"These are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs. Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue," Leavitt said after a reporter asked if the administration is concerned the arguing between Navarro and Musk could result in public confusion over the impacts of the tariffs.

Musk and Navarro have been trading insults since Trump announced sprawling global tariffs last week.

Read more on the Musk-Navarro feud here.

Hong Kong will sign more free trade pacts to minimize the risk from the United States’ “reckless” imposition of tariffs, its top leader said.

The Chinese territory is subject to the same combined tariff of 54% that Trump has imposed on goods from mainland China, with the latest 34% set to take effect tomorrow. Trump has also threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff if China does not withdraw the 34% retaliatory tariff it has also announced on U.S. imports.

“The U.S. no longer adheres to free trade, arbitrarily undermining the internationally established rules of world trade, and its ruthless behavior damages global and multilateral trade,” John Lee, Hong Kong’s top leader, told reporters today.

Lee, who is under U.S. sanctions over his role in a government crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, said the international financial hub would not impose any retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods and would remain a free port.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is facing a growing rebellion from conservative hard-liners in the House as Republicans seek to take up a budget blueprint that was recently adopted by the Senate to pass Trump’s agenda.

House GOP leaders are eyeing a vote this week on the measure, which would unlock the path for committees to craft a massive bill to cut taxes, boost immigration enforcement and defense spending and lift the debt limit without Democratic votes.

Read the full story.

In his final question, Wyden asked Greer what the timeline would be for U.S. citizens who are hurting because of the tariffs to see some relief.

"Senator, the country decisively voted for this president and his trade policy," the trade representative responded. "He knows how to use tariffs appropriately to negotiate deals where necessary and to drive investment and manufacturing back to the U.S., and that's what we're doing. He was successful in his first term using it, real wages went up, and that's what we're doing now."

Wyden said that Greer didn't answer his question.

"Mr. Greer, I gave you a chance to respond to the question, and what you said wasn't accurate," Wyden said. "Nobody disputes the president won the election up here on the dais, but nobody was told in the election campaign that we would have all of these people hurting now because of a flawed trade policy."

"There wasn’t any mention people from one end of the country to another feeling they’ve been wiped out financially," Wyden said. "Nobody heard about that."

Crapo adjourned the hearing with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer after about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the Trump administration's tariffs are both a negotiating tool to close America's trade deficits with other countries and a long-term punitive measure to raise revenue for the federal treasury.

Greer's explanation came during a Senate Finance Committee hearing this, during which Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., pressed him on what the Trump administration is ultimately seeking to accomplish with its sprawling tariffs.

“What I want to do is to get an understanding from you of what you see as the goals of this war that we’re in,” Smith said. “At various times, it’s been described as a goal to raise revenue to stop fentanyl trafficking, or to close trade deficits. So is the goal here to raise revenue for the federal treasury?”

Greer declined to call the tariff escalation a trade war since “most countries have said they’re not going to retaliate.” He added the administration’s tariff goal is to address the United States' broad trade deficit, which he repeatedly claimed were the result of Biden-era trade policies, offshoring manufacturing and “non-reciprocal treatment” from trade partners. 

Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., was transferred last night from a North Carolina hospital to Cooper University Health Care in Camden City, New Jersey, his office said today, after he suffered an “emergency medical event” that was likely related to his gallbladder.

“He is in intensive care and stable,” his office said in a statement. “He is tired but glad to be back in South Jersey. His condition is improving, and he is on his way to making a full recovery.”

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., pressed Greer several times about whether he agrees with Trump that American families will have to experience some pain as a result of the new tariffs.

The U.S. trade representative repeatedly said the U.S. can't continue with "the status quo" and repeated that the administration wants more manufacturing to be done domestically.

Lujan then accused Greer and other Trump allies of not having "the courage" to stand up to Trump on potential harms from his trade policies.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Congress must work to reverse Trump's tariffs.

"Congress has the power to reverse these tariffs, and we should do so immediately," Warren said.

Later, she pressed Greer as to whether the administration would reverse course on tariffs if millions of jobs were lost.

Greer replied, "Right now, this minute, we're working on negotiations with countries who believe they can achieve reciprocity with us and get their trade deficit down."

When Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., asked what were the Trump administration’s goals in engaging in a “trade war,” Greer denied the description: “Senator, this is not a trade war.”

“Most countries have said they’re not going to retaliate. We have an underlying emergency,” Greer said.

He said the goals of the tariffs are to address the $1.2 trillion trade deficit, which he pinned on the Biden administration, pointing to “the offshoring ... and the nonreciprocal treatment that led to that.”

“Certainly, there’s a tariff revenue effect. If the countries do not do this, then they will be subject to the tariff. They’ll have tariff on foreign goods and stuff, American made goods,” Greer said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., asked Greer about the administration's blanket tariffs, saying he didn't have the expertise to judge the idea, but still had some skepticism.

"Whose throat do I get to choke if this goes wrong?" he asked.

In the lead up to the question, Tillis said that people in management consulting "like to focus on" the idea of having "one throat to choke."

"In other words, when you're finally taking a look at a strategy, someone has to own it."

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., urged Greer to focus on specific products rather than "using this broad instrument," arguing that "there's going to be an awful lot of collateral damage."

"People are already feeling that pain, so I hope you're sensitive to that," Johnson added.

Johnson also pressed Greer on whether the administration wanted to move high-labor products to the U.S., pointing to the low unemployment rate and questioning whether the U.S. had enough available labor.

He noted that trade should be a "win-win situation."

Yesterday, Johnson also took to social media to urge Trump to take European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's proposed trade deal.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said global markets opening higher this morning following a mass sell-off in reaction to Trump’s sprawling tariffs was just a “good day in hospice” and not a lasting sign of market recovery.

“I just talked to one of the senior folks Wall Street, and he described today’s market as ‘a good day in hospice,’” Warner said during his line of questioning to Greer at the Senate Finance Committee hearing. “I loved your fancy Greek formula, which was basically bad math on steroids.” 

Warner said, “I just don’t get it” while asking Greer why the Trump administration did not make exceptions in its tariff formula for Taiwan, which the U.S. relies on for domestic semiconductor manufacturing, and on long-time trade allies the U.S. has a trade surplus with. 

“I’m afraid if we keep these in effect, we’re looking like an economy that will be in hospice,” Warner said.  

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., blasted the administration for hitting allies, including Australia, with tariffs.

"They are an incredibly important national security partner. Why were they whacked with a tariff?" Warner asked about Australia, raising his voice.

With the two men talking over each other, Warner shouted at Greer to "answer the question on Australia."

Warner repeatedly pointed to the U.S. having a trade surplus with Australia, which has a trade agreement with the U.S., while Greer said that Australia bans certain products from the U.S.

"The idea that we are going to whack friend and foe alike, and particularly friends ... I think, insulting to the Australians, undermines our national security and, frankly, makes us not a good partner going forward," Warner said.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., asked Greer about the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which were completed in the first Trump administration, saying that with his new tariffs, Trump "is ripping up these agreements with our allies that we negotiated with."

"Why would any country want to do business with us, much less negotiate a trade deal, if we don't even honor our ongoing agreements?" Cortez Masto asked.

Greer said that the U.S. is "the consumer of last resort" for many countries, especially in Asia, adding, "These countries have to sell here."

"Many of them, especially in Asia, have built their entire economies around exporting to us," he said. "They’re very dependent on it, and that’s part of why we have this huge trade deficit with USMCA."

He added that there are concerns that the protections for the U.S. in the agreements had not proved adequate.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., asked Greer what "short-term pain" could look like in the aftermath of the Trump tariff policies.

"It's hard to project what's going to happen with prices," Greer said, going on to say inflation went down during Trump's first term when he implemented tariffs on China.

Greer said that there was "not really a one-to-one on tariffs and price effects," adding that "so many things go into price."

Economists and certain companies have said they expect rising prices because of the tariffs.

