Trump reciprocal tariffs announcement leaves Wall Street bracing for stock markets open after overnight sell-off causes panic: Live – UK Times

President Donald Trump has privately told Cabinet members that Elon Musk will step back from his role in the administration soon, according to several reports.

Musk, who has been leading the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce and budget drastically, will soon step into a supporting role, anonymous Trump insiders told Politico and ABC News. Trump discussed this with Cabinet members at a March 24 meeting, Politico reports.

The tech mogul is officially designated as a “special government employee,” which means his role expires after 130 days. That would mean the role ends in late May or early June, but many expected the White House to extend the role or find another way to keep him in a front-line position, ABC News reports.

Katie Hawkinson reports from Washington D.C.

Four Republicans joined every Democratic senator in a resolution Wednesday to oppose President Donald Trump’s tariffs against Canada, Washington Bureau Chief Eric Garcia writes.

Senators voted 51-48 to reject the national emergency Trump declared earlier this year to justify slapping 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports.

The vote followed Trump’s announcement of his “Liberation Day” tariffs, a series of across-the-board levies of at least 10 percent on all nations.

Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine joined Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who crafted a resolution to oppose Trump’s tariffs with Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia.

Donald Trump’s latest batch of global tariffs sent shockwaves through markets, seeing Apple stock slide more than six percent in late-night trading Wednesday.

The president announced that blanket 10 percent tariffs on all countries and much higher levies on “worst offenders” such as China and Taiwan.

The majority of Apple’s devices are manufactured in China and other Asian countries.

Stocks broadly got hit by Trump’s announcement with the S&P 500 plunging 2.8 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 lost more than 3 percent, according to exchange-traded funds tracking the markets.

Nevertheless, Trump praised Apple – along with other tech goliaths including Meta and Nvidia – for investing in the U.S.

“Apple is going to spend $500 billion, they never spent money like that here,” Trump said. “They’re going to build their plants here.”