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Trump’s presidency: Canada’s retaliatory tariffs, Ukraine war talks and a looming government shutdown
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Canada’s Carney discusses conditions for Trump talks
00:39 – Source: CNN
Canada’s Carney discusses conditions for Trump talks
00:39
• Looming shutdown deadline: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said today that Democrats have the votes to block the House-passed GOP spending bill and called on Republicans to cut a deal to avert a shutdown Friday night.
• Sweeping tariffs: President Donald Trump has imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. The European Union and Canada quickly responded with retaliatory levies. The escalation comes as a new CNN poll shows Americans are not impressed with Trump’s handling of the economy.
• Judge rules on law firm: A federal judge halted parts of Trump’s executive order that targeted a Democratic-linked law firm. US District Judge Beryl Howell sided with the firm Perkins Coie, which represented Hillary Clinton in 2016 and has been involved in election litigation that Trump opposed.
• Ukraine war talks: Trump said today that the ball is now in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s court after Ukraine accepted a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats have the votes to block the House-passed GOP spending bill. It is his first statement about his party’s strategy ahead of the Friday shutdown deadline.
Schumer called on Senate Republicans to cut a deal with Democrats on a short-term spending bill instead, while they continue negotiating full-year appropriations.
The House-passed bill would keep the government open until September. Senate Republicans are expected to reject Democrats’ attempts to pass their own short-term stopgap bill.
Earlier this afternoon: Senate Democrats engaged in an animated debate behind closed doors over how to handle the House’s government funding bill. The meeting lasted for more than an hour.
They were debating whether to supply the votes for a bill or block it and risk what could be a prolonged shutdown. Some Democrats are also pushing for bill that would keep the government funded for 30 days while a long-term solution is worked out.
Ukraine’s plan of using Russia’s Kursk region as a bargaining tool in negotiations has collapsed, Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, claimed Wednesday.
Russia has reclaimed 86% of the area and hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been taken prisoner in the region, Gerasimov claimed as President Vladimir Putin was making his first visit to the region since Ukraine’s incursion in August last year.
Ukrainian troops in the region have been surrounded, Gerasimov also claimed.
CNN cannot independently verify the general’s claims.
Putin said the goal is to “completely liberate” the region as soon as possible and raised the possibility of creating a “buffer zone” along Russia’s border with Ukraine.
Appearing on Russian state television dressed in military uniform, Putin also said all Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk will be treated as terrorists.
Some background: Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk in August, swiftly capturing territory in what was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II. As well as capturing land that could potentially be swapped for Russian-occupied territory, the campaign aimed to divert Moscow’s resources from the front lines in the east. But since then, Ukraine has struggled to hold onto its captured territory, with its grip on the region rapidly deteriorating in recent days.
What Ukraine is saying: Moscow is using airborne troops and special operations forces to push Ukrainian troops out of Kursk, and has carried out air strikes on its own land, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s army, said in a post on Telegram. Russia is attempting to break through Ukrainian defenses in Kursk and move the fighting to the northeastern Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Kharkiv, he said. His priority is to save his soldiers’ lives even if it means maneuvering them into “more favorable positions” while continuing to hold defense in Kursk for as long as it’s appropriate, he said.
This post was updated with a statement from Ukraine’s military leadership.
US intelligence sharing has fully resumed and American weapons are flowing into Ukraine again after Tuesday’s meeting between US and Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia, according to a US official.
Some of these weapons were held in Poland before they had entered into Ukraine. On Tuesday night, Poland’s Secretary of State in the Ministry of National Defense Pawel Zalewski, said on social media that the weapons in Rzeszow near the border with Ukraine had started moving again.
US contractors who are in Ukraine to help with maintenance, training and support on the country’s more complex weapons systems have also resumed their work, the official said. It is not clear if they were compelled to leave the country as part of the pause in aid or if they remained in Ukraine.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has dismissed US President Donald Trump’s offer to open negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program.
Trump told Fox News last week that he had written a letter to Khamenei, telling the network, “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal. I would prefer to make a deal, because I’m not looking to hurt Iran.”
“I said, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate, because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran,’ and I think they want to get that letter — the alternative is we have to do something, because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
The Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier on Wednesday that a letter from Trump would soon be delivered to Tehran by an Arab country, but that the letter “has not yet reached us.”
