The Latest: Trump celebrates steel and Musk as White House owns errors in RFK Jr. report
President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control. ICE, the agency tasked with carrying out Trump's mass deportation campaign is undergoing a major staff reorganization. The White House says its fixing errors in a much-anticipated federal report led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. decrying America's food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs. And billionaire Elon Musk faces big challenges as he leaves Washington after an Oval Office appearance Friday afternoon. Each of his numerous businesses have their own set of issues.
Here's the Latest:
Trump accuses China of violating agreement on trade but doesn't offer details
Trump declared that he'll no longer be 'Mr. NICE GUY' with China on trade.
He said the country had broken an agreement with the United States. It's unclear what agreement Trump was referring to in his post on Truth Social.
But the president's rhetoric was a sharp break from the optimism expressed recently when Trump lowered his 145% tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% for 90 days so that talks could happen.
Trump said the tariff reduction had 'quickly stabilized' the economy. But he then said 'that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!'
Trump to appear with Musk in Oval Office
When Musk announced that he was leaving the administration earlier this week, Trump was conspicuously quiet. But now the two men are scheduled to appear together in the Oval Office.
'This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way,' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday evening. 'Elon is terrific!'
The event is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET.
Musk is leaving his job having accomplished far less than he set out to do, although his tumultuous tenure will likely leave a lasting mark on the federal government.
White House acknowledges problems in RFK Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' report
The White House will fix errors in a much-anticipated federal government report spearheaded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which decried America's food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs.
Kennedy's wide-ranging 'Make America Healthy Again' report, released last week, cited hundreds of studies, but a closer look by the news organization NOTUS found that some of those studies did not actually exist.
Asked about the report's problems, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the report will be updated.
Kennedy has repeatedly said he would bring 'radical transparency' and 'gold-standard' science to the public health agencies. But the secretary refused to release details about who authored the 72-page report, which calls for increased scrutiny of the childhood vaccine schedule and describes the nation's children as overmedicated and undernourished.
Leavitt said that the White House has 'complete confidence' in Kennedy.
▶ Read more about Kennedy's report
Trump's big plans on trade and more run up against laws of political gravity, separation of powers
On Wednesday, an obscure but powerful court in New York rejected the legal foundation of Trump's most sweeping tariffs, finding that Trump could not use a 1977 law to declare a national emergency on trade imbalances and fentanyl smuggling to justify a series of import taxes that have unsettled the world. Reordering the global economy by executive fiat was an unconstitutional end-run around Congress' powers, the three-judge panel of Trump, Obama and Reagan appointees ruled in a scathing rebuke of Trump's action.
The setbacks fit a broader pattern for a president who has advanced an extraordinarily expansive view of executive power.
The laws of political gravity, the separation of powers and geopolitical realities are proving to be tougher to conquer than Trump will publicly admit. As various legal skirmishes play out, he may have to choose between bowing to the limits of his power or trying to ignore the judicial system.
▶ Read more on reality checks on Trump's assertions of authority
Trump's latest pardons benefit an array of political allies and public figures
A governor who resigned amid a corruption scandal and served two stints in federal prison. A New York Republican who resigned from Congress after a tax fraud conviction and who made headlines for threatening to throw a reporter off a Capitol balcony over a question he didn't like. Reality TV stars convicted of cheating banks and evading taxes.
FILE - Todd Chrisley, left, and his wife, Julie Chrisley, pose for photos at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Todd and Julie Chrisley, who are in prison after being convicted on federal charges of bank fraud and tax evasion, are challenging aspects of their convictions and sentences in a federal appeals court.(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
All were unlikely beneficiaries this week of pardons, with Trump flexing his executive power to bestow clemency on political allies, prominent public figures and others convicted of defrauding the public.
The moves not only take aim at criminal cases once touted as just by the Justice Department but also come amid a continuing Trump administration erosion of public integrity guardrails, including the firing of the department's pardon attorney and the near-dismantling of a prosecution unit established to hold public officials accountable for abusing the public trust.
▶ Read more about Trump's pardons
Trump has long warned of a 'deep state.' Now in power, he's under pressure to expose it
Four months into his second term, Trump has continued to stoke dark theories involving his predecessors and other powerful politicians and attorneys — most recently raising the specter of nefarious intent behind former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign papers. The administration has pledged to reopen investigations and has taken steps to declassify certain documents, including releasing more than 63,000 pages of records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Yet many of Trump's supporters say it's not enough.
Some who take him at his word are beginning to get restless as they ask why his administration, which holds the keys to chasing down these alleged government secrets, is denying them the evidence and retribution they expected.
His Justice Department has not yet arrested hordes of 'deep state' actors as some of his supporters had hoped it would, even as the president has been posting cryptic videos and memes about Democratic politicians.
▶ Read more about Trump and the 'deep state'
Trump holding Pennsylvania rally to promote deal for Japan-based Nippon to 'partner' with US Steel
Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control.
Though Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker's bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, he changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as 'partial ownership' by Nippon. It's not clear, though, if the deal his administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured.
Trump stressed the deal would maintain American control of the storied company, which is seen as both a political symbol and an important matter for the country's supply chain, industries like auto manufacturing and national security.
U.S. Steel has not publicly communicated any details of a revamped deal to investors. Nippon Steel issued a statement approving of the proposed 'partnership' but also has not disclosed terms of the arrangement.
▶ Read more about the deal
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