"I think the challenges, frankly, are going to be more for companies that are largely dependent on imports from China and Asia, where they have to adjust their supply chains in a quick set of time," Greer added.

Greer said the Trump administration does not have a timeline on negotiations with other countries that want to pursue reciprocal trade with the United States, as “the outcome is more important than setting something artificially for us.”

“What I can say is I’m moving as quickly as possible, and a lot of these countries are moving very quickly, and we’re working on the weekends, we’re working at night, as folks want to engage on this,” Greer responded to a question from Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.

“The trade deficit has been decades in the making, and it’s not going to be solved overnight,” he added.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said he is “concerned that there is no strategy at all,” while pressing Greer on the impact of China’s retaliatory tariffs on American consumers and small businesses during a hearing on the U.S. economy this morning. 

“I don’t see any strategy at all," Wyden said. “And you really haven’t said much about what the strategy is this morning.” 

Greer said that “we will see where that goes” while speaking about U.S.-China trade relations amid Trump’s threats to impose an additional 50% tariff on the country’s import, which could bring total tariffs on Chinese goods to 104%. 

“We’re trying to remedy a situation persisted for many years, and it would be wonderful if the Chinese agreed with that and wanted to persist in work with us on that, but that’s not where they are, and the president has recognized this, and he wants to focus on other partners,” Greer said. 

The Department of Homeland Security has renewed its push for employees to leave.

Agency employees last night received an emailed memo from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, titled “Reshaping of the DHS Workforce” and viewed by NBC News. It offers DHS employees several ways to choose to leave their jobs, including taking a buyout of up to $25,000 or early retirement. The due date for the program is the end of day on Monday, April 14.

DHS laid off more than 400 people in February, mostly at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, asked Greer whether the objective of Trump's tariff policies was to "engage in market access negotiations" with other countries.

Greer said the administration has told countries approaching the U.S. in order to negotiate that "if you have a better idea to achieve reciprocity and to get our trade deficit down, we want to talk to you."

"We want to negotiate with you," he said.

In the days after the Trump administration rolled out tariffs, administration officials have fluctuated on whether the tariffs were permanent or a negotiation tactic.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in his opening remarks at the Senate Finance Committee hearing that the U.S. economy is in "purgatory" because of Trump's tariff policies.

Wyden said he wanted the hearing to focus on what the plan was for the future of Trump's tariff policies and the strategy behind the economic plan.

"This is a big unforced error that requires a big response," Wyden said.

In his remarks, Wyden proposed advancing a bipartisan resolution to reject the latest round of tariffs. Earlier this month, a handful of Senate Republicans joined Democrats in voting to revoke tariffs on goods from Canada, though the measure is unlikely to go anywhere in the House.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in his opening statement at a hearing on Trump's trade agenda this morning that the U.S. needs to "think strategically about tariff policy, including how to minimize unnecessary costs on American families."

"While tariffs inherently may be seen at odds with free trade, we must also acknowledge that many of our trading partners deploy barriers that have gone unchallenged for too long," Crapo said, defending Trump's new tariffs.

Crapo, who spent much of his opening statement criticizing former President Joe Biden and his administration's policy on trade, said "free trade, by definition, must be reciprocal."

"We do not have it if others can impose barriers on us unchallenged," he said. "Our failure to enforce our rights over the last four years lost a lot of ground for us. This cannot continue, because what I am certain about is that American goods and services are innovative, high quality and globally competitive."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Chinese Premier Li Qiang today that China has a “critical” role to play in addressing possible trade diversion caused by Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

In a phone call with Li, China’s No. 2 official, von der Leyen stressed that Europe and China have a responsibility to support a “free” and “fair” global trading system, her office said in a statement.

She called for a “negotiated resolution” to the challenges Trump’s new tariffs pose to the global economy, according to the statement.

The two leaders discussed setting up a mechanism for tracking possible trade diversion, it said, amid E.U. fears that cheap Chinese exports will be sent to Europe instead of the U.S.

