President Trump is planning to gather his cabinet in the Rose Garden this week to announce a sweeping plan for global tariffs that he promised would correct decades of unfair trade relationships and stop other countries from “ripping off” the U.S. He has taken to referring to Wednesday, when the tariffs are set to be unveiled, as “Liberation Day.”
It remains unclear, however, whether Trump’s plan will result in higher levies on other nations, lower ones, or a mix — or what exactly his goal is. Many economists expect Americans will pay higher prices, and investors also appear uncertain about the economic impact of the plan: The S&P 500 rose slightly today, but finished March with its worst monthly decline in more than two years.
Trump has described the tariffs as a negotiating tool that could force other countries to drop their trade barriers, ultimately resulting in lower tariffs. But he has also talked about the tariffs as a way to raise revenue and shift supply chains back to the U.S., which would be a result of sustained higher tariffs. The president’s supporters have pushed both conflicting goals, but ultimately the president will decide a path forward.
Trump and his allies have occasionally acknowledged that the tariffs would likely, at least temporarily, impose additional costs on consumers. They are hoping to sell the public on a provocative idea: Cheap stuff is not the American dream.
France’s far-right leader was barred from running for office
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far right, was found guilty today of embezzlement for overseeing a scheme to pay her party’s staff with money intended for E.U. business. The verdict barred her from running for public office for five years — effectively removing the front-runner from France’s 2027 presidential race.
Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing, but she will be able to run in 2027 only if she secures a more lenient ruling on appeal, which is difficult but not impossible. Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 29-year-old protégé, will be a likely presidential candidate in her absence.
An analysis: Millions of Le Pen’s supporters are now adrift and angry, our Paris bureau chief Roger Cohen explained. France could see a gale of political protest, as well as an attack from the global far right.
Israel issued a wide-ranging evacuation order in Gaza
The Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order today for parts of southern Gaza. The order, which came during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, signaled that Israel could relaunch intensive assaults on Hamas targets in the area two weeks after the monthslong cease-fire between the two sides collapsed.
In Jerusalem, the domestic conflict between the Israeli prime minister and his political opponents — including the judiciary and the domestic spy agency — deepened.
Interest in ivermectin is rising again
A few years ago, ivermectin — a drug proven to treat certain parasitic diseases — exploded in popularity after false claims that it could treat Covid. Now, interest in the drug has surged again, fueled by right-wing influencers who claim it can treat cancer.
Doctors are alarmed. There is no evidence to support people taking ivermectin to treat cancer, and there are real risks associated with people taking the drug.
More top news
Can Finland teach tourists to be happy? We went to see.
Finland has topped the World Happiness Report for the past eight years, owing in part to its welfare state, a closeness with nature and three million saunas. An anxious American writer, Britta Lokting, went to Helsinki to see if she could bring some of that joy home with her.
Lokting sampled local food, confessed emotions to the trees and plunged into cold waters. On her return to America, she still found happiness to be a luxury. But maybe the answer wasn’t to recreate a dopamine rush, she writes, but something altogether more simple.
The time is ripe to rediscover Tanith Lee
Tanith Lee, who died in 2015, was an eclectic and prolific writer. She penned more than 90 novels and hundreds of short stories, ranging from fantasy and science fiction to horror, erotica, mysteries and historical fiction. Her work, much of which came in the ’70s and ’80s, was ahead of its time. But eventually, publishers had a hard time pigeonholing her books, and they turned away from her.
If you’ve never read her work, here’s where to begin.
The baseball world is buzzing about ‘torpedo bats’
After well over a century of baseball, you might assume that the sport’s wood bats have been essentially perfected. The New York Yankees are trying this year to prove that wrong. Several members of the team are using “torpedo bats,” nicknamed because, unlike the traditional shape, they narrow toward the end.
The idea, developed by an M.I.T. physicist-turned-baseball coach, was to move the strongest part of the bat closer to the hands, where some players tend to hit the ball. After the Yankees started the year with an incredible 15 home runs in three games, almost everyone seems to want to give them a try.
Have a powerful evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
Philip Pacheco was our photo editor today.
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