
BBC Learning English - Learning English from the News / Trump returns to power
(Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The story
President Donald Trump has started his second term as president with lots of executive orders about what he wants to do. Executive orders are written orders which don't require Congress, that's the US parliament, to approve them.
Among Trump's first acts as president are: starting to withdraw from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate agreement, which is an international agreement to fight Climate change. He also threatened to put tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico and reversed many of his predecessor President Biden's policies.
News headlines
Donald Trump vows new 'golden age' for US as he moves to unwind Joe Biden era
Financial Times
Trump grants clemency to all charged over January 6 US Capitol attack
Al-Jazeera
Best of 'frenemies': Trump's relationship with Europe this time may be very different
BBC News
Key words and phrases
golden age
a period of time when everyone is happy or successful
Some people say the golden age of television is over.
grant clemency
give a smaller or kinder punishment
The judge granted the criminal clemency. She only got a small fine.
frenemy
both friend and enemy at the same time
The film director has lots of frenemies in Hollywood. She can't trust anyone.
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Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Tesla shares take $150bn plunge as Musk vs Trump erupts
Tesla shares fell sharply in US trading on Thursday after the sudden eruption of a public spat between boss Elon Musk and President Donald Trump sparked fears of reprisals for the electric car giant. Trump threatened to terminate 'Elon's governmental subsidies and contracts' on his social messaging service Truth Social after a disagreement over the President's budget bill saw the pair exchange accusations and insults. US subsidies and contracts at Federal and state level are worth billions to Tesla, which also currently benefits from a $7,500 tax credit available for electric vehicle purchases. Trump wrote: 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. 'I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!' Tesla shares fell more than 14 per cent by the end of US trading, wiping $150billion off the carmaker's market capitalisation. Analysts at Wedbush said: 'The quickly deteriorating friendship and now 'major beef' between Musk and Trump is jaw dropping and a shock to the market and putting major fear for Tesla investors on what is ahead. 'This situation between Musk and Trump could start to settle down and the friendship continues but this must start to be calmed down on the Musk and Trump fronts and it's not good for either side. 'This feud does not change our bullish view of Tesla and the autonomous view but clearly does put a fly in the ointment of the Trump regulatory framework going forward.' Musk's relationship with the President has been a major driver of Tesla's fortunes, for better and for worse, over the last two years. Tesla shares rose more than 60 per cent between the start of November when Trump was elected to the end of 2024. But investor pressure over Musk's controversial role in the White House ultimately led to him to stepping down from his unofficial 'DOGE' department, which had sparked protests and vandalism directed at Tesla. The controversy also appears to have weighed on Tesla sales. Tesla shares were on a run more recently, however, after Musk confirmed the group would be testing an autonomous, driverless 'robotaxi' service in Austin, Texas, this month. Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'Investing in Tesla isn't for the faint of heart, and Musk's enthusiasm for topics close to heart is both a blessing and, at times, a curse. 'Let's not forget, Tesla has its own battles, with disappointing sales numbers and brand damage weighing on sentiment in the near term. 'For now, markets are willing to look past the weakening auto business with AI and automation the real prizes. But with such a pivotal few months ahead for the autonomous strategy, investors will want to see Musk give his full attention back to Tesla.' Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, added: 'Perhaps more importantly, the latest feud has also heightened unease that the President's seemingly irascible and erratic behaviour is symptomatic of the environment which has been created on a global scale. 'Companies have already been stepping back from providing guidance comments for the next few months, while consumer sentiment is brittle given the wider context of what could be a weakening outlook.'


