Trump tariffs news: President signs executive order for DOJ to investigate former White House official Miles Taylor

Then, minutes after the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange, Trump announced: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”

Four hours later, the president reversed course. He paused and lowered tariffs on goods from most nations for 90 days while raising tariffs on imports from China to 125 percent. Markets soared. White House officials — who just one day earlier said Trump would never back off — said “this was his strategy all along” and “the art of the deal” at work.

Social media erupted with accusations that the president played a reverse “pump and dump” scheme with the American economy: driving stock prices down only to buy them up before prices rose again. Democratic Senator Adam Schiff is calling for an investigation into insider trading.

The Trump administration plans to remove all members of a presidential advisory council on HIV/AIDS and has provided no timeline for replacing them as the government overhauls its prevention and treatment efforts for the disease, Reuters reports.

The 30-year-old Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) had more than 30 members before President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, as noted in an archived version of its web page.

Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, confirmed that the agency is ending the volunteer service of the council’s members, stating that this is common practice for a new administration. He did not specify a timeline.

Two sources familiar with the matter informed Reuters that all council members were to be removed. Since PACHA’s existence is required by statute, Nixon said it will “continue to provide advice, information, and recommendations” to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He did not indicate who would perform those tasks or when new members may be appointed.

A tattoo equipment supplier in Pennsylvania is worried they won’t make it to summer. A three-person team making optical scanners in San Diego saw their bills double overnight. A coffee shop in New Orleans may be forced to raise its prices.

Loomer, a conspiracy theorist and close Trump ally, launched her research firm, Loomered Strategies, just last month, offering opposition investigation, “executive level vetting” and rapid response.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to roll back water efficiency standards on appliances this afternoon.

That prompted the president to muse about how he likes to let the water run in the shower and how new faucets are disappointing.

“In my case, I like to take a nice shower to take care of my beautiful hair,” Trump said.

Anytime you see a new faucet, he said, “you know it’s going to be a long wash of the hands.”

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order targeting a former official in his first administration by stripping him of security clearances and ordering the Department of Justice to investigate his conduct, an unprecedented step that erodes decades of separation between the president and the exercise of criminal investigatory power by the federal government.

Trump’s order targets Miles Taylor, a veteran of multiple Republican administrations who served as chief of staff to then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.

Taylor infamously penned an anonymous New York Times op-ed — and later a book — describing efforts by Trump administration personnel to shield the government from Trump’s worst instincts.

Speaking in the Oval Office as he presented the document for Trump’s signature, White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said the order strips Taylor “of any active clearance that he has in light of his past activities involving classified information” even though Taylor’s writings aren’t alleged to include anything classified at all.

“It’s also going to order the Department of Justice to investigate his activities, to see what else might come up in that context, given his egregious behavior during your previous administration,” Scharf added.

Trump described Taylor’s best-selling book, A Warning, as “a work of fiction” and complained about the former DHS official being hired by CNN as a contributor after he outed himself as the anonymous book’s author after leaving government service.

“You can’t have that happen. If that happens to other presidents, it wouldn’t, it wouldn’t be sustainable for other presidents. I seem to be able to sustain. But if that happened to other presidents, and it’s just unfair, and if it was a Democrat president, I’d say that’s a terrible thing. A thing like that can happen. That’s a terrible thing, and it’s time to find out whether or not somebody can do that,” he said.

“I think it’s a very important case, and I think he’s guilty of treason if you want to know the truth, but we’ll find out,” he added.

Taylor, who authored a second book last year warning that Trump would use his position to target his perceived enemies if returned to power, told The Independent in a text message that he’d predicted that Trump would go after him.

“Dissent isn’t unlawful. It certainly isn’t treasonous. America is headed down a dark path,” he said.

He added of Trump’s latest action: “Never has a man so inelegantly proved another man’s point.”

President Donald Trump’s tariff plans caused panic in the stock markets and concerned American households. It also had some of his wealthiest backers speaking out against his policies.

They are likely now breathing a sigh of relief after the president reversed course and announced a pause on the plan.

Here’s a look at who his wealthy backers are and what they said about tariffs: