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Wall Street Journal
16-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Effect Starting to Show Up in Economic Data - What's News
A.M. Edition for July 16. New economic data is starting to reflect the president's tariff and immigration policies, which are filtering through to price tags and weighing on the job market. Plus, President Trump is expected to sign an executive order to help make private-market investments more available to 401(k) plans . And from golf to flattering text messages, WSJ's chief European political correspondent Bojan Pancevski explains how a charm offensive by EU leaders has helped turn President Trump against Vladimir Putin . Azhar Sukri hosts. Full Transcript This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated. Luke Vargas: Hey, it's Luke Vargas, and before we start the show today, I've got a little announcement, which is that I'm going on parental leave, or should I say I'm actually already on it, which means you won't be hearing from me for a few months. While I'm out, Azhar Sukri will be filling in for me until early winter. You're in great hands until then, and I'll be back before you know it. And with that, over to the What's News team for today's episode. Azhar Sukri: It's being called the Trump Effect. The President's policies are starting to show up in inflation and employment. Plus, the Trump Administration is planning on making it easier for your retirement plan to invest in private markets and Europe's charm offensive. We look at how flattery and backchanneling with Washington could help Ukraine. Bojan Pancevski: Mark Rutte, the chief of NATO, he sent flattering text messages to Trump. The president of Finland, he's a great golf player, so they played this tournament in Trump's golf club in Florida, and ever since, they've been actually talking on the phone, communicating quite intensely. Azhar Sukri: It's Wednesday, July the 16th. I'm Azhar Sukri for The Wall Street Journal. Here is the A.M. Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. New data show that President Trump's policies, particularly on tariffs and immigration, are starting to be reflected in the economy. As we reported on our P.M. show yesterday, the June inflation report, one of the key measures that economists and investors watched closely, was up in line with analysts' expectations of a 2.7% annual increase. However, Journal markets reporter, Caitlin McCabe, says that under the surface there are signs that Trump's policies are beginning to bite. Caitlin McCabe: There were price bumps on what Americans pay for key imports such as furniture and clothing. Meanwhile, another closely-watched indicator of economic health is the labor market, and that is starting to show some cracks too. Employment growth appears to have slowed in industries that rely heavily on workers who entered the country illegally, and the foreign-born labor force has shrunk significantly since March. Azhar Sukri: Despite these cracks, Americans are still spending and employers are continuing to add jobs. But Caitlin says the big question now is whether this will hold. Caitlin McCabe: Amid all of these tariff announcements, it's important to keep in mind that the full effect of tariffs might not be felt for a little while longer. So much of this situation remains in flux. The tariff rates that we've seen, and the announcements that we've seen, by no means are those final. But economists and others are actually projecting that we could see price increases feed through to households at some point. The Yale Budget Lab, for example, projects that the resulting price increases could amount to the equivalent of a $2,800 hit in yearly household income. And you could see that show up in certain parts of the services sector. Already, Tuesday's inflation report found that services inflation has softened, particularly for shelter, airfares, and hotel rates were also weak. And to bring this conversation full-circle, that could actually soften inflation down the road. Azhar Sukri: Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has said it may not be possible for Canada to escape U.S. tariffs even if the countries reach a new economic and security pact that has been under negotiation. Trump has given Canada until August the first to reach a deal with the White House on trade or face a higher 35% levy on imports not compliant with the USMCA trade pact. Currently, Canadian goods are subject to Trump's sectoral tariffs, including a 25% tariffs on vehicles made north of the border and a 50% levy on steel and aluminum, of which Canada is the largest foreign supplier. Canada is also a major foreign supplier of copper, which Trump also plans to impose a 50% duty on. In markets news: shares of Dutch chip-making equipment supplier ASML are falling after it said it could no longer guarantee growth in 2026, amid U.S. tariff uncertainty. The stock is down more than 30% over the past 12 months. The warning from ASML comes days after Trump sent a letter to the European Union, threatening 30% tariffs on imports from the bloc, beginning August the first as trade talks between Brussels and Washington continue. A group of EU trade negotiators are in Washington today. On Monday, the bloc proposed retaliatory tariffs targeting U.S. imports in a bid to revive talks, including on aircraft and alcohol, but said it doesn't plan any countermeasures before Trump's deadline. In the U.K., inflation rose unexpectedly in June, echoing the situation in the U.S. where prices rose among items sensitive to Trump's tariffs, such as toys and clothes. The rise will likely keep policymakers at the Bank of England cautious despite a limping economy, stoking fears of entrenched higher inflation. And earnings season continues today with reports expected from Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Johnson & Johnson. After yesterday's consumer price index, print will also get another U.S. inflation gauge for June. This time for producer prices. We are exclusively reporting that President Trump is expected to sign an executive order to help make private market investments more available to U.S. retirement plans. That's according to people familiar with the matter, who added that the order would instruct the Labor Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide guidance to employers on including investments like private assets in 401 (k) plans. Although retirement plan sponsors can already put some investments in private funds, many companies have been concerned about being sued by employees over higher fees associated with private market investment products. The details of the order aren't yet final and are still subject to review. Coming up, how a surprise late-night phone call on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz cell phone signaled a turn in U.S.-European relations over Ukraine. That story after the break. A European charm offensive aimed at getting Trump to toughen his stance against Russia seems to be working. Earlier this week, Trump set a fifty-day deadline for Putin to begin negotiating in earnest; announced a major arms package for Ukraine to be financed by NATO countries and threatened to impose additional economic sanctions on Moscow if it didn't move to end the war. And now we report that European back-channel contacts with the Trump Administration, direct diplomacy and a multi-billion-dollar deal for U.S. weapons have helped align Washington and Europe on arming Ukraine. Bojan Pancevski is the Journal's chief European political correspondent. Bojan, talk us through what we know about how European leaders have steered Trump's thinking on Ukraine. Bojan Pancevski: Well, they worked really hard in the past couple of months or so to essentially get him to acknowledge that Putin is not really interested in negotiating peace in Ukraine and is only interested in grabbing land. This is an early bet that the European leaders made when Trump came into office in January. They worked at all levels. The finance minister of Germany was working with the Secretary of Treasury, kind of back-channeling. The Secretary of Treasury, Bessent, emerged as actually a proponent of the sanctions and of a tougher stance towards Putin. So he seems to have worked behind the scenes to persuade President Trump to take that tougher stance. They worked with Congress, they worked with the Senate, they worked with Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, who's also kind of positively predisposed towards Kyiv, I suppose. And at the end, I think we saw on Monday when Trump, for the first time, openly threatened Putin with a specific measure that in 50 days he would impose these very heavy economic measures on every country that buys energy from Russia. And he also pledged to open the floodgates for exporting American weapons to Ukraine, provided that NATO countries pay for them. Azhar Sukri: You mentioned about the money there. That's absolutely crucial, I think, to this deal, but also, the different European countries have been taking slightly different approaches, haven't they? Bojan Pancevski: Yes, exactly. You've got Mark Rutte, the chief of NATO. He's a former Dutch prime minister of many years, and now he's head of the military alliance. And he sent flattering text messages to Trump, praising his role in getting the Europeans to spend more on defense, which they did. All of them pledged to spend around 5% of their GDP on defense, which is a major boon for Trump. The president of Finland visited Trump, and he's a great golf player. So they played this tournament in Trump's golf club in Florida and apparently won the tournament in doubles, Trump and President Stubb. So that was a great thing for Trump. He tweeted extensively about it. And, ever since, they've been actually talking on the phone, communicating quite intensely. Azhar Sukri: And you report that Germany's leader has also been key to all of this. Bojan Pancevski: So, Merz has emerged as the kind of new leader in Europe, and he's also got access to much more money than his predecessor because they changed the German constitution and made themselves able to borrow from the markets in order to give Ukraine what it needs to defend itself. He made certain fortune in the private sector. He pilots his own airplane. So he's a figure that I think Trump understands. Last Friday, the 11th of July, Trump was watching television apparently, and he saw some footage of this horrible destruction wrought by Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine. And he picked up his mobile phone, and he just called Friedrich Merz out of the blue, and he immediately agreed to an offer that Merz had previously made to buy American Patriot system, the famous aerial defense that Ukraine desperately needs. So that was a great success and things like that eventually led to this change of tack that we are seeing now. So, for my report, the White House spokeswoman said that Trump is now exporting weapons to Ukraine in order to stop the killing. That's a major, major shift in rhetoric because I think a couple of months prior they were saying that weapons will bring nothing and that diplomacy is required. And I think now they've come to the conclusion that Putin is not really interested in diplomacy, he's interested in winning more land, and therefore they've changed to a position that's much closer to that of the Europeans. And, of course, all of that must be followed with a ginormous caveat that we don't actually know what Trump will do next. So this week it seems like the Europeans feel fairly triumphant, with the caveat that you never know what happens next. Azhar Sukri: Bojan Pancevski, thank you so much. Bojan Pancevski: Thank you for having me on. Azhar Sukri: And that's it for What's News this Wednesday morning. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant. Our supervising producer was Daniel Bach. I'm Azhar Sukri for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.
Wall Street Journal
08-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Trump: No Extensions to Aug. 1 Reciprocal Tariff Deadline - Minute Briefing
Full Transcript This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated. Ariana Aspuru: Here's your midday brief for Tuesday, July 8th, I'm Ariana Aspuru for the Wall Street Journal. President Trump said he's sticking to his August 1st date to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on many US trading partners. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said quote, "No extensions will be granted." This comes a day after sending letters to various countries warning them of the levies. Rescue teams in Texas patrolled by foot and by airboat in search of those still missing from flash floods that struck parts of the state over the holiday weekend, leaving more than 100 confirmed dead. As the death toll climbed in several counties late yesterday, an unknown number of people were still missing. The National Federation of Independent Business said today that its Optimism Index, which is a gauge of sentiment among small firms, edged down 0.2 points to 98.6 in June. The NFIB said excess inventories were a key factor in the decline. And Kirk Tanner will be stepping down as Wendy's CEO later this month to assume the top role at Hershey succeeding Michele Buck as president and CEO of the chocolate company effective August 18th. Ken Cook, Wendy's CFO will be interim CEO while the board finds a permanent successor. We'll have a lot more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Wall Street Journal
04-06-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Podcast: U.S. Doubles Steel and Aluminum Tariffs to 50%
President Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports jumped to 50% overnight. Industry players have warned the move could result in price increases and shortages. 🎧 Listen here to this What's News podcast, which also covers the Federal Reserve's move to lift the cap on Wells Fargo's assets.
Wall Street Journal
30-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Court Pauses Tariff Ruling While White House Appeals
A federal appeals court put on hold the ruling that voided President Trump's tariffs, while it considers the administration's challenge to the decision. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said it was pausing Wednesday's decision from the U.S. Court of International Trade until it can hear further legal arguments. 🎧 Learn more from our What's News podcast or read on below:
Wall Street Journal
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Ejects National Security Adviser Mike Waltz - What's News
P.M. Edition for May 1. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will fill the role on an interim basis. President Trump announced that he will nominate Waltz—the first top official to lose his job in Trump's second term—as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. White House reporter Meridith McGraw discusses the significance of the staffing shuffle . And aviation reporter Andrew Tangel has the details on Trump's decision to commission an interim presidential plane by year's end, frustrated with Boeing's delay to deliver a new Air Force One. Plus, a U.S. federal judge deems the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act to allow deportations unlawful. Pierre Bienaimé hosts. Full Transcript This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated. Pierre Bienaimé: National Security Adviser Mike Waltz is out, making him the first top official to lose his job in Trump's second term. Meridith McGraw: Waltz had been seen as on the outs in the West Wing. At the same time, the president's sensitive to the idea that he's given the scalp to the press over the Signal episode. Pierre Bienaimé: Plus President Trump decides to refurbish a Qatari airplane, frustrated by Boeing's delays in delivering a new Air Force One. And a federal judge rules that the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act to allow deportations is unlawful. It's Thursday, May 1st. I'm Pierre Bienaimé for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for Alex Ossola. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that moved the world today. President Trump is replacing National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, making him the first top official to lose his job in Trump's second term. Trump announced on social media that Waltz would be nominated as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will step in as interim National Security Adviser. The decision follows a report that Waltz added a journalist to a sensitive group chat on the non-government messaging app Signal roughly a month ago in which advisors discussed a bombing operation on Houthi rebels in Yemen. Meridith McGraw covers the White House and she joins me from there. Meridith, is this a promotion or what for Waltz? Meridith McGraw: No, I wouldn't see it as a promotion, but it's certainly a serious game of musical chairs over here at the White House. Just after we were hearing rumblings, the National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, was going to be ousted. President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was actually just seeing moved into an empty seat and that would be the UN Ambassador that was going to be held by Elise Stefanik until she was asked to come back to her role as a member of Congress because of the tight margins there in the House. Pierre Bienaimé: And with Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State as Interim National Security Adviser, what changes is he expected to bring, if any? Meridith McGraw: Well, this is another hat that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is going to have to wear. There was a tweet, I can't take credit for it, but just added up all of the different roles that he's now been appointed to. And in addition to Secretary of State and now National Security Adviser, he's the acting USAID admin. He's also the acting archivist. So Trump is really placing a lot of responsibility in Marco Rubio and that signals to us not only how much Trump puts his respect and trust in Rubio in his administration and carrying out his foreign policy, but also how he's going to at least approach the NSA role for now. Pierre Bienaimé: And what message is the White House sending with this reshuffle in staff? Meridith McGraw: Waltz has been seen as on the outs in the West Wing and hadn't been as actively involved with some of the major foreign policy negotiations that are going on right now. You've seen Steve Witkoff has been traveling the world doing a lot of these big negotiations and deals. At the same time, the president's sensitive to the idea that he's given the scalp to the press over the Signal episode. Pierre Bienaimé: That was Wall Street Journal reporter Meridith McGraw. Meridith, thank you. Meridith McGraw: Thanks. Pierre Bienaimé: A federal judge in Texas has ruled President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport alleged members of a foreign gang unlawful. The judge who was nominated to the bench by Trump during his first term ruled the government can't detain the plaintiffs solely on the basis of the 18th century law. The order didn't bar officials from detaining or deporting people under other relevant immigration laws. The judge noted, it's the first direct ruling against Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act. The White House didn't immediately return a request for comment. Ahead of tomorrow's jobs report, a small cautionary sign, weekly filings for new unemployment benefits hit the highest level since February. In the last full week of April 241,000 Americans sought jobless benefits, well more than analysts were expecting. Still, the rise wasn't such a big jump that economists will be sounding the alarm just yet. Over the past year, there have been bigger increases that quickly reversed. Yesterday's better-than-expected earnings from Microsoft and Meta Platforms boosted markets, reassuring investors of the relative resilience of the Magnificent Seven tech giants in the face of tariff uncertainty. U.S. stocks rallied led by the Nasdaq Composite, which gained roughly 1.5%. The Dow moved up 0.2% and the S&P 500 gained just over 0.6%. Speaking of the Magnificent Seven, Amazon reported strong quarterly earnings that weren't affected by new tariffs on Chinese imports. The tech giant topped Wall Street projections. Amazon said its revenue grew by 9% in its first quarter to more than $155 billion, while its profit was over $17 billion. And Apple reported the highest March quarter revenue it's seen in more than two