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Trump's not only made a play to snatch authorities that are constitutionally in Congress's remit, particularly how to spend billions of federal funds, he's empowered his most-visible adviser, Elon Musk, to case federal agencies for sensitive information and cut staff.
The world's richest man is so emboldened by Trump's imprimatur that over this past weekend his own underlings held a standoff at the US Agency for International Development that's resulted in the 60-year-old agency being essentially idled. Musk, hand-picked by Trump but not Senate confirmed, has been given 'read-only' access to 'coded data' of the government's payments system, the Treasury Department confirmed on Tuesday.
There appears to be few guardrails for either man.
Trump looks increasingly likely to have his cabinet picks confirmed, including some who have drawn questions about their fitness for the roles. Only former Representative Matt Gaetz, who faced accusations of illicit drug use and paid sex with a minor — allegations that he's denied — proved too much for GOP senators to stomach through the confirmation process.
Republican lawmakers are unwilling to challenge Trump on almost anything, said a senior House Republican, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they said they otherwise fear reprisal. The senior Republican likened the treatment of the president's directives among their colleagues to Holy Scripture, with any contradiction considered a breach of faith.
Such a dynamic was a staple of Trump's first term in office, when Republicans contorted themselves to avoid being crosswise with the vindictive and mercurial president. Trump now is term-limited, but his grip on the party has never been tighter.
In the roughly two weeks that he's been back in the White House, congressional Republicans, who control the House and Senate, have displayed remarkable acquiescence alongside Trump's extraordinary power grab.
There were a few instances of special pleading for particular programs and a few senators, when asked by reporters, suggested Trump would likely need congressional approval to shut down USAID or fold it into the State Department.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune demurred on Tuesday when asked if Trump had the power to eliminate a department. 'I do think they have the right to review funding,' Thune told reporters.
On Monday, Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told reporters that before shutting down USAID 'a consultation would have just been helpful.' But Tillis, who is up for reelection in 2026, offered justifications for overhauling the foreign aid agency.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, usually one of the GOP's more independent-minded voices, simply told reporters that after the unprecedented moves at USAID and Treasury, 'We're all trying to figure out what happened.'
It was a repeat of last week, when congressional Republicans were largely silent when Trump pushed the envelope of his authority with a now-dead executive order freezing payments on federal grants that Congress had already funded.
The White House ultimately backtracked after the order provoked chaos and uncertainty nationwide in public services from school lunch programs to health clinics, along with a court injunction temporarily blocking it.
But the die had already been cast: With Democrats out of power, Trump's only barrier to snatching Congress's purse strings would be found in the judiciary, where a 6-3 conservative majority controls the Supreme Court. That, and Trump's own sensitivity to public and market backlash.
Several House Republicans, gathering last week at Trump's Doral resort in Florida when Trump signed the payment-freeze order, said they were too busy with their retreat to read it. Dinner one night included hamburgers with the president's name emblazoned on the top bun.
Even the House Appropriations Committee's Republican chair, Tom Cole of Oklahoma, whose panel's prerogative to dictate federal spending line by line has been jealously guarded by his predecessors, offered excuses for Trump's intervention, describing the freeze as 'prudent.' In the Senate, Thune sought to portray the move as normal.
After the White House countermanded the budget memo freezing payments last week, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested the administration still intended to withhold congressionally mandated funding for programs it considered inconsistent with Trump's views on climate action, diversity, equity and inclusion, and other priorities.
The White House is also considering dozens of options to allow Trump to take greater control of federal spending, including challenging the constitutionality of a 50-year-old law which restricts the president's ability to refuse to carry out congressionally approved spending, according to people familiar.
Many Republican lawmakers are mindful that Trump performed better than they did in the November vote in their districts and fear alienating him, the senior Republican said.
Even behind closed doors, there was little outrage or even disagreement with the spending freeze expressed among Republican House members, said another senior GOP lawmaker.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain told reporters at the Doral retreat she was 'excited' about Trump's freeze of federal grants and contracts. 'Thank God' he is keeping his promise for fiscal responsibility, she added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also doesn't have the political footing to stand up to Trump, with a tenuous hold on his own leadership over a fractious party and his position dependent on Trump's support, said several Republican lawmakers.
Johnson is fully occupied trying to keep his job amid fierce Republican infighting over spending and tax priorities and anger that he hasn't been able bring the party together around a coherent budget plan, they added. Alienating even a small group of Republicans could cost him his job.
Still, several Republican lawmakers said they expect their colleagues will become less deferential to Trump over time, particularly when it comes to relinquishing core congressional powers such as authority over spending.
Plenty of American presidents have begun their terms with formidable political power only to see it quickly dissipate. In fact, one reason the Trump administration is rushing its agenda is fears that Republicans will lose control of at least one chamber of Congress in midterm elections in 2026.
Some Republicans vowed to protect their authority should Trump seek to unilaterally divert funding for his priorities or permanently block congressionally approved spending, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a Republican who represents Democratic-leaning Maine.
'Our will prevails,' she told reporters last week. 'The power of the purse is a constitutional power and I think it's important that Congress stand up for it.'
Still, Collins said she was inclined to vote to confirm Trump's choice for budget director, Russell Vought. Vought has been a leading advocate of a legal theory that the president can ignore a law Congress passed during the 1970s and simply refuse to spend money lawmakers have appropriated.
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EU Readies €100 Billion No-Deal Plan to Match US 30% Tariff
(Bloomberg) -- The European Union plans to quickly hit the US with 30% tariffs on some €100 billion ($117 billion) worth of goods in the event of no deal and if US President Donald Trump carries through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc's exports after Aug. 1. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US Why the Federal Reserve's Building Renovation Costs $2.5 Billion Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom Milan Corruption Probe Casts Shadow Over Property Boom How San Jose's Mayor Is Working to Build an AI Capital As a part of a first wave of countermeasures, the EU would combine an already approved list of tariffs on €21 billion of US goods and a previously proposed list on an additional €72 billion of American products into one package, a European Commission spokesman said on Wednesday. The US exports, which include industrial goods such as Boeing Co. aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon whiskey, would face a levy that matches Trump's 30% threat, according to people familiar with the matter. The threatened retaliation from Brussels would hit about one-third of American exports to the EU, based on the €335 billion worth of US goods shipped to the bloc last year. The tariffs would be prepared to come into force next month but only if there is no deal and the US implements its levies after the August deadline, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The euro extended a fall after the report, down 0.3% at $1.1723, leading losses among major currencies. German bonds trimmed an earlier decline. The plans come as EU member states, including Germany, have hardened their positions in response to the US stiffening its negotiating stance. Berlin would be willing to even support the activation of the EU's anti-coercion instrument, or ACI, in a no-deal scenario, a government official said on condition of anonymity. This tool would come into play only if a deal fails to materialize. Trump announced two tariff deals on Tuesday — one with the Philippines and another with Japan, and both featured across-the-board duties on their imports that were lower than initially threatened. Also noteworthy was the 15% US levy on Japanese autos that was lower than the current 25% rate on major car exporters including the EU. European leaders are in Tokyo and Beijing this week for talks with some of the the bloc's biggest trading partners in Asia. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday, said the EU hasn't yet brought anything as innovative as the Japanese offer. 'Talks are going better than they had been,' he said in the interview. 'I think that we are making good progress with the EU, but as I've said before, the EU has a collective action problem with 27 countries.' Explainer: All About the EU's Trade Weapon of Last Resort The EU's most potent trade tool is the ACI, and a growing number of member states is pushing for its use if a deal isn't reached. The instrument is primarily designed as a deterrent and is currently not on the table, with its activation requiring a qualified majority of member states to support the move. The ACI would enable the EU to launch a broad range of retaliatory actions, including new taxes on US tech giants, targeted curbs on US investments, and limiting access to the EU market. 'We are now approaching the decisive phase in the tariff dispute with the USA — we need a fair, reliable agreement with low tariffs,' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday after a meeting with his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala. 'Without such an agreement, we risk economic uncertainty at a time when we actually need exactly the opposite.' The Commission, the EU's executive arm, is discussing the instrument with member states, the people said. While some capitals having been pushing to use the tool, most want to wait to see how the situation develops beyond Aug. 1 before progressing discussions further to try to achieve the required majority, they added. The overwhelming preference is to keep negotiations with Washington on track in a bid for an outcome to the impasse ahead of next month's deadline. EU and US negotiators are scheduled to continue talks on Wednesday. The US is now seen to want a near-universal tariff on EU goods higher than 10%, with increasingly fewer exemptions limited to aviation, some medical devices and generic medicines, several spirits, and a specific set of manufacturing equipment that the US needs, Bloomberg previously reported. 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While most capitals and officials accept that any agreement would be asymmetrical in favor of the US and see the EU facing higher than 10% rates, the bloc has been seeking wider exemptions than the US is offering, as well as looking to shield the bloc from future sectoral tariffs. The EU's €100 billion list would cover its response to Trump's universal duties as well as his tariffs on metals and cars. The level of pain that member states are prepared to accept varies, and some are open to landing on a higher 15% levy if enough exemptions are secured and the scope of the duty was clear, the people said. In addition to the tariffs on goods, the bloc's executive arm is also working on measures that could see export controls as well as restrictions on some services and public procurement contracts introduced in future, they said. --With assistance from Greg Ritchie and Annmarie Hordern. (Adds detail on US exports in fourth paragraph, Bessent comments in 11th) Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border Thailand's Changing Cannabis Rules Leave Farmers in a Tough Spot How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