Khamenei told the students he had not personally received a letter from Trump yet.
Some context: Tehran, which has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, has expressed increasing skepticism about diplomacy with the US since the Trump administration withdrew in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal signed three years earlier by Iran and six other countries.
Khamenei’s comments also targeted domestic critics who have called for renewed engagement with Washington to ease economic sanctions. “If the goal of negotiations is to lift sanctions, then dialogue with this administration will not lead to that. Rather, it will make the sanctions more complicated and impose more pressure,” Khamenei said.
The Trump administration is rolling back several major climate policies, including two rules that target planet-warming pollution from vehicles and power plants, in a major blow to America’s effort to address the causes of climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Wednesday it will undo a vehicle pollution rule the Biden administration finalized in March 2024, which — by mandating less pollution from cars — would have pushed US automakers to produce more electric vehicles and fuel-efficient hybrid models that run on a mixture of gas and small batteries.
“The American auto industry has been hamstrung by the crushing regulatory regime of the last administration,” EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said, adding the Trump administration “will abide by the rule of law to protect consumer choice and the environment.”
The administration also plans to dismantle a Biden-era rule that compelled coal and new natural gas power plants to either cut or capture 90% of their climate pollution by 2032.
Zeldin went as far as to recall the Obama administration’s power plant rule, saying in a statement that Trump “promised to kill the Clean Power Plan in his first term, and we continue to build on that progress now.”
Additionally, Trump’s EPA is preparing to reconsider and strike down a consequential scientific finding that has served as the basis of federal regulations to curb climate pollution. Dismissing the precedent would strip the EPA’s authority to manage the pollution that causes global warming.
This post has been updated with additional information about the rules set to be undone and comments from Zeldin.
The White House today declined to say if the Trump administration has any enforcement mechanism in place in case Russia breaks a US-proposed ceasefire with Ukraine.
“Well, that’s obviously a grand hypothetical question that I won’t comment on, because we’re not there yet,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House following a Fox interview.
Leavitt said that national security adviser Mike Waltz spoke with his Russian counterpart earlier today, and that Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Moscow this week to urge Russia to sign on to the plan. She described the state of negotiations as “on the tenth yard line of peace” and said it is now “up to the Russians to agree to this plan.”
But she declined to say if President Donald Trump planned to call Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to exert direct pressure to commit to the ceasefire.
“I don’t have a readout on the the president’s calls, but as the president always does, if that call happens, he will let you guys know,” Leavitt said.
Asked if he planned to speak with Putin this week to discuss the ceasefire proposal, Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, “I think so, yes.”
President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported into the United States.
In total, the US imported $31.3 billion worth of iron and steel and $27.4 billion of aluminum last year, according to data from the US Commerce Department. (The government data groups iron and steel together.)
Canada was the top source of iron, steel and aluminum sent to the US last year, with the US importing $11.4 billion worth of aluminum and $7.6 billion worth of iron and steel from there.
Here’s a breakdown of where it comes from:
CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald contributed reporting.
President Donald Trump is forging ahead with his tariff strategy, imposing a new 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. The European Union responded will billions of dollars in countermeasures, while Canada announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion of US imports.
A 56% majority of the public disapproves of Trump’s handling of the economy, worse than at any point during his first term in office, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
The president’s aggressive and volatile trade policy is also creating a growing concern on Wall Street. Economists at JPMorgan Chase say there’s a roughly 40% chance the US economy stumbles into a recession this year due to “extreme” policies.
Here’s what some experts are saying:
- Possibility of recession: JPMorgan economists wrote in a note to clients on Friday that they “see a material risk (40%) that the US falls into recession this year owing to extreme US policies.” That’s up from JPMorgan’s previous forecast of a 30% risk of a recession when the year started. Bruce Kasman, chief economist and head of global economic research at JPMorgan, on Wednesday said risks would likely rise to 50% or higher if Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs meaningfully come into force, Reuters reported.
- Other similar forecasts: Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told CNN on Monday it’s “getting close to 50/50” that there will be a 2025 US recession. Kent Smetters, faculty director of the nonpartisan Penn Wharton Model, said it’s a “toss-up” at this point whether there will be a recession. Goldman Sachs raised its recession odds on Friday due to tariffs, but the Wall Street firm only sees a 20% chance of a downturn over the next 12 months, up from 15%.
