Trump administration briefing: President downplays market volatility; US placed on civic decline watchlist
Donald Trump has refused to rule out the possibility the US economy will head into recession this year and that inflation will rise, as his chaotic trade tariffs policy caused uncertainty and market turbulence.
The US president predicted that his economic goals would take time and a period of transition to bear fruit. But when asked in an interview with the Fox News show Sunday Morning Futures āare you expecting a recession this year?ā he demurred.
āI hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition, because what weāre doing is very big. Weāre bringing wealth back to America. Thatās a big thing. And there are always periods of, it takes a little time. It takes a little time, but I think it should be great for us,ā Trump said.
āI hate to predict thingsā: Trump doesnāt rule out US recession amid trade tariffs
Trump downplayed recent stock market volatility that followed his ducking and weaving over tariff policy on exports from Canada, Mexico and China and similar threats to other countries, despite his usual fixation with market performance in relation to the politics of the day and an appetite to claim credit when stocks rise on his watch.
āYou have to do whatās right,ā he said.
US added to watchlist for countries seeing rapid decline in civic freedoms
The United States has been added to the Civicus Monitor Watchlist, which identifies countries that the global civil rights watchdog believes are currently experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms.
Civicus, an international non-profit organization dedicated to āstrengthening citizen action and civil society around the worldā, announced the inclusion of the US on the non-profitās first watchlist of 2025 on Monday, alongside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia.
Kristi Noem names new Ice leadership and vows to punish media āleakersā
Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday announced new leadership at the agency tasked with immigration enforcement as she also pledged to step up lie detector tests on employees to identify those who may be leaking information about operations to the media.
Ice arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia protests, lawyer says
A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia Universityās student encampment movement was arrested on Saturday night by federal immigration authorities who claimed they were acting on a state department order to revoke his green card, according to his attorney. Mahmoud Khalil had become one of the most visible faces of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia.
Trump golf trips cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars
It has become a familiar routine for the Palm Beach county sheriff, Ric Bradshaw, and his deputies. Almost every Tuesday in recent weeks, the Federal Aviation Administration has posted to its website a formal ānotice to airmenā advising of upcoming flight restrictions over south Florida, signaling once again to those who must protect him that Donald Trump is on his way to Mar-a-Lago for another weekend of golf.
Just how toxic is Elon Musk for Tesla?
Globally renowned brands would not, ordinarily, want to be associated with Germanyās far-right opposition. But Tesla, one of the worldās biggest corporate names, does not have a conventional chief executive.
After Elon Musk backed Alternative fĆ¼r Deutschland (AfD) ā calling the party Germanyās āonly hopeā ā voters are considering an alternative to Tesla. Data released on Thursday showed that registrations of the companyās electric cars in Germany fell 76% to 1,429 last month. Overall, electric vehicle registrations rose by 31%.
Andrew Cuomo enters race for New York mayor as frontrunner
Cuomoās long history in New York politics and name recognition has helped him storm to a lead in a field featuring an incumbent ā Eric Adams ā whom many see as corrupt, and a large number of lesser-known candidates who are struggling to get much traction.
Can Stephen A Smith lead Democrats back to the White House?
The View, one of the USās most popular daytime television programmes, was a vital campaign stop last year for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. This week, it played host to a cable sports channel personality who might be nurturing political ambitions of his own.
Stephen A Smith was asked by co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin what he makes of hypothetical polls that show him among the leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. āI make of it that citizens, particularly on the left, are desperate,ā Smith said in characteristically forthright style. āAnd I mean it when I say it: I think I can beat them all.ā
Amy Coney Barrett attacked as āDEI judgeā by right after USAid ruling
Amy Coney Barrett, the Donald Trump-appointed conservative supreme court justice, has been branded a āDEI judgeā by furious rightwing figures, after she voted to reject Trumpās attempt to freeze nearly $2bn in foreign aid.
What else happened today:
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Crews continue to battle wind-driven brush fire on New Yorkās Long Island. Officials have warned that high wind gusts threatened to ignite further blazes.
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Gene Hackmanās final days were marked by isolation, authorities have indicated, with the actor alone in the house for days, disoriented and too frail to seek help. His pacemaker last recorded his heartbeat on 18 February, about a week after the death of his wife.
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Tree loss from hurricane Helene has left the city of Asheville and its surrounding areas vulnerable to floods, fires and extreme heat. Thousands of trees that provided shade and protection from storms were uprooted, with the extent of the tree damage described as āextraordinary and humblingā by research ecologist Steve Norman.
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