Trump live: President declares tariffs are ‘going very well’ despite $3 trillion Wall Street rout and fears over global recession

Donald Trump has fired the director of the U.S. National Security Agency, according to a report from the Washington Post.

It marks the latest in a series of dismissals at the agency following the president’s meeting with far-right activist Laura Loomer Wednesday, whom he later called a “patriot.”

General Timothy Haugh, who also heads the U.S. Cyber Command, was dismissed with NSA deputy directory Wendy Noble on Thursday.

Following the news, Loomer posted on X: “NSA Director Tim Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired.”

Steffie Banatvala has more.

President Donald Trump announced wide-reaching tariffs against many U.S. trade partners on Wednesday — but the list inexplicably includes a series of uninhabited islands near Antarctica.

The Trump administration has placed a 10 percent “reciprocal tariff” on the Heard and McDonald Islands, which are external territories of Australia near Antarctica, home to penguins, seals and glaciers.

The islands are entirely uninhabited by humans and only accessible via a two-week voyage from Perth via a boat.

Katie Hawkinson has the story.

Trump’s latest batch of tariffs could see Apple’s iPhone prices soar, analysts suggest.

The devices are largely made in China, which is expected to be hit with a 54 percent tariff next week. If those import taxes persist, Apple has a difficult choice to make: absorb the costs or pass them on to the consumer.

If the latter, iPhones could leave a larger dent in your wallet, with costs potentially increasing beyond 40 percent.

An iPhone 16 Pro Max, which currently retails at $1599, could cost almost $2300 if a 43 percent increase was passed to consumers, analysts told Reuters and USA Today.

Donald Trump expressed support for Marine Le Pen, the French far-right politician and leader of the National Rally party, sniping the court’s decision to bar her from running as the nation’s president in 2027.

“The Witch Hunt against Marine Le Pen is another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech, and censor their Political Opponent, this time going so far as to put that Opponent in prison,” he wrote on Turth Social on Thursday night.

Trump then reflected on his judicial battles and compared them to Le Pen’s trial after she was found guilty of embezzling European Parliament funds Monday.

“It is the same ‘playbook’ that was used against me by a group of Lunatics and Losers, like Norm Eisen, Andrew Weissmann, and Lisa Monaco. They spent the last nine years thinking of nothing else, and they FAILED, because the People of the United States realized that they were only Corrupt Lawyers and Politicians,” he continued.

The president concluded his rant with: “FREE MARINE LE PEN!”

Top congressional Democrats voiced their disdain after General Timothy Haugh was reportedly fired as National Security Agency director following Donald Trump’s meeting with far-right activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.

“It is astonishing that President Trump would fire the nonpartisan leader of the NSA while still failing to hold any member of his team accountable for leaking classified information on Signal – even as he apparently takes staffing direction from a discredited conspiracy theorist in the Oval Office,” Indianapolis Senator Mark Warner said.

House Intelligence Committee member Jim Hines wrote on X that he is “deeply disturbed by the decision.”

Wall Street’s selloff continued Friday after China slapped 34 percent tariffs on all U.S. goods imported into the nation – compounded by analysts upping their recession risk predictions.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid more than 2.5 percent and S&P 500 futures dropped more than 2.6 percent after shedding 4.8 percent on Thursday.

China has struck back with 34 percent tariffs on all U.S. goods Friday matching Donald Trump’s levies on Chinese goods.

The import taxes on U.S. goods would be imposed from April 10, according to China’s Finance Ministry.

China’s Ministry of Commerce also announced that it was adding 11 American companies to its “unreliable entities” list, essentially inhibiting them from doing business in the nation.

“The purpose of the Chinese government’s implementation of export controls on relevant items in accordance with the law is to better safeguard national security and interests, and to fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement, per Reuters.

Trump’s sweeping tariffs sent shockwaves through Wall Street, wiping about $3.1 trillion in market value in its largest one-day decline since the Covid pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4 percent. The S&P 500 fell 4.8 percent.

And the tech-focused Nasdaq was down 6 percent — fuelled by declines from Apple, Nvidia and Amazon.