Trump to make unscheduled address after calling tariff exemptions on Canada and Mexico ‘a fair thing to do’ – live | Trump administration
Key events
In an alternate universe, we would be awaiting a speech from president Kamala Harris right now. But we live in this reality, and thus, the Guardian’s Robert Tait reports that the former vice-president is considering a run for governor of her home state:
Kamala Harris is considering a run to be governor of California and has given herself until the end of the summer to make a final decision, sources close to her have told Politico.
The former US vice-president has been weighing up a gubernatorial campaign in her home state as one option for remaining in the political arena since her presidential election defeat to Donald Trump last November.
Now allies have told Politico that she is close to throwing her hat in the ring after she turned up at a pre-Oscar parties last weekend in Los Angeles at which she reportedly rubbed shoulders with wealthy Democratic power brokers.
The party’s nomination for the governor’s candidacy in 2026 is up for grabs because term limits prevent the current incumbent, Gavin Newsom, from running again.
Harris has retained her tightly knit team of advisers since leaving the vice-presidency in January and attended a series of political events, repeatedly telling people: “I am staying in this fight,” according to Politico.
Democratic congressman Chris Deluzio has a warning for his party: don’t ignore the appeal of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
In an essay for the New York Times, Deluzio writes that for deindustrialized areas of the United States, such as his western Pennsylvania district, voters are hopeful tariffs will restore the prosperity they view as being lost to free trade deals that shipped jobs abroad:
If you oppose all tariffs, you are essentially signaling that you are comfortable with exploited foreign workers making your stuff at the expense of American workers. I am not and neither are most voters. Many polls show that Americans – especially the three-fifths without college degrees – support tariffs in part, economists have suggested, because communities harmed by global competition view them “as a sign of political solidarity.” The Biden administration, to its credit, tripled tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports. So, why is the Democrats’ only message on tariffs that they raise prices? That was the play during the 2024 election and it flopped.
That being said, Deluzio criticizes Trump for a haphazard approach to imposing the levies. The president has alternated between slapping tariffs on countries, then announcing temporary pauses and exemptions, which Deluzio said will undermine their effectiveness, particularly if Trump supports the repeal of legislation intended to stimulate domestic manufacturing:
For one thing, tariffs are effective only when used in a predictable and stable way – and the Trump administration’s approach has been anything but. On Feb. 1, Mr. Trump announced he was imposing new 10 percent tariffs on China and fixing part of a trade scam that allows four million packages to enter the United States daily without facing tariffs, taxes or meaningful inspection – simply because they’re labeled “low value.” Not only does this “de minimis” loophole undermine U.S. producers and retailers, but traffickers also often exploit it to sneak in deadly fentanyl-laced pills and fentanyl precursor chemicals. Days after his announcement, Mr. Trump flip-flopped and reopened the loophole. He raised China tariffs another 10 percent on March 4 – good! But still, the loophole means billions in Chinese imports can evade tariffs and inspections.
Mr. Trump’s chaotic tariff two-step – imposing, delaying, threatening and then again imposing tariffs, including on allies like Canada with whom we mainly have balanced trade – is bad business for America. Entrepreneurs ready to invest in production here sit on the sidelines, wondering where the tariff roller coaster will stop.
Democrats should emphasize that tariffs alone will not create jobs or build new plants.
Trump to make unscheduled address from Oval Office
The White House just announced that Donald Trump will speak from the Oval Office at 11am ET.
The subject of the unscheduled address was not specified. We’ll let you know what the president has to say.
Trump says exempting many Canadian and Mexican products from tariffs is ‘a fair thing to do’
In an interview with Fox Business Network, Donald Trump vowed to press on with tariffs on a wide range of countries beginning next month, but said he decided to temporarily exempt many Canadian and Mexican imports from tariffs to give US businesses relief.
“I wanted to help Mexico and Canada to a certain extent. We’re a big, big country, and they do a lot of their business with us, whereas in our case, it’s much less significant. We do very little with Canada by comparison. And I wanted to help the American carmakers until April 2nd. April 2nd, it becomes all reciprocal,” Trump said, referring to his plan to place levies on foreign imports equal to what they put on American products.