Trump will meet this afternoon with a key group of House Republicans who are skeptical of the Senate-approved budget resolution to advance his agenda, according to a White House official. 

A source familiar with the matter confirmed that members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus are among those who have been invited to the White House. Another source said Republicans in high-tax blue states, who want to lift the cap on the state and local tax deduction, were also invited. 

Senior Defense Department officials are considering a proposal to withdraw as many as 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe, sparking concern on both continents that it would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to six U.S. and European officials who have been briefed on the matter.  

The units under consideration are part of the 20,000 personnel the Biden administration deployed in 2022 to strengthen the defenses of countries bordering Ukraine after the Russian invasion. The numbers are still being discussed, but the proposal could involve removing up to half of the forces sent by Biden.

Read the full story.

Trump suggested in a post on Truth Social this morning that he might make a deal with South Korea on tariffs after he had a "great call" with the country's acting president.

"We talked about their tremendous and unsustainable Surplus, Tariffs, Shipbuilding, large scale purchase of U.S. LNG, their joint venture in an Alaska Pipeline, and payment for the big time Military Protection we provide to South Korea," Trump said.

Trump said that South Korea began making military payments during his first term.

The FBI has issued a call for agents to voluntarily serve as bodyguards for Deputy Director Dan Bongino, a break from past practice in which the bureau’s No. 2 officials did not have security details, two current and two former FBI officials familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and New York police officer who became a wealthy pro-Trump podcaster, harshly criticized the bureau for years before President Donald Trump chose him to be deputy director.

Read the full story.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said China is ready to “fight to the end” if the U.S. imposes further tariffs as it plans to enact its own retaliatory tariffs. NBC News’ Janis Mackey Frayer explains the items made in China that could see the highest price hikes including retail, footwear and toys.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., slammed Trump's tariff policies in a CNBC interview, saying he "can't support a fallacy that is going to make us lose our wealth."

"I have a retirement account, too," Paul continued. "I want my retirement account to stay there, and I think tariffs is going to decimate it."

Paul has been a frequent critic of Trump's tariffs, while also emphasizing that he still supports most of Trump's policies. Earlier this month, Paul was one of four GOP senators who joined Democrats to vote to revoke Trump's Canada tariffs, though the measure is unlikely to go anywhere in the House.

South Korea’s top trade official will visit Washington today and tomorrow as the key U.S. ally seeks a reduction in tariffs.

The country will “actively” negotiate with U.S. officials, including Trump’s trade chief Jamieson Greer, to minimize the impact of Trump’s 25% duty on South Korean goods, head of trade negotiations Jung In-kyo said before flying to the U.S.

Seoul has reviewed various measures to lower its trade surplus with the U.S., Jung said, adding, “It’s difficult to reduce exports, so we need to increase imports, don’t we?”

Jung said it’s good news for South Korea that Trump said countries other than China may be able to reduce or defer tariffs through negotiations.

He said the math behind the 25% U.S. tariff on South Korean goods was “problematic,” as Seoul’s effective rate toward the U.S. is in the 10% range, far below the 50% rate Trump claimed at his White House event announcing tariffs last week.

China criticized Vice President JD Vance after he said the U.S. borrows and buys from “Chinese peasants.”

“It is surprising and sad to hear the vice president say such ignorant and impolite words,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said today at a regular briefing in Beijing.

Vance, author of the 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” made the remarks while defending Trump’s new 34% tariff on Chinese goods in a Fox News interview last week, saying: “We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”

Trump insists he’s not considering hitting the pause button on the next round of escalatory tariffs after markets yesterday suffered their worst day since the start of the Covid pandemic. The president said he’s unfazed by the short-term financial pain. “I don’t mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end,” he said. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for "TODAY."

The Trump administration is considering launching drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico as part of an ambitious effort to combat criminal gangs trafficking narcotics across the southern border, according to six current and former U.S. military, law enforcement and intelligence officials with knowledge of the matter.

Discussions among White House, Defense Department and intelligence officials, which are still at an early stage, have included possible drone strikes against cartel figures and their logistical networks in Mexico with the cooperation of Mexico’s government, the sources said.