- Business leaders also feeling less confident: The CEO Economic Outlook Index released by the Business Roundtable dropped by seven points during the first quarter. The dip was tied to several factors, “including signs of economic headwinds and an atmosphere of uncertainty in Washington,” Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten said. The survey found that CEOs have sharply cut their plans for hiring and also indicated scaled-back plans for capital investment and sales expectations.
CNN’s Elise Hammond and Ariel Edwards-Levy contributed to this post.
President Donald Trump defended his shifting timeline on tariffs as a sign of “flexibility,” rather than “inconsistency,” but warned of “very little flexibility” after April 2, the date the administration said reciprocal tariff actions will be announced across many countries.
Referring to his exemption on auto tariffs for one month, after a conversation with the Big Three automakers, Trump said he did them “a favor” so they wouldn’t be “driven into a little bit of a disaster.”
“They actually love what I’m doing, but they had a problem,” Trump said. “I’m not like a block that just, ‘I won’t delay.’ I have, it’s called flexibility. It’s not called inconsistency.”
While Trump said that “flexibility” will remain as his ongoing view toward tariffs, he said that changes in April.
President Donald Trump again tried to insult Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday by calling him “a Palestinian.”
The New York Democrat is the highest-ranking Jewish official in the country.
“We are planning to lower taxes, yeah, if the Democrats behave, but the Democrats have no clue,” Trump said during a bilateral meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin from the Oval Office. “You’re going to have some very bad things happen, and people are going to blame the Democrats, and Schumer is a Palestinian, as far as I’m concerned,” the president added.
“You know, he’s become a Palestinian, he used to be Jewish, he’s not Jewish anymore, he’s a Palestinian,” Trump said.
Throughout his 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly attacked Schumer for his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza. Trump falsely said the senator was “like a Palestinian” and claimed he was a “proud member of Hamas.”
In February after retaking office, Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that Gaza would be handed over to the US “at the conclusion of the fighting,” and added that “the Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer,” would be resettled.
A goodwill St. Patrick’s Day visit to the White House by Ireland’s leader could not avoid the ongoing trade tensions that have been roiling markets and causing strain, even with the staunchest of US allies.
Sitting alongside Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the Oval Office, Trump accused the European Union — of which Ireland is a member — of treating the US “very badly.” And he lamented Ireland’s use of tax policies to lure away American drug-makers.
The object of his ire was not necessarily his guest, who sat alongside the president and mostly listened, a sprig of shamrock pinned to his jacket.
“I’m not upset with you,” Trump clarified.
Martin did interject to list Irish companies that have created American jobs, including the low-cost carrier Ryanair, which has purchased airplanes from Boeing. The president seemed mildly interested, but responded by noting the “massive deficit” that still exists between the US and Ireland.
“We do have a massive deficit with Ireland because Ireland was very smart,” Trump said. “They took our pharmaceutical companies away from presidents that didn’t know what they were doing and it’s too bad that happened.”
Ireland has long leaned on favorable corporate tax structures and exports to drive growth. But Trump said the US should have responded with tariffs to protect US workers.
“I have great respect for Ireland and what they did. And they should have done just what they did, but the United States shouldn’t have let that happen,” he said.
Asked if Ireland was taking advantage of the US, Trump suggested the answer was obvious.
“Of course they are,” he said.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the ball is in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s court after Ukraine accepted a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire on Tuesday.
“We’re going to have to see. It’s up to Russia now,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he had a meeting or call scheduled with Putin, adding that US representatives are headed to Russia “right now as we speak.”
He declined to comment on whether he has a meeting with Putin scheduled.
Special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Russia later this week, though it is unclear whether he plans to meet with Putin, with whom he met last month. Vice President JD Vance, speaking in the Oval Office, noted that conversations are happening “on the phone and in person with some of our representatives over the next couple of days.”
Pressed on whether he believed Putin would keep a ceasefire given he’s broken them in the past, Trump said, “We haven’t spoken to him yet, with substance, because we just found out and we just were able to get Ukraine to agree. We’re going to know very soon. I’ve gotten some positive messages, but a positive message means nothing.”
Trump reiterated his belief that Ukraine has been “the more difficult party.” But when asked, he also said he could slap additional sanctions on Russia, though suggested he does not want to do so.