“But this is short-term. And I felt that for the good of the American carmakers … I thought it would be a fair thing to do. And so I gave them a little bit of a break for this short period of time.”
While Trump talks a big game on tariffs, he has repeatedly delayed or lessened levies on Mexico and Canada, two of the United States’s largest trading partners. Here’s the latest on that:
Lauren Gambino
On Tuesday night, a federal judge temporarily blocked an attempt by Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) to takeover a small federal agency that promotes economic development in Africa, after a tense standoff between staff and the billionaire’s cost-cutting team ensued earlier this week.
The ruling by US district court in Washington judge Richard Leon, an George W Bush appointee, was an initial victory for the United States African Development Foundation, whose CEO and president, Ward Brehm, filed a lawsuit on Thursday, after Doge, with the White House’s blessing, attempted to remove him and install the Trump loyalist Peter Marocco. The agency’s dissent has inspired federal workers across the government, as it fights efforts to effectively shutter its operations.
Democracy Forward filed the legal challenge on Brehm’s behalf. The ruling means that, for now, Brehm remains in charge of the agency, which has roughly 50 staff. A hearing will take place next week.
The complaint accuses Doge and Marocco, a state department official tasked with dismantling USAid, of violating the agency’s founding statute and asserts that Congress, not the White House, can eliminate it.
Doge’s team, accompanied by US marshals and Marocco, gained access to the building on Thursday, after staffers prevented them from entering on Wednesday. In the complaint, the foundation details the incident that led to Wednesday’s showdown. It says Doge members attempted to enter the building under “false pretenses of modernizing and streamlining USADF’s computer systems”. When staffers refused to grant them access, the Doge officials responded by threatening to terminate the foundation’s board of directors.
Randomly enough, Donald Trump also took time out of his morning to attack South Africa, writing on Truth Social:
South Africa is being terrible, plus, to long time Farmers in the country. They are confiscating their LAND and FARMS, and MUCH WORSE THAN THAT. A bad place to be right now, and we are stopping all Federal Funding. To go a step further, any Farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to Citizenship. This process will begin immediately!
“Long time Farmers” appears to be code for white South Africans, who control most of the country’s land and wealth. They are a group Trump cares for quite a bit, as opposed to, say, the estimated 500,000 people in South Africa who could die in the next decade due to his cuts to US-funded HIV programs.
Here’s more about Trump’s latest salvo against South Africa:
Trump threatens tariffs and sanctions on Russia until ceasefire is reached in Ukraine
Donald Trump says he is considering imposing sanctions and tariffs on Russia to encourage the country to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, noting that they have stepped up their attacks on their neighbor recently.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said:
Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely “pounding” Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED. To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!
The president’s threat came after Moscow mounted a major attack on Ukraine’s infrastructure. We have the latest on that in our live blog covering European news:
While the February employment report showed no significant changes to the labor market, there was at least one sign that Donald Trump’s often haphazard government downsizing effort was having an effect.
The labor department’s data showed federal government employment decreased by 10,000 overall, with 3,500 fewer jobs in the postal service and 6,700 in the rest of the government. Those numbers could increase, perhaps dramatically, in the months to come, if Trump’s mass firing efforts continue.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has scrambled to convince Donald Trump to lift tariffs on his country, which together with Mexico and China is one of the US’s largest trading partners.
That effort included a phone call between the two leaders on Wednesday, which appears to have had some effect – on Thursday, Trump exempted Canada from some of the tariffs he had imposed, along with Mexico.
But relations between Trump and Trudeau, who is expected to leave office soon, are tense. The Wall Street Journal has some details of just how tense:
Trudeau responded Tuesday by placing tariffs on the US, and he questioned whether further negotiations would make any difference, accusing Trump of acting in “bad faith.” The two leaders eventually spoke Wednesday morning, an exchange Trump said ended in a “somewhat” friendly manner. A person familiar with the matter said the call grew heated and included profanity.
