memeorandum: Wall Street thinks Trump's tariffs will eat Main Street alive (Nate Silver/Silver Bulletin)

2:15 PM ET, April 4, 2025

Top Items:

“Horrifying”: Trump's Weird, Confused Rant to Media as Markets Tanked — After President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from all over the globe, prompting the markets to implode, he took a question about it on Thursday. He ranted and rambled delusionally about how everything is just great.

Discussion: Associated Press, CBC News, MeidasTouch News, Reuters and CBS News

Washington Post:

Inside President Trump's whirlwind decision to blow up global trade — Why did Trump impose tariffs? Inside the advice that shaped his decision.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA

Keith Bradsher / New York Times:

Trump's Trade War Escalates as China Retaliates With 34% Tariffs — The Chinese government said it would match President Trump's tariff, and also barred a group of American companies from doing business in China. — China has struck back at President Trump on Friday.

Financial Times:

America's astonishing act of self-harm — Trump's tariffs will upend the global economic order and tarnish US prosperity — If it endures, Donald Trump's decision on April 2 2025 to enact sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on US trade partners will go down as one of the greatest acts of self-harm in American economic history.

Discussion: Fox News, To the Contrary, Vox and Los Angeles Times

Ivana Saric / Axios:

Gavin Newsom angles for California exemptions to Trump trade war — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he is pursuing agreements with other countries to ensure California is exempted from retaliatory tariffs aimed at the U.S. — Why it matters: President Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs spurred global blowback.

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, Raw Story, Washington Post and Wausau

Nikki McCann Ramirez / Rolling Stone:

Trump Shares Video About How He Is ‘Purposely Crashing the Stock Market’ — Several close allies of the president told Rolling Stone they were “at a loss for words” when asked about the video … Economists are warning that the president's actions are putting not just the United States …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Forbes, Blaze Media, Raw Story and Mediaite

New Republic:

Transcript: Trump's Tariff Madness Can Be Stopped. Here's How. — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the April 4 episode of the Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here. — Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.

South China Morning Post:

Breaking | China hits back at US with 34% tariff on American imports in retaliation for Trump's duties — The tariff comes into effect on April 10 and is part of a raft of measures that includes more rare earths controls — China will impose a 34 per cent tariff on imported American goods …

Nate Silver / Silver Bulletin:

Wall Street thinks Trump's tariffs will eat Main Street alive — Sometimes, the stock market is the economy. — It's hard to think of any occasion when America dealt itself such a self-inflicted economic wound. — Silver Bulletin wasn't around for the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930, which helped to catalyze the Great Depression.

Discussion: Yahoo Finance and Wall Street Journal

CNBC:
Dow drops 1,400 points, Nasdaq set to close in bear market as Trump tariff sell-off worsens: Live updates

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Reuters, UPI, KOIN.com, Mercury News, Barron's Online, Scripps News, Fortune, Forbes, Magnolia Tribune, KTVZ-TV, The Independent, Yahoo Finance and NPR

Dharna Noor / The Guardian:
‘Oligarchy’: Trump exempts big oil donors from tariffs package

Discussion: Politico, Barron's Online and Canary Media

Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Powell sees tariffs raising inflation and says Fed will wait before further rate moves

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, Quartz, Fox Business, The Post Millennial and Wausau

Rebecca Robbins / New York Times:
Trump's Next Tariffs Target Could Be Foreign-Made Medicines

Discussion: The Hill and Forbes

Scott Horsley / NPR:
The job market remains incredibly healthy — but the tariff storm could upend things

Discussion: Fox Business, Challenger …, Daily Caller News Foundation, Washington Times, OutsideTheBeltway, Scripps News, RedState, The Hill, The Guardian, Jared's Substack, The Independent and Quartz

Christopher Rugaber / Associated Press:
Federal Reserve chief says Trump tariffs likely to raise inflation and slow US economic growth

Ruxandra Iordache / CNBC:
China to impose 34% retaliatory tariff on all goods imported from the U.S.

Discussion: RedState, Reuters, The Daily Wire, Automotive Dive, Daily Caller News Foundation, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, NPR, The Hill, Daily Mail, MeidasTouch News, New York Post, Axios and CBS News

Tony Romm / New York Times:
Lawsuit Challenges Trump's Legal Rationale for Tariffs on China

Discussion: Politico, New Civil Liberties Alliance, BIG by Matt Stoller, Associated Press, Reason, The Hill, The Guardian, Fox Business, Washington Examiner and NBC News

Alexandra Hutzler / ABC News:
Trump says it could take 2 years before tariffs result in American manufacturing boom

Discussion: New Republic, Reuters and Roll Call

The Hill:
Trump tells investors to buy low: ‘This is a great time to get rich’

Discussion: New Republic, Politico, Forbes, Fortune, The Guardian, Associated Press, The National Pulse and Wausau

Neil Irwin / Axios:
Fed's Powell steady on rates, warns on inflation as Trump demands cut

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Quartz, Wausau and NewsNation

Ian Haworth / Washington Examiner:
At least Trump's swarm of sycophants supports his tariffs

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Ian Haworth, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Atlantic, Washington Post, The White House, GZERO and Associated Press

Jamie Joseph / Fox News:
SCOOP: Newsom asks world leaders to exempt California exports from retaliatory tariffs

Discussion: New York Times, The Hill, Politico, Governor of California, New York Post, Bloomberg, The Wrap, Heatmap News, Center for Strategic … and Los Angeles Times