“There are things you could do that wouldn’t be pleasant, in the financial sense. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace, I want to see peace,” he said, adding, “We are getting close to getting something done.”
President Donald Trump praised his Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon as the agency is slashing nearly half of its workforce, claiming his administration is “keeping the best people,” while cutting those he claims have poor performance or don’t show up to work.
Asked if he feels any responsibility toward the civil servants who have lost their jobs, Trump offered some sympathy before quickly claiming without evidence that many of them don’t work.
“We’re keeping the best people. And Linda McMahon is a real professional, very actually, very sophisticated businessperson. She cut a large number, but she kept the best people, and we’ll see how it all works out,” he said.
McMahon, a Republican donor and former pro-wrestling executive, previously served as Small Business administrator during the first Trump term and board chair of the America First Policy Institute.
Reiterating his goal to eliminate the Department of Education entirely, Trump said he wants to give individual states and parents power over education.
Trump also praised the education systems of other countries, including Norway, Demark, Sweden, Finland and China.
The Trump administration is running out of funding for its deportation efforts as it burns through resources at a rapid clip.
The chair of the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security’s budget told CNN that the administration has approximately 60 days left if deportations continue at the current rate.
“We’re running out of money,” GOP Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada told CNN. “You can’t sustain the operations at the level they’ve established without giving them more resources.”
The warning underscores that the GOP effort to dramatically increase funding to the Department of Homeland Security is separate from the party’s effort to slash the federal government and its workforce.
Amodei said he has presented the prospect of the dwindling funds to House GOP leadership, and it will be up to them to decide what’s next. But there are no quick fixes or easy solutions.
The question will be whether Republicans try to provide an emergency supplemental before the 60 days are up, or if leadership waits until Congress moves on a big bill encompassing President Donald Trump’s agenda in the coming months.
Amodei said the 45,000 available beds allocated for migrants are full and the administration can’t cycle them through fast enough to keep up with the number of deportations they are aiming for.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested nearly 33,000 migrants in the United States since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, nearly outpacing the number of interior arrests in the last fiscal year under former President Joe Biden, according to senior Homeland Security officials.
ICE — the enforcement arm at the Department of Homeland Security — has been under immense pressure to ramp up arrests of undocumented immigrants in the United States, resulting in tense calls with the White House and infighting among officials. But in doing so, they’re also grappling with “maxed out” detention space, according to a senior ICE official.
“We are maxed out. We’re at 47,600,” the senior ICE official said, adding that the agency is looking to grow its detention space. ICE detention space is at roughly 120%, according to internal data shared with CNN.
In Trump’s first 50 days, from January 20 to March 10, ICE made 32,809 arrests, according to agency officials. The breakdown of those arrests includes:
- 14,111 were convicted criminals
- 9,980 had pending criminal charges
- 8,718 had other immigration violations
Some of those arrested have been released at the direction of judges or over medical or humanitarian concerns, though it’s unclear how many. Officials told reporters that those decisions are made at the senior level.
In fiscal year 2024, ICE conducted 33,243 at-large arrests, meaning that they were done in the community. Agency officials didn’t share how many of the arrests made in the last 50 days were at-large arrests. They also didn’t share deportation numbers.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country would wait until April 2 to determine if it will respond to US tariffs on aluminum and steel.
US President Donald Trump had agreed to delay tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada that are covered by the USMCA free trade treaty until April 2. That is also the date his administration said reciprocal tariff actions would be announced across many countries.
Sheinbaum said her economy secretary would work with his American counterpart until then to “address how April 2 will unfold.”
Asked if her government had a plan in place for imposing retaliatory tariffs, should they become necessary, Sheinbaum replied: “Yes, yes, we are working on it, and there is also a very good relationship with all steel producers and all those involved in aluminum production. So, we are working with them, with the national producers, and waiting for April 2 to make a definitive decision.”
Senate Republicans on Wednesday said they understand their constituents’ uneasiness over the impacts of President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, urging the president to provide more clarity on his policies to help ease the uncertainty Americans are feeling.
Trump imposed a sweeping 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imported into the United States on Wednesday, a move that threatens to drive up prices on a broad range of consumer and industrial goods for Americans.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said she knows there is concern among consumers and businesses about the impact of tariffs on prices, but “right now, I’m urging calm.”