The Guardian
18 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump aides ‘to broker peace talks' with Elon Musk after feud
Update: Date: 2025-06-06T07:45:00.000Z Title: Donald Trump Content: US president told Politico, 'Oh it's OK,' and, 'It's going very well, never done better,' when asked about his public breakup with billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the news outlet reported on Thursday. White House aides have scheduled a call on Friday with Musk to broker a peace, Politico reported. On Thursday, Trump and Musk escalated their disagreement about the US budget bill into a big public argument on social media. When asked about Musk's criticism of his 'Big, Beautiful Bill', the US president told reporters: Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will any more. Trump also said he was 'very disappointed in Elon'. In return, Musk published a flurry of posts that stepped up his feud with the president and went on to claim that without him Trump would have 'lost the election' before bemoaning what he called 'such ingratitude'. Meanwhile, a district judge in Boston has blocked the Trump administration's ban on Harvard's international students from entering the United States after the Ivy League university argued the move was illegal. Harvard had asked the judge, Allison Burrough, to block the ban, pending further litigation, arguing Trump had violated federal law by failing to back up his claims that the students posed a threat to national security. More on both of these stories in a moment, but first, here are some other key developments: Musk also suggested Trump should be impeached and that JD Vance should replace Trump, warning that Trump's global tariffs would 'cause a recession in the second half of this year' and claimed Trump was in the Jeffrey Epstein files. The White House described the Epstein assertions as an 'unfortunate episode', in a statement to CNN. Meanwhile, Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally and Elon Musk critic, suggested there were grounds to deport the tech billionaire, who has US citizenship. Bannon told the New York Times: 'They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately.' Poland's foreign minister poked fun at Musk late on Thursday, returning to a social media spat from March after the Tesla and SpaceX boss spectacularly fell out with Trump. Warsaw's top diplomat Radoslaw Sikorski found himself embroiled in an extraordinarily public clash with Musk and US secretary of state Marco Rubio in March after he said Ukraine may need an alternative to the Starlink satellite service. Trump's pick to be the next US surgeon general has repeatedly said the nation's medical, health and food systems are corrupted by special interests and people out to make a profit at the expense of Americans' health. Yet as Casey Means has criticised scientists, medical schools and regulators for taking money from the food and pharmaceutical industries, she has promoted dozens of health and wellness products – including specialty basil seed supplements, a blood testing service and a prepared meal delivery service – in ways that put money in her own pocket. A review by The Associated Press found Means, who has carved out a niche in the wellness industry, set up deals with an array of businesses.


Reuters
39 minutes ago
- Reuters
Japan's ex-top FX diplomat expects yen to rise near 140 by year-end
TOKYO, June 6 (Reuters) - A narrowing U.S.-Japan interest rate gap, rather than any effort by President Donald Trump to weaken the dollar, will likely lift the yen to around 135-140 against the U.S. unit by year-end, Japan's former top currency diplomat said on Friday. Markets are rife with speculation that Trump - who in the past accused Japan and China of currency manipulation - will pressure Tokyo to help weaken the dollar against the yen to give U.S. exports a trade advantage. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, a former currency diplomat who retains close ties with Japanese and overseas incumbent policymakers, said it was unclear whether the Trump administration was explicitly taking a weak-dollar policy. "It's not easy for policymakers to intentionally weaken the dollar," Furusawa said in an interview. "Having made clear that tariffs are the main tools (for negotiation), I don't think Washington needs to rely much on currencies to achieve its goals," said Furusawa, who also served as the International Monetary Fund's deputy managing director until 2021. Still, the U.S. likely wants to avoid further dollar rises from hurting exports, Furusawa said. Japan, for its part, wants to prevent a weak yen from pushing up inflation, he said. "As such, they are eye-to-eye on this front. That means the yen will likely rise gradually," said Furusawa. The diverging monetary policy direction between Japan and the U.S. will also prop up the yen with the Federal Reserve's next move seen as an interest rate cut, while the Bank of Japan (BOJ) eyes further rate hikes, Furusawa said. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has said the bank will continue raising rates if economic improvements keep inflation on course to durably hit its 2% target, though he has signaled a pause until there is more clarity on the fallout from Trump's tariffs. "If Japan succeeds in reaching a broad trade agreement with the U.S. possibly at this month's G7 summit, that will reduce uncertainty," Furusawa said. Real wages will also rise and underpin consumption once food inflation dissipates, he said. "If we see such positive developments, the BOJ could hike rates again in the latter half of this year," Furusawa said, adding the yen "will likely strengthen to around 135-140 to the dollar by year-end." The yen stood around 143.90 to the dollar in Asia on Friday. The BOJ probably wants to eventually raise its short-term policy rate target - currently at 0.5% - above 1%, though there is uncertainty on whether it would succeed, said Furusawa, who is currently president of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp's Institute for Global Financial Affairs. Japan is continuing trade talks with the U.S. with a focus on gaining concessions on automobile tariffs. Domestic media has reported the two sides may seek to clinch a deal in time for the G7 summit on June 15-16. Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato caused a stir last month when he said Japan could use its $1 trillion-plus holdings of U.S. Treasuries as a card in trade talks with Washington. He later said Tokyo had no plan to threaten selling U.S. Treasuries. Furusawa said it was natural for Japan, as a negotiating tactic, to say all options were on the table. But whether Japan can actually use it as a bargaining tool was questionable, partly as threatening to sell U.S. Treasuries could backfire by angering Trump and derailing trade negotiations.