US sees slightly less than expected job growth in February
Hiring in the United States remained steady in February, the first full month of Donald Trump’s term, albeit at a rate just under what economists had expected, according to government data.
Employment rose by 151,000 positions last month and the unemployment rate ticked higher by a small amount to 4.1%. Economists had forecast slightly better payroll growth and a flat unemployment rate, but the report was nonetheless a sign that the labor market remained on steady footing.
Whether that will last remains to be seen, as Trump threatens to intensify tariffs on US trading partners, and continues his plans to fire federal employees. Indeed, The data from the labor department showed that one of the sectors that lost the most jobs last month was the federal government.
Donald Trump will receive the first employment data of his new term at 8.30am, when the labor department releases its jobs report for February.
Hiring has been steady for months, and economists expect that it remained so in February. But surprises are always possible, including those sparked by his campaign to lay off federal workers en masse. Either way, the monthly jobs report is a closely watched sign of economic health, and the White House will no doubt weigh in on it.
Here’s a look back at last month’s release, which covered the transition period between Joe Biden and Trump’s administration:
Lauren Aratani
Tens of thousands of US federal employees could lose their jobs after the Trump administration moves to reduce the size of the federal workforce dramatically.
With Elon Musk at the helm of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), which is overseeing efforts to cull federal employment, the White House has embarked on multiple plans to cut down on virtually all areas of federal employment.
There are no official numbers of how many federal employees will be affected, and many of Donald Trump and Musk’s efforts have been stalled in court, but the impact could be big and long-lasting.
To understand what the cuts will do to federal operations, we first have to understand who works for the federal government and what they do. Here’s what we know about the federal workforce.
Eric Holthaus
As deadly severe storms swept the US this week, recent Donald Trump administration staffing cuts have left key parts of weather monitoring and disaster preparedness systems severely understaffed, the Guardian has learned.
March typically signals the start of a four-month tornado season across the eastern two-thirds of the US. Last year’s tornado season was one of the most prolific on record, and this year’s tornado season is getting off to an early active start.
A multi-day tornado outbreak tore across several southern states, with significant damage reported near Ada, Oklahoma, including part of an elementary school. Dangerous storms then spread eastward into the Carolinas and the mid-Atlantic. Strong winds in Mississippi killed and injured multiple people in separate incidents.
The period of unsettled weather raised concerns internally among National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists that the newly downsized agency could be stretched thin.
Trump says he sent letter to Iranian leader to negotiate deal
Donald Trump said he wants to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran and sent a letter to its leadership on Thursday saying he hoped they would agree to talk.
“I said I hope you’re going to negotiate, because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran,” the US president said in the interview with Fox Business Network broadcast on Friday.
“I think they want to get that letter. The other alternative is we have to do something, because you can’t let another nuclear weapon.”
The letter appeared to have been addressed to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The White House did not immediately respond to a request about that, Reuters reported.
The Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, discussed international efforts to resolve the situation around Iran’s nuclear program with the Iranian ambassador, Kazem Jalali, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday.
Lauren Gambino
Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California believed to be eyeing a run for president in 2028, is facing fierce backlash from LGBTQ+ rights advocates after his suggestion that the participation of transgender women and girls in female sports was “deeply unfair”.
In the inaugural episode of his podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom, the governor hosted conservative political activist and Maga darling Charlie Kirk. The co-founder and executive director of the rightwing Turning Point USA, a Phoenix-based organization that operates on school campuses, told Newsom: “You, right now, should come out and be like: ‘You know what? The young man who’s about to win the state championship in the long jump in female sports – that shouldn’t happen.’ You, as the governor, should step out and say: ‘No.’”
The governor responded: “I think it’s an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that … it’s deeply unfair.”
Members of his own party in California quickly condemned the comments.
“We woke up profoundly sickened and frustrated by these remarks,” assembly member Chris Ward and senator Caroline Menjivar, of the California legislative LGBTQ+ caucus, said in a statement. “All students deserve the academic and health benefits of sports activity, and until Donald Trump began obsessing about it, playing on a team consistent with one’s gender has not been a problem since the standard was passed in 2013.”