She said her message is: “Let’s see how this plays out because I think the president’s on the right track in terms of making sure that America really has the best seat at the table.”
Capito told CNN that “uncertainty’s never good for anybody,” and said she would tell Trump himself to “sort of calm the waters” and indicate “when he thinks this will settle.”
Sen. Todd Young of Indiana said he agrees the Trump administration “rightly takes the view” that the US has been on the “receiving end of a lot of provocative trade activity over the years, and it’s time America fires a shot,” but he thinks more “clarity” should be provided on Trump’s new trade policies.
“I’ve called for more clarity to be brought to individual tariff lines, so that our farmers and manufacturers know how long this is going to last, what exactly the tariff structure is going to look like,” he said, adding he thinks it’s “really important that we have certainty.”
Young said he hopes the US can negotiate a “positive outcome” and eventually roll back on some of the newly imposed tariffs, “as opposed to keep them where they are initially.”
A federal judge expressed skepticism Wednesday with how the Trump administration went about firing thousands of probationary employees, saying that while mass terminations may be within President Donald Trump’s discretion, he must do so in ways that comply with the law.
Bredar is considering whether to issue a temporary restraining order in a case brought by several Democratic states who allege that the administration broke the law by not giving states proper notice before laying off the employees.
Key to the dispute is whether the terminations followed the rules that allow for probationary employees to be quickly terminated — rules that would require a individualize reason for the firing, like a substandard performance by the employee –— or if the layoffs were in effect a so-called “Reduction In Force” that usually requires, under law, a 60 day notice.
Justice Department attorney Eric Hamilton could not answer the judge’s questions about how many probationary employees had been laid off at the relevant agencies, nor would he answer when Bredar asked if it was more or less than 50, or 100.
The judge asked if anyone in the federal government had that information, to which Hamilton replied that he did not know.
Bredar, an Obama appointee, did not say how he intended to rule at the end of the hearing, but promised that a written opinion would come quickly.
Canada’s Prime Minister Designate Mark Carney said he is ready to meet with US President Donald Trump, but he wants America to respect its northern neighbor’s sovereignty.
Carney said Canada has come to the table to meet Trump’s demands to curtail the amount of fentanyl coming over the border. Federal statistics show Canada makes up just .2% of US border fentanyl seizures.
“We respect his concern about fentanyl; it’s an issue for us here in Canada as well,” Carney said. “And that’s why the Canadian government moved very quickly a comprehensive response that’s had a huge, huge impact in terms of controlling that issue and getting on top of that issue much better.”
Carney called for a renewal of the “greatest economic and security partnership in the world,” and a solution that would leave both Canadian and American workers better off.
Meanwhile, Canada has retaliated against the United States’ latest tariff escalation by imposing 25% tariffs on a variety of goods, including steel and aluminum.
While Carney has taken over as Liberal Party leader in Canada, Justin Trudeau will remain prime minister for an as-yet undisclosed transitional period while his successor settles in.
When the Irish Taoiseach, or prime minister, visits Washington around St. Patrick’s Day every year, it’s not normally an occasion for tension. Instead, it’s usually a moment to mark close ties between the countries, illustrated annually by the presentation of a crystal bowl of shamrocks.
Yet like so many traditions in the Donald Trump era, Wednesday’s visit will come against a strained backdrop. The European Union, of which Ireland is a member, announced plans to hit back on US metal tariffs in the hours ahead of Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s arrival for talks with Trump.
The budding trade war is only the start of the Trump administration’s fraught relationship with Europe. The president has also castigated longstanding American allies for not doing enough on Ukraine, and has demanded European countries increase their defense spending. And his plan to redevelop Gaza into a “Riviera” resort has caused fury among the Irish, who hold historic sympathies toward Palestinians.
Martin, an experienced diplomat who previously served as Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, is unlikely to enter the meeting looking for a fight. But even he faced pressure from the Irish public ahead of his trip to Washington, with some calling on him to cancel the visit altogether.
Ireland has not historically found itself subject to Trump’s ire. In remarks alongside Vice President JD Vance ahead of his White House meetings, Martin praised the US as a broker for peace, harkening to the US-led peace talks that resulted in the 1998 Good Friday agreement that ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
“We know that building peace is a difficult and painstaking task. We are ready to play our part in supporting work to end conflict and to secure peace, whether in the Middle East or in Ukraine,” he said.
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