What's happening today
- The White House said today that Trump signed executive orders imposing tariffs on goods entering America from Mexico, Canada and China. The move could drive up prices on products coming from those countries.
- The executive orders impose a 10% tariff on Chinese imports and a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports, excluding Canadian energy imports which will carry a 10% tariff.
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded in an address this evening, saying he would implement a 25% tariff against $155 billion in U.S. goods.
- Trump's administration continues its effort to purge federal DEI programs. The Office of Personnel Management yesterday ordered employees to remove all references to "gender ideology." The president's Defense Intelligence Agency also paused activities related to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month and other cultural observances.
David Hogg elected vice chair of the DNC
David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 shooting at his high school in Parkland, Florida, has been elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, current Chairman Jaime Harrison announced.
Hogg was elected to the position alongside Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, with Hogg receiving 214.5 votes and 298 for Kenyatta.
“I’m ready to fight for you,” Hogg said in a statement after his victory.
"I want to build a Democratic Party that is authentic, relatable, earns people’s trust, and wins again––and that stops apologizing for being who we are. We don’t need to be cowards. We need to be bold, aggressive, and to fight," he added. "And we need to believe that the reason people should vote for us isn’t just because we’re not Republicans—it’s because we’re damn Democrats."
Canada’s Justin Trudeau announces retaliatory tariffs following Trump’s executive order
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Saturday night that his country would respond to President Donald Trump’s decision to enact a 25% tariff on Canadian exports to the U.S. by implementing a 25% tariff against $155 billion in U.S. goods.
Trudeau’s comments came just hours after Trump signed an executive order implementing tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China. Trump’s order implemented a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada — excluding Canadian energy products, which would face a 10% tariff. He also implemented an additional 10% tariff on imports from China.
Here’s what could get more expensive under Trump’s tariffs
Trump’s threatened tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China went into effect this evening, slapping a 25% wholesale tariff on both Mexico and Canada at once.
China, at the moment, is only being levied with a 10% tariff.
Trump is taking a more aggressive strategy against the nation’s neighbors than he did in his first administration. At that time, he took a more targeted approach to specific industries, like steel and aluminum.
Canadian Conservative Party leader urges 'Canada First' plan, vows retaliation in response to tariffs
Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada’s Conservative Party and candidate for prime minister, blasted Trump’s imposition of tariffs, saying “there is no justification whatsoever for this treatment” and urging parliament to put aside partisan interests and pass a “Canada First Plan.”
Poilievre’s six-part plan, laid out in an X post, included retaliating against the U.S. with “dollar-for-dollar tariffs,” pouring the money collected from the tariffs into affected workers and businesses, passing a “massive” tax cut, and rebuilding the Canadian military.
It also included “taking back control of our borders to regain the confidence of our partners, assert our sovereignty, protect our people, and put Canada First.”
“We will protect our economy, defend our sovereignty, bring home production and paycheques and never back down. We will put Canada First—now and always,” Poilievre added.
Poilievre, Canada’s opposition leader, has seemingly taken a page from Trump in his populist campaign messaging, painting Canada as chaos-ridden and in need of change. He is leading the polls to become prime minister in an election that must happen by October of this year but could happen earlier if parliament is dissolved.
Trade industry pushes back against the enacted tariffs
Some of the largest industries that deal with imports from Canada, Mexico and China are criticizing Trump’s newly enacted tariffs.
The United Steelworkers union called on Trump to reconsider the tariffs and referred to Canada "one of our strongest partners."
“Lashing out at key allies like Canada is not the way forward," the union said.
An industry group representing spirits makers said it was “deeply concerned that U.S. tariffs on imported spirits from Canada and Mexico will significantly harm all three countries” and added that a slowdown in sales the industry saw in the wake of Covid “will be exacerbated if a cycle of tariffs and matching retaliation begins.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also argued that “tariffs are not the answer” and “will only raise prices for American families and upend supply chains.”
Before tariffs were officially signed, the National Homebuilders Association said it had “serious concerns” that the penalties would only worsen “a severe housing shortage” across the country.
Trump slaps tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, risking higher prices for U.S. consumers
Trump has signed tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. from Canada, Mexico and China, the White House said today, raising the risk of a trade war with America’s closest trading partners and threatening to drive up prices on everything from cars to avocados.
It is unclear when the tariffs will take effect or what specific actions the U.S. was looking for the three countries to take in order to lift the tariffs.
Trump has signed Canada, Mexico & China tariffs into effect
The White House said that Trump signed executive orders imposing tariffs on three of the United States’ top trading partners.
The officials said there will be a tariff of 25% on all imports from Mexico, 25% on all imports from Canada, excluding energy products. Canadian energy imports will see a tariff of 10%.
The White House also said that Trump signed a 10% additional tariff on imports from China. The officials did not yet say when the tariffs would begin to be collected as goods cross the border.
Vance sidesteps question about whether air traffic controller in Wednesday's accident was a 'DEI hire'
In an interview with Fox News set to air on Sunday morning, Vice President JD Vance doubled down on Trump's rhetoric about DEI — or diversity, equity and inclusion — in the federal government.
Asked if there was any evidence that any of the air traffic controllers involved in Wednesday evening's airplane and helicopter collision in Washington, D.C., were DEI hires, Vance didn't give "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo a clear answer.
"This is not saying that the person at the controls is a DEI hire, but let's just say — first of all, we should investigate everything — but let's just say the person at the controls didn't have enough staffing around him or her because we were turning people away because of DEI reasons," Vance said.
He added, "The president made very clear that he wasn't blaming anybody but he was being very explicit about the fact that DEI policies have led our air traffic controls to be short-staffed."
On Thursday, in the aftermath of the incident that killed 67 people, Trump blamed the accident on the policies of former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, who according to Trump lowered the standards of hiring in the Federal Aviation Administration.
"I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary. You remember that. Only the highest aptitude they have to be the highest intellect and psychologically superior people were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers," Trump said, referring to his first term.
"When I left office and Biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before. I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen, because this was the lowest level. Their policy was horrible, and their politics was even worse," the president added.
In a memo on Thursday, the president said the Obama and Biden-era hiring standards "minimized merit and competence" at the FAA.
He added in the memo that the Biden administration "egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring all executive departments and agencies to implement dangerous “diversity equity and inclusion” tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with “severe intellectual” disabilities in the FAA."
Ken Martin wins election as the next chair of the DNC
Ken Martin, the longtime leader of the state Democratic Party organization in Minnesota, will be the new Democratic National Committee chair after winning Saturday’s election, as his party looks to turn the page and recover from a dismal 2024.
Martin had been the front-runner from the beginning of the race, leveraging his relationships with the more than 400 voting members of the DNC that he forged over more than a decade of work inside the institutional Democratic Party. And those relationships proved essential, as he clinched a majority of the voting members on the first ballot.
The race hinged more on the candidates’ organizing and fundraising resumes than on their postures regarding the ideological soul of the party, as it did in 2017, after President Donald Trump’s previous election win. Martin was the more experienced hand with deep party relationships, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler had been at the center of some of Democrats’ highest-profile races in recent years, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley had unique electoral and government experience.
Addressing the DNC membership after his victory, Martin called for party unity after a relatively quiet race that got chippy at times, and for the party to focus on opposing President Trump.
Biden, Harris addressed DNC ahead of chair vote
In an pre-recorded video address to DNC members ahead of the chair vote, former President Joe Biden celebrated the "enormous progress" Democrats made during his administration, but warned that, "today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America."
He described it as "an oligarchy of extreme wealth, power and influence that threatens the entire democracy: our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead in this moment, the strength of our institutions of our democracy, the presidency, Congress, the courts."
Biden rallied Democrats, telling them that their task as a party is, "to organize, to mobilize folks to run, to empower more Americans who believe the America of our dream is closer than we think."
Just after his speech, former Vice President Kamala Harris also addressed the gathering in a pre-recorded video message, telling Democrats, "We have some hard work ahead of us. But you know what I like to say, hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work."
She added, "As we continue to fight for our ideals and to realize the promise of America, I will be with you every step of the way."