years. As people moved quickly to buy smartphones and other devices before new U.S. tariffs were announced in April. The company said sales rose 5% to $95 billion, ahead of analyst expectations. Coming up, President Trump is done waiting for Boeing to deliver a new Air Force One. He commissioned a smaller defense contractor to ready an interim presidential plane by the end of the year. That's after the break. President Trump wants a new Air Force One and in the short term he's moving to refurbish a Qatari luxury aircraft in order to get it. Trump wants to have the plane available for use as early as this fall. The U.S. government has commissioned L3Harris to retrofit the Boeing 747 with specialized systems, though it might not prove as capable as the current vehicles. This as Boeing continues work on a pair of Air Force One replacement jets that may not be delivered until around 2035. The project is also billions of dollars over budget after a series of supplier, engineering and manufacturing setbacks. So what does this project mean for Boeing? Andrew Tangel covers aviation for The Wall Street Journal and he joins me now. Andrew, how is Boeing looking at this development? Andrew Tangel: This is symbolic in a ways of Boeing's problems with Air Force One replacement project and its other manufacturing and engineering problems in recent years. Boeing didn't comment for the article. But producing the Air Force One presidential jets has been a privilege and honor and point of pride for Boeing. And Trump has been so frustrated with the company's inability to get the planes that he did the deal for in his last term in office, that he has tasked a different company with finishing essentially an interim Air Force One jet to bridge the gap between the current aging Air Force One jets and the newer ones that Boeing is still plugging away on and will be done at some point in the years down the road, maybe after Trump leaves office. Pierre Bienaimé: Could Boeing see its Air Force One contracts canceled and how big of a blow would that be for the company? Andrew Tangel: That was under consideration, at least during the previous administration. It's unclear what the status of the Boeing contract is at this moment. Boeing, prior to Trump taking office the second time, informed the government that there were new delays that suggested the planes would not be delivered until 10 years away. Trump didn't like that news and has dispatched Elon Musk to speed up Boeing's project. And part of that work is involving reducing the requirements by the government to make it easier for Boeing to finish the planes. So how well Boeing can perform under what becomes of the new timeframe that the government and Boeing settle on, it remains to be seen. But if Boeing were to lose the contract, it would be a blow to Boeing's reputation. Pierre Bienaimé: That was Wall Street Journal aviation reporter Andrew Tangel. Andrew, thank you. Andrew Tangel: Thank you. Pierre Bienaimé: Chief executives are leaving their posts at a record pace this year, according to Challenger Gray & Christmas, which tracks executive departures. Among U.S. businesses with at least 25 employees, over 2,200 CEOs bid farewell last year and more than 370 public company chiefs exited, roughly a quarter more than did in 2023. WSJ columnist Callum Borchers told our Your Money Briefing podcast that some of the middle managers who would've once been ushered up the career ladder to take the place of exiting CEOs are instead stalling out or calling it quits themselves. Callum Borchers: It's one thing for the CEO who's already done it to go retreat to the beach, right? But it's another thing for the potential successors to go and do it early, but some are. I met a financial manager in his 40s named Ryan Beyer, for example. He's moved his family to Puerto Rico. He was a principal at a wealth management firm in the D.C. area. He's the type of rising star who could be in the leadership pipeline, but he took a buyout, left early. He's not retired. He's advising high net worth family offices. And he says, "Look, I earn less than I used to, but I'm fine with that because I'm available for my kids' school pickups and drop-offs. I never miss a baseball game." And we're seeing more of these Millennial and younger Gen Xers dialing back their professional ambitions a little bit in the name of work-life balance. Pierre Bienaimé: You can listen to the full story on tomorrow's episode of Your Money Briefing. And Kohl's has fired its CEO Ashley Buchanan, after a board investigation discovered he had instructed the company to enter into a highly unusual business deal involving a woman with whom he has had a romantic relationship. That's according to people familiar with the situation. According to a regulatory filing, Buchanan caused the retailer to enter into a multimillion dollar consulting agreement with a woman who was part of the consulting team. Buchanan declined to comment. And that's What's News for this Thursday afternoon. Today's show was produced by Anthony Bansie with supervising producer Michael Kosmides. I'm Pierre Bienaimé for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.