California law has long protected trans youth’s rights to participate in school activities that match their gender.
US president Donald Trump said US tariffs could go up over time but gave no other details, according to an excerpt of a Fox Business interview taped on Thursday that aired on Friday.
Asked whether businesses could get clarity about his tariff plan, Trump said:
Well, I think so. But, you know, the terms could go up as time goes by, and they may go up and, you know, I don’t know if it’s predictability.
Andrew Roth
Staff on hundreds of foreign aid projects left in limbo by the Trump administration’s funding freeze have received a survey that asks them to justify their work under an eccentric list of criteria that meet the White House’s new national security priorities.
The survey, copies of which have been obtained by the Guardian, asks foreign aid programme staff to detail whether they contribute to limiting illegal immigration or securing US borders, “combatting Christian prosecution”,and whether they help the US secure access to rare earth minerals.
It also includes a litmus test on several controversial issues banned under the Trump administration. “Can you confirm this is not a climate or ‘environmental justice’ project or include such elements? [yes/no],” the survey asks. It also asks: “Can you confirm that this is no DEI [diversity, equality and inclusion] project or DEI elements of the project? [yes /no].”
The questionnaire, which was distributed eight weeks after the US president issued a foreign aid funding freeze, comes as thousands of projects have already laid off staff and cut ties with local partners, meaning that even if stop-work orders are lifted the programmes may remain shuttered.
The administration has claimed that it has restored funding for life-saving programmes and has developed a rigorous criteria for reviewing all foreign aid spending. But staff have described a chaotic process or a complete lack of communication with USAid and State Department officials meant to review their programmes.
Opening summary: China to continue retaliation against US tariffs
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the coming hours.
We start with news that the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said China will continue to retaliate against the United States’ “arbitrary tariffs”. Donald Trump is continuing with his action against China despite pausing similar measures against Canada and Mexico.
In a press conference on Friday, Wang said China’s efforts to help the US contain its fentanyl crisis have been met with punitive tariffs, which are straining the ties between the countries.
“No country should fantasise that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” Wang said. “Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.”
The two countries have been engaging in tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs since Trump’s return to office in January.
The US has imposed flat tariffs of 20% on all Chinese imports, while Beijing has countered with additional 15% duties on US imports including chicken, pork, soy and beef, as well as expanded controls on doing business with key US companies.
It comes as Trump once again put a central part of his trade war on pause, temporarily exempting from tariffs Mexican and Canadian goods covered by the continental free trade agreement he negotiated in his first term.
However, the president said he was still ready to impose “reciprocal” tariffs on both Canada and Mexico next month.
In other news:
-
Trump told his cabinet secretaries that they are in charge of hiring and firings at their agencies, not Elon Musk.
-
The House has voted to censure Democratic congressman Al Green for disrupting Trump’s address to this week’s joint session of Congress. The motion was approved with 224 votes in favor and 198 opposed, with 10 Democrats in support.
-
In an escalation of his pressure campaign, Trump said the US will not fight for Nato allies who don’t spend enough on their own defense.
-
US district judge Beryl Howell ruled on Thursday that Donald Trump’s firing of a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board was illegal and ordered that she be reinstated to her post.
-
Axios reports that the state department is hunting for evidence that foreign students who express support for Palestinians under Israeli occupation while studying in the US are “pro-Hamas”, and can have their visas revoked, based on an AI review of their social media accounts.
-
Trump thanked a reporter for the partisan outlet Breitbart for asking him a friendly question in the Oval Office, which teed him up to attack Democrats. The White House excluded non-partisan reporters from Reuters and the Associated Press to make room for Breitbart and One America News, two pro-Trump outlets.
-
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday evening to establish a “strategic bitcoin reserve”, a day before meeting with executives from the cryptocurrency industry at the White House.
-
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who reportedly endured a profanity-laced tirade from Trump, was asked about his foreign minister’s comment that dealing with the US was now “a psychodrama”. “How would you characterize it?” a reporter asked. “Thursday”, Trudeau replied.