Wall Street Journal:
Trump and His ‘Little Disturbance’ From Tariffs

Discussion: Washington Post, Wealth of Nations, Fortune, New York Post, CNBC, RealClearMarkets, Reason, Washington Examiner, Focus Taiwan, El País, Blaze Media, Raw Story, Cafe Hayek, Daring Fireball and Tax Foundation

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
Trump's announcement last night that he was placing high tariffs on countries around the world came …

Discussion: Deadline, Washington Post, The Japan Times, New York Times and HuffPost

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

National Security Agency and Cyber Command chief Gen. Timothy Haugh ousted — The director of the NSA, the powerful wiretapping and cyber espionage service, was fired and reassigned Thursday, according to U.S. officials. — just now — The director of the powerful wiretapping …

Julian E. Barnes / New York Times:
Head of National Security Agency and Cyber Command Is Ousted

Discussion: NBC News, TechCrunch, Fox News, Federal News Network, Associated Press, CBS News, Reuters, The Status Kuo, Defense One, DefenseScoop, The Independent, UPI, KTVZ-TV, USA Today, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Wall Street Journal, The Verge and Bloomberg

Jennifer Scholtes / Politico:

Budget experts of all stripes howl about Senate Republicans' price tag ‘abuse’ — Senate GOP leaders claim they have the power to assert their own price tag for their “big, beautiful bill” to pass President Donald Trump's agenda. Off Capitol Hill, unlikely allies are sounding the alarm.

Discussion: NOTUS and National Review

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
The GOP has an Orwellian solution to pay for Trump's tax cuts

Discussion: NBC News

Politico:
Republicans play powerless as Trump tariff fears sweep across the globe

Discussion: The Dispatch, NBC News, Axios, RedState, HuffPost, NOTUS, Daily Mail and New Republic

Richard Cowan / Reuters:
US Senate Republican calls top Democrat Chuck Schumer ‘Fuhrer’

Discussion: Plain Dealer and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Holly Otterbein / Politico:

Poll: AOC leads Schumer in head-to-head New York primary matchup by double digits — The liberal group Data For Progress conducted the survey of likely Democratic voters. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is leading Chuck Schumer by double digits in a new head-to-head poll of the 2028 New York primary.

Discussion: The Washington Free Beacon, Data For Progress, New York Magazine, New York Daily News, Townhall, Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy, New Republic, 19FortyFive, Daily Caller News Foundation and Saywhat Politics

Ben Quinn / The Guardian:

Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault — Actor and comedian charged with rape, indecent assault, oral rape and two counts of sexual assault, say police — The comedian and actor Russell Brand has been charged with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault.

Carolina Journal:

Appeals Court orders new vote calculations in NC Supreme Court election dispute — The North Carolina Court of Appeals split, 2-1, in ordering the state elections board to recalculate vote totals in the disputed 2024 state Supreme Court election. — Voters with incomplete registration records …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Matt Cohen / Democracy Docket:
NC Voters Must Fix Ballots in 15 Days, Court Rules

Discussion: WCCB Charlotte's CWWCCB …

Ethan Gach / Kotaku:

Nintendo Halts Switch 2 Pre-Orders Over Trump's Tariffs — New tariffs threaten massive price hikes on gaming hardware and other consumer goods — Switch 2 pre-orders were supposed to begin on April 9. No longer. In an unprecedented move, Nintendo announced on Friday that it's halting pre-orders …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Business Insider, The Verge, New York Post, Daily Mail, Mediaite, Forbes, Dexerto, Consequence, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, Ars Technica, Windows Central, BGR, The Hollywood Reporter and Daring Fireball, more at Techmeme »

William Kristol / The Bulwark:

The Lamps Are Going Out Around Us — Another three-percent pummeling for Dow futures this morning on the heels of China's announcement of retaliatory tariffs against the United States—looks like we're shaping up for another fun day on the stock market. Happy(?) Friday. — It All Falls Apart

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
The American Age Is Over — 1. Canada — Fittingly, it was the Canadian prime minister …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Reuters

NPR:

Trump's VA is ending a rescue program that's saved 17,000 military veterans' homes — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday that it will end a mortgage-rescue program designed to help veterans who have fallen behind on their mortgages keep their homes.

Discussion: Daily Kos and MBA

Andrew Freedman / Axios:

Canceled contract means NOAA research websites slated to go dark — The early cancellation of an Amazon Web Services contract means that a slew of NOAA websites are slated to go dark beginning at midnight, sources told Axios. — Why it matters: This mainly would affect NOAA's research division …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Trump's top prosecutor in Washington compares Jan. 6 charges to Japanese internment — Ed Martin says he is expanding a review of obstruction charges against Jan. 6 defendants, which began during the first Trump administration. — The Trump administration's top prosecutor in Washington …

Discussion: Associated Press and Reuters

Mother Jones: Top Prosecutor Spoke at Event Attended by January 6 Seditionists Who Are Appealing Their Convictions

Jill Lepore / New York Times:

The Failed Ideas That Drive Elon Musk — President Trump has reportedly told cabinet members that Elon Musk may soon leave the administration. If and when he goes, what will he leave behind? — Mr. Musk has long presented himself to the world as a futurist.

Siddarth S / Reuters:

Global brokerages raise recession odds; J.P.Morgan sees 60% chance — J.P.Morgan ratcheted up its odds for a U.S. and global recession to 60%, as brokerages scrambled to revise their forecast models with tariff distress threatening to sap business confidence and slow down global growth.