SmartNews

Elon Musk attempted 'intervention' in major 'break' with signature Trump policy: report

As President Donald Trump moves ahead with his plan to impose sweeping tariffs on imported goods from the rest of the world, one typically vocal pro-Trump figure has remained largely absent from the cheerleading — tech billionaire Elon Musk, who, according to The Washington Post, has fruitlessly tried to lobby Trump against his scheme.

Musk, the de facto leader of the Department of Government Efficiency task force, has enthusiastically moved to lay off huge swathes of the civil service and suspend government agencies and programs across the board — but he and his businesses stand to lose billions from a shutdown of world trade.

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'Frustrated' Trump confused why 'emotional' Cabinet member always in White House: report

A key Cabinet member for President Donald Trump has confused the business community and even gotten under the MAGA leader's own skin, according to a report.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has played a key role in shaping Trump's economic policy — including helping craft the president's market-plunging tariff policy. But Lutnick is "frustrating" executives and senior White House officials, who have come away from encounters with Lutnick "exasperated," the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday, citing roughly a dozen people.

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'Ominous': CNN host floored as China responds to Trump's 'mind-boggling threat'

President Donald Trump’s new trade threats targeting China prompted officials in Beijing to hit back with their own cryptic message on Monday – an escalation that CNN’s Erin Burnett demonstrated will have real-world effects on American consumers.

“China punching back, aiming an ominous tweet moments ago at Trump,” Burnett said as she summed up Monday’s fast-moving events, which included the Chinese embassy’s official social media account simply tagging “@realDonaldTrump” in a post.

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'Horrible for jobs': Shipping expert warns Trump on course to destroy US maritime commerce

President Donald Trump has already perturbed markets and boosted the risk of a recession with his draconian worldwide tariff scheme — but there's another plan from his administration, less noticed by the media, that could also devastate U.S. markets, said Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen, and it concerns expensive new fees on container vessels bringing goods into America.

Specifically, wrote Petersen, "On April 17th the U.S. Trade Representative's office is expected to impose fees of up to $1.5M per port call for ships made in China and for $500k to $1M if the ocean carrier owns a single ship made in China or even has one on order from a Chinese shipyard."

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‘Deport them all!’ MAGA world cheers ‘huge’ SCOTUS win and declares 'lawfare is crumbling'

Supporters of President Donald Trump’s hardline deportation policy took a victory lap on Monday following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants.

The Monday legal win for Trump overturned U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s ruling temporarily blocking administration officials from moving forward with deportations under the wartime act– which an appeals court left untouched last week.

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'The gall': Legal experts unload as Supreme Court 'folds' — and hands Trump win

Legal experts unloaded Monday after the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a win in its effort to deport migrants it suspects of being gang members by invoking a controversial 1700s law.

The court said Trump's administration can invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which was part of the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by Congress amid heightened tensions with France. The law gives the president wartime powers to detain, relocate, or deport non-citizens from enemy nations.

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'Crazies running the asylum': Ex-GOP rep warns US at mercy of 'wet-behind-the-ear idiots'

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA), one of President Donald Trump's harshest center-right critics, had nothing but hair-on-fire warnings to offer MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace in response to reporting that the president forced out the National Security Agency's director on the advice of a conspiracy theorist.

"National security folks felt like the country could survive one Trump term, but not two, and that is a dire assessment of most folks I still talk to," said Wallace. "What does that mean that we can't survive two Trump terms?"

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Supreme Court hands Trump win in effort to deport migrants using controversial 1700s law

The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a win Monday afternoon as it allowed his administration to — for now — use a 1700s-era law to deport migrants it alleges are gang members.

The court said Trump's administration can invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which was part of the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by Congress amid heightened tensions with France. The law gives the president wartime powers to detain, relocate, or deport non-citizens from enemy nations.

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'No confidence vote': Battleground state GOP senator begs Trump to reverse course

A Republican senator from a key battleground state is increasingly desperate for President Donald Trump to find an exit strategy from his tariff plan.

"Sen. [Thom] Tillis sounding the alarm on tariffs," reported Max Cohen from Punchbowl News. "Says the administration needs to start publicizing 'specific negotiations' with trading partners."

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'Convoluted arrangement': Johnson strikes deal to end bitter GOP infighting

House Speaker Mike Johnson ended his weeklong stalemate with congressional Republicans, whose insistence that members of Congress on maternity leave should be able to vote from home sparked an internal civil war – and led him to cancel all floor votes for the remainder of the week.

But the start of the new week brought a fresh agreement that effectively ended the bipartisan push to change House rules to allow proxy voting for new parents, The New York Times reported Monday. The “watered-down solution” came after Johnson talked Donald Trump into supporting his position after the president publicly broke with the House speaker last week, the Times said.

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'Markets will keep melting!' Cabinet member jetted to Trump to urge 'shift' on tariffs

A Cabinet official jetted to Florida over the weekend to press President Donald Trump to hone his message on tariffs — and put anxious Americans at ease — or watch the financial markets continue to crater, according to a report.

Scott Bessent flew Sunday and warned Trump that the markets would continue to spiral if he didn't emphasize his endgame when it comes to his trade war, Politico reported.

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'Get this done' — and 'quickly': House GOP gets stern orders from Trump

President Donald Trump sent House Republicans a stern message Monday afternoon — the Senate passed the GOP budget, now it's your turn.

The Senate approved a budget resolution early Saturday after an overnight session. The resolution passed with a 51-48 vote along party lines and now awaits further action in the House of Representatives.

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‘Explosive allegations’: MAGA senator warns 'full-scale' probe could net Meta DOJ referral

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) delivered a biting preview of what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg can look forward to as he prepares to face off against a Senate committee this week following bombshell whistleblower claims over the company’s associations with China.

“These allegations are explosive,” Hawley said. “The public deserves to hear every single detail and they’re going to hear it on Wednesday.”

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