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Trump tariffs live updates: Trump strikes deal with Japan, but EU digs in with over $100B counterattack
The European Union said on Wednesday it plans to hit the US with 30% tariffs on over $100 billion worth of goods in the event the two sides cannot reach a trade deal by Aug. 1. Bloomberg News reported the European Commission will combine $24 billion in approved tariffs with a proposed $83 billion US goods list into one countermeasure package that would hit everything from American whiskey to cars to Boeing (BA) planes. As the EU digs in, President Trump announced two more deals and finalized a third, most notably a pact with Japan. 'I just signed the largest deal in history with Japan," Trump said during the meeting. The president said the agreement includes a 15% tariff on imported goods from Japan, and the country will invest $550 billion into the US. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said the US had also struck a trade deal with the Philippines, which will see the country's imports face a 19% tariff into the US. Trump said US exports will face no import tax in the Philippines as part of the deal. The White House also unveiled new details of a confirmed trade agreement with Indonesia too. Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul reported that a 19% tariff will apply to Indonesian goods, as well as a 40% rate on any 'transhipped' goods. US officials said no tax would apply to "99%" of US imports. The deal developments come as prospects for larger pacts with India, the EU, and Canada look increasingly in doubt. Trump has threatened 25% to 35% tariffs on those larger trade partners. Trump has also said he would soon send letters to over 150 smaller US trade partners, setting blanket tariff rates for that large group. Trump has already sent letters to over 20 trade partners outlining tariffs on goods imported from their countries. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said he expected many deals to take shape over the next several days. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet Here are the latest updates as the policy reverberates around the world. EU readies €100B no-deal plan to match US 30% tariff The European Union announced on Wednesday it plans to hit the US with 30% tariffs on over $100 billion worth of goods in the event that no deal is made and if President Trump decides to follow through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc's exports after Aug. 1. A European Commission spokesman said that the first part of countermeasures would combine an already approved list of tariffs on $24 billion of US goods and a previously proposed list on an additional on $83 billion of American products into one package. The US exports, which would include goods such as Boeing (BA) aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon whiskey would all face heavy tariffs that match Trump's 30% threat. The tariffs would be prepared to come into force next month but only if there is no deal and the US implements its levies after the August deadline, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. The European Union announced on Wednesday it plans to hit the US with 30% tariffs on over $100 billion worth of goods in the event that no deal is made and if President Trump decides to follow through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc's exports after Aug. 1. A European Commission spokesman said that the first part of countermeasures would combine an already approved list of tariffs on $24 billion of US goods and a previously proposed list on an additional on $83 billion of American products into one package. The US exports, which would include goods such as Boeing (BA) aircraft, US-made cars and bourbon whiskey would all face heavy tariffs that match Trump's 30% threat. The tariffs would be prepared to come into force next month but only if there is no deal and the US implements its levies after the August deadline, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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Brazil's WEG reports Q2 earnings miss amid global volatility
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian motor maker WEG on Wednesday reported a 10.4% year-on-year rise in its second-quarter net profit, but missed market forecasts amid what it called elevated volatility in global economics. The lower-than-expected figures raise further uncertainty for WEG, which analysts have cited among the companies most exposed to the 50% tariff U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose on Brazilian goods from August 1. WEG reported a net income of 1.59 billion reais ($285.8 million) for the quarter, falling short of the 1.76 billion expected by analysts in an LSEG poll. Net revenue reached 10.2 billion reais, a 10.1% year-on-year increase, while core earnings as measured by EBITDA rose 6.5% to 2.26 billion reais. Analysts expected them to come in at 11.16 billion and 2.49 billion reais, respectively. WEG said the year-on-year growth was explained by a "solid performance" in the transmission and distribution infrastructure side of its long-cycle business, which makes equipment used in large projects such as transmission lines. "We were able to maintain the consistent growth and profitability of our businesses, even in a global political and economic scenario marked by uncertainty and high volatility," WEG's management said in a statement. The firm's closely watched EBITDA margin, nonetheless, fell by 80 basis points year-on-year to 22.1%. The company did not specifically address Trump's threatened tariffs, but reiterated confidence in its business model over the long-term, saying that it has financial flexibility as it continues to monitor market risks. "Our global production presence, diversified product portfolio and presence in many segments are fundamental to our business strategy, and allow us to quickly react to changing scenarios and mitigate possible macroeconomic impacts," it said. WEG has plants in over a dozen countries, including the United States and Mexico. ($1 = 5.5643 reais)