Read the full story.

The Trump administration is considering launching drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico as part of an ambitious effort to combat criminal gangs trafficking narcotics across the southern border, according to six current and former U.S. military, law enforcement and intelligence officials with knowledge of the matter.

Discussions among White House, Defense Department and intelligence officials, which are still at an early stage, have included possible drone strikes against cartel figures and their logistical networks in Mexico with the cooperation of Mexico’s government, the sources said.

Read the full story.

Trump will sign an executive order this afternoon on "unleashing American energy," according to a White House release on his schedule, which did not provide further details.

Later, Trump will deliver remarks at a dinner hosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee, a Hill committee that works to elect GOP lawmakers in the House.

Trump will also make a public appearance this morning during a commemorative tree planting event at the White House.

The Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 in Trump’s favor to allow him to use the Alien Enemies Act, a sweeping wartime law, to deport alleged gang members as long as those individuals are given due process.

EMILY’s List, an organization that backs Democratic women who support abortion rights, endorsed eight candidates today in competitive Virginia legislative districts as Democrats seek to expand their majority in November.

The group previously endorsed former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., as she campaigns to flip the governor’s mansion back into the Democratic column.

“To protect working families in Virginia from the chaos working at the federal level, we don’t just have to take back the governor’s office. We need to make sure that progressive policies are created in our state legislatures,” Emily Parés, the group’s interim vice president of state and local campaigns, told NBC News.

The candidates getting endorsements today include Elizabeth Guzmán, who is running in House District 22; Lily Franklin, in House District 41; May Nivar, in House District 57; Jessica Anderson, in House District 71; Leslie Mehta, in House District 73; Lindsey Dougherty, in House District 75; Kimberly Pope Adams, in House District 82; and Kacey Carnegie, in House District 89.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said her party is "on offense" on the "Trump-Musk agenda" in targeting dozens of GOP congressional districts in next year's mid-term elections.

"And Republicans are running scared— for good reason,” DelBene said this morning on "Way too Early."

Americans "are seeing prices go up, programs that they depend on being attacked, like Social Security and Medicaid, folks who serve our communities losing their jobs,” DelBene said.

It’s a preview of the message she hopes will be salient in the districts where Democrats plan to mount challenges.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will appear before the Senate Finance Committee this morning, where lawmakers are expected to grill him about about Trump's reciprocal tariffs.

The full committee hearing on Trump's trade policy agenda kicks off at 10 a.m.

Greer is set to use his opening remarks to zero in on Trump's tariff policies and the administration's push for reciprocal trade, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. He will also call for moving towards an economy "based on producing real goods and services."

"This adjustment may be challenging at times," Greer's prepared remarks sayd. "It is a moment of drastic, overdue change, but I am confident the American people will rise to the occasion as they have done before."

House Democrats are setting their sights on some districts Trump won handily in November as they lay out their top targets as they look to take back the House next year.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced today that it is targeting 35 Republican-held House seats, noting that recent gains in special elections have suggested a midterm election environment that will not be kind to Republicans. The committee is also launching a program to raise money for its eventual nominees.

Democrats need a net gain of three seats next year to take control of the House (they hold 213 seats, with two vacancies in solidly Democratic districts). The president’s party also typically loses seats in midterm elections, shedding an average of 20 House seats in presidents’ second terms, according to data from the University of California-Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project.

But just three Republican incumbents — Nebraska’s Don Bacon, New York’s Mike Lawler and Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick — represent districts former Vice President Kamala Harris carried in last year’s presidential election.

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Global stocks today clawed back a fraction of their enormous recent losses, with the turmoil from the Trump administration’s announcement of sweeping global tariffs last week calming in financial markets if not in the political arena.

Most major indexes in Europe and Asia climbed and premarket trading in the U.S. appeared to be cautiously positive, even as America’s war with China deepened, with Beijing announcing it will “fight to the end” after Trump threatened to an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